Ashley Leonard, Vincent Long, Sarah Ng

Mr. Williams
STEM, Period ¾
18 May 2018

How Our Instruments Work

Chimes
The instrument I chose to make was chimes. Chimes create sound by being hit and
vibrating at their natural frequency. The pitch of the instrument does not change when the
material of the mallet changes. However some mallets will produce a louder sound depending
on the material and size of the mallet and the material and size of the pipe. There are many
factors that come together to determine what note the pipe plays. Some of these factors include
material, length, and and thickness. I chose metal pipes, the length of the longest pipe is 50 cm
and the shortest is around 36 cm. However with the pipes I chose consistency in thickness was
not a priority with the manufacturers and this affected my instruments greatly as they are not
able to play a full octave and switch scales in the middle. For example, in a scale notes go from
one note and end on that same note with a different pitch. My scale starts on a B flat and ends
on a D. While I have this problem with my instrument, it is still mostly functional and can play 8
notes so it technically meets the requirements of this project.

Note Pipe Length Number multiplied by

Longest Pipe length

Bb7 50cm .1

C8 47cm .94

C#5 44.72cm .8944

E4 43.3cm .8660

E5 40.825 .8165

Bb7 38.73 .7746

C#4 36.515 .7303

D7 35.085 .7077
Strings
My instrument makes sound by plucking the string causing a
vibration, and the glass jar amplifies the vibration so that it sounds
better and is louder. The instrument consists of one large plank of
wood with one fishing line running down the length of it. That string is
made taught by a large glass jar that is used to amplify the vibration,
along the length of the line there are seven blocks of varying height
and eight markers that show where to push down on the wire to make
the eight different notes. For string instruments the string length
should be half the wavelength for the note but since when I push
down on the blocks it tightens the sting, this tension is why the strings
aren't exactly half the wavelength. This works because a shorter
string means that there is less string to vibrate so the wavelength is
shorter, making a higher note. This is how my instrument can produce
eight different notes.

Note String Length Wave Length(cm) Frequency(Hz)

C​5 31cm 65.93 523.25

B​4 33cm 69.85 493.88

A​4 36cm 78.41 440.00

G​4 42cm 88.01 392.00

F​4 48cm 98.79 349.23

E​4 52cm 104.66 329.63

D​4 61cm 117.48 293.

C​4 69cm 131.87 261.63

Wind
The starting vibration is created using the players lips in a buzzing like fashion, similar to
that of a trumpet or other brass player. The basic layout of the instrument is an inner metal pipe
with a shorter pvc pipe around it. There was also duck taped wrapped around the inner metal
pipe to stop the airflow between the two pipes. Due to a pressure change from the high
pressure given off by blowing at one end of the pvc pipe, the resulting sine wave in the tube is 4
times its length. Higher notes have a shorter wavelength and lower notes have a longer
wavelength. Meaning to decide how long the pipes were decided by dividing the highest note’s
wave length by 4. Also adding to the metal pipe and subtracting some from the pvc pipe to allow
some gripping space on the metal tube. This also ensure the metal pipe would not be touching
the player’s lips as they blow into the pvc pipe because it would interfere with the playing and
sound of the instrument. Then I found out the longest the pipe need to be in total for the lowest
note, however I added a few centimeters for the overlap to ensure that the air would flow
through continuously. After that I calculated the length of a tube for the notes in between the
highest and the lowest notes by dividing their wavelengths by 4. By pulling the metal pipe out it
lengthens the entire tube making lower notes, I marked how far I needed to pull it out by
measuring the calculated lengths and marking them.

Note Frequency (Hz) Wavelength (cm) Pipe Length (cm)

A​2 110 Hz 313.64 cm 78.41 cm

B​2 116.54 Hz 279.42 cm 69.855 cm

C​3 130.81 Hz 263.74 cm 65.935 cm

D​3 146.83 Hz 234.96 cm 58.74 cm

E​3 164.81 Hz 209.33 cm 52.3325 cm

F​3 174.61 Hz 197.58 cm 49.395 cm

G​3 196 Hz 176.02 cm 44.005 cm

A​3 220 Hz 156.82 cm 39.205 cm