Our Instruments

The pan flute

Our pan flute works by blowing into it,

the air vibrates inside the tube because it can’t go out the other end as it is
closed. The vibration comes out the side you blow in to. The pan flute plays
starting at middle C, or C4, and goes to the next C, C5. The length of the
pipes is ⅛ the wavelength of the note, as opposed to ¼ for other wind
instruments. This is because the bottoms of the pipes are plugged off, so
that no air can go out the bottom. Therefore, the neutral pressure zone is at
the top of the pipes, so that when you blow into the top part, the vibration
goes to the bottom and then back up, it makes ¼.

Note Wavelength Pipe Length

C4 131.87 16.5 cm
D4 117.48 14.9
E4 104.66 13
F4 98.78 12.3
G4 88.01 11
A4 78.41 9.7
B4 69.85 8.5
C5 65.93 8.3

The Chime Piano

Our Chime piano was our challenge to construct a much more

elaborate instrument. The instrument itself is contained within an L-shaped
chassis (22cmx26cmx30cm). It is equipped with 7 different keys that are
attached to a singular dowel rod that shoots through the lower portion of
the chassis. The keys are 2cmx2.7cm planks that are attached to the ends
of dowel rods. On the other ends are dominos that serve as hammers.
When the pressure is applied, the key’s other end is flung up. The domino
that is attached to the end strike one of 7 pipes that are suspended
horizontally by several strings that are taped from the top of the piano. In
order to maximise sound from our pipes, we needed a good material that is
both smooth and rigid. We chose dominos as our hammers because they
are just that. Now when the pipe is struck, a vibration is produced. Tune is
different based on length because of the distance that the vibration must
travel over. The piano covers the entire 6th octave.

C6 Octave on Chime Piano

Note Wavelength Pipe Length
C6 32.97 31 cm
D6 29.37 29 cm
E6 26.17 27 cm
F6 24.70 26 cm
G6 22.00 25 cm
A6 19.60 22 cm
B6 17.46 21 cm

The One String Guitar

Our guitar works by strumming the string which creates a vibration

which creates a longitudinal wave. The body of the guitar works as a
resonator to increase the volume of the strums. It is made out of thin,
hardwood to resonate better. When you strum the guitar, the length of the
string is half the wavelength of the note that it is playing. Taking this into
account, the neck of the guitar was measured to be half of the wavelength
of a C4 note. This is because when the string is pulled up or down, the full
length of the string becomes half of the full wavelength. Then, once
everything was put together, we marked a full octave of notes on the neck
up to C5.

Guitar C4 to C5 Octave
Note Wavelength String Length
C4 132 cm 66 cm
D4 118 cm 59 cm
E4 105 cm 52.5 cm
F4 98 cm 49 cm
G4 88 cm 44 cm
A4 78 cm 39 cm
B4 70 cm 35 cm
C5 66 cm 33 cm