Sounds of Music

Fall 2010
New York State
Coaches Workshop
 The Competition
• Each team will build one wind
instrument and one percussion
instrument.
• Each instrument must be able to play
a12-tone tempered scale. (modern
piano scale - octave with incidentals).
 Shaded piano key is middle C.

Instrument 1 is the wind instrument. The range is

suited for brass or woodwind instruments including
flute, trumpet, pan pipe, recorder, clarinet, French horn,
etc.
Instrument 2 is the percussion instrument. The range
is suited for almost any percussion instrument,
metallaphone, vibraphone, xylophone, marimba, etc.
 Instrument 1
• Brass or woodwind instrument.
• Must be able to play a C major scale.
• May use a range in their performance
from F3 (F below middle C) to G5 which
is 27 notes.
• Music must be written in treble clef.
 Instrument 2
• Percussion instrument.
• Must be able to play a G scale
• May use a range in their performance
from C2(two octaves below middle C) to
D4( one note above middle C)
• Music must be written in the bass clef.
 Setting Up
• Teams have 5 minutes to set up.
Instruments should be made so that
they can be easily dismantled and put
back together.
• Judging takes place in three parts. It is
encouraged that at the regional and
state levels judge move from room to
room as is done at nationals. Each
judge will have approximately 5 minutes
to mark their portion of the scoring form.
 Judging: Performance
• Each team member will play the required scale and
will play the full range of their instrument.
Maximum of 6 points.
– 1 octave - 8 notes 1 point
– 1 octave - 13 notes 2 points
– 1.5 octaves - 12 notes 3 points
– 1.5 octaves - 18 notes 4 points
– 2 octaves - 16 notes 5 points
– 2 octaves - 27 notes 6 points
• Each instrument will also be awarded up to 5 points
for sound quality (comparison to actual instrument).
 Judging: Performance
• The two members together must play the required
piece, “Shenandoah”, as a duet. They must
furnish their music to the judge. They may not
just turn in a copy of the rules page. There must
be a harmony portion.
10 points.
• They must also perform a piece that they have
chosen or written, also in harmony. This piece
should show off the quality of their instruments and
the full range, if possible. They must be careful
not to play outside of the range. 15 points.
 Judging: Performance
• Each piece is scored using the following criteria:
– Harmony -avoid unison - shows out of tune notes
– Rhythm- be careful of syncopation, practice!!
– Intonation - tone can change whether it is in tune
– Dynamics - there should be louder and softer portions
– Duet Quality - is one merely keeping a beat, do both
add to the performance?
– Blend - did they use instruments to compliment each
other or does one drown out the other?
– Other (to be listed)- cleverly chosen music, etc.
 Judging: Workmanship
• The judge will evaluate the creativity
and originality (5 points). Flute vs a
reed instrument - reed would get more
points. Regular piano vs a typewriter
piano - typerwriter is more clever, took
more engineering skill (usually).
• The variety (5 points). One wind, one
percussion.
 Judging: Workmanship
• All instruments must be made from scratch - no
kits.
• Exception: strings made for instruments - not
applicable this year.
• Judges will look for use of commercial reeds,
reed blocks, mouthpieces, etc. which are
specifically stated as not being allowed.
• Interviewing students about the construction is
also an important part of this section of judging.
• Total points for construction is 15.
 Judging: Worksmanship
• It is important when building an instrument
that all energy come from the student. By
blowing through a tube, striking an object or
by using a pump operated by hands or feet,
the energy must originate from the student.
• All instruments must move easily through an
80 cm door. Avoid oversized instruments.
Low tones don’t necessarily mean big tubes
or parts. Have students think about their
building materials.
 Judging: Knowledge
• Students will be asked a number of
questions (usually 3, 5, or 6) about their
instrument and sound production.
• 30 points
• Each student is expected to participate.
One student answering all questions will
affect the grading negatively.
 Judging: Knowledge
• Examples of questions used in the past:
– How did you tune your instrument?
– What is your primary vibrator on your wind instrument?
– What factors can be changed on your wind instrument
to ensure that a note is in tune?
– Describe the Bernoulli effect.
– What is the mathematical relationship for determining
the length of your pipes on your xylophone?
– Draw, describe, explain a standing wave.
– Why did you use that building material rather than…
 Judging: Knowledge
• The number of questions depends on time.
– With 50 or 60 teams, 3 questions is about the maximum.
However, multiple portions to questions gives the examiner
leeway for the variety of instruments. More questions is
obviously a better way to judge knowledge. At states and
Nationals questions must be chosen very strategically since we
typically use only 3.
• Question difficulty should increase from regional to state
to National levels.
– At a regional students should know the characteristics of a
wave. By the state they should be able to describe a standing
wave. And at the National they should be able to discuss how
the wave is produced in their instrument.
 Bonus Points
• Each team will receive 4 points for each of the
following:
– They must furnish music with team name and
number on it.
– They must write their music in the correct clefs and
correctly notate it.
– All music must be played in the correct range.
– They must use only allowable materials in
construction.
Additionally, each team that follows all rules will
receive 16 bonus points.
 Putting Together a Team
• You need at least one musician. And
once you get that person you will have
him or her forever. They think that all
they can do is play an instrument, but
they suddenly realize they are good at a
lot of things. Due to their discipline and
passion for music they will stick to it.
You are halfway there.
 The “Other” Team Member
• You need a good physics student. Most
don’t know they are good at physics.
You will probably have to invite them.
And those that are good in physics don’t
realize they are probably good at music.
Just look for someone who likes math.
Music is based on mathematical
relationships and is as much math as it
is physics.
 Okay, Now About that Coach
• Most of you just groan when it comes to this
event. Never worry about Sounds of Music.
First of all the kids have to do the research and
the building. Just offer them a few websites
(coming) or books and be a great cheerleader.
If you really don’t want to do it find a tech
teacher who is up to the challenge. Building is
the tough part. After that it will fall into place.
Music teachers will be harder to coerce, but
once involved are fabulous.
 Choosing the Instruments
• Well, the rules have narrowed that down for
you - one wind and one percussion.
• When the students select their instruments it
is a good idea to make sure they know how to
play them first.
• Students frequently want to make an exotic
instrument. It is better to go with an
instrument that will actually work and is easy
to play. Ordinary sometimes works very well
and wins more points in the long run.
 The Instrument is a Flop!
• It happens.
• Our philosophy was that we needed students to go
through the process once to see where the
problems were.
• So, keep the building materials cheap in the
beginning. When they master the technique and
realize it can be better go for more.
• For instance, a PVC flute is fairly cheap and easy.
Copper usually sounds better, but should be the
final result ….unless your PVC flute is wonderful.
 Building
• Though a tech room is good, much can be
done without the tech room. Simple
equipment works fine.
• Planning is key. Time in a tech room can be
reduced by researching, planning,
diagramming, and having measurements
determined ahead of time. Students don’t
realize that planning is very important to good
results.
 Don’t Worry About Originality
• Though it is a factor. We have reduced
the emphasis on originality and
creativity. Sometimes you can boost
originality simply by changing the
material something is made from. A
trombone made of PVC is common, but
to make it from metal that fits together
well is great… and not easy to do.
 Workmanship
• This is very important. We have had
instruments fall apart before they are judged.
Cardboard gets wet if it rains and is less
likely to withstand wear and tear. Use wood
or metal. Maybe something can be glued but
perhaps it should be welded or put together
with screws to make it stronger. Glue does
not always hold. Make sure things are put
together well.
 Tweaking
• With this event as with any other construction
event there is a great deal of tweaking. With
xylophones and that family of instruments trying to
make sure that the instrument is producing the best
sound takes time. This is a huge learning process.
Damping is a huge problem and they will have to
experiment to find the best way to avoid too much
damping or allowing too much reverberation. The
kind of materials it is made from also affects the
sound considerably. You may need to add
resonators if the sound is too soft.
 Practice
• “It needs to be done by Christmas”.
• Christmas come and goes, along with a few
other holidays and the days keep passing by
at an alarming rate because the instrument
isn’t complete.
• They must finish it in time not only for
tweaking, but for practice, practice and more
practice. Go over the characteristics of their
performance that will be judged with them.
 Range of the Instrument
• Range is important. A single octave will
get you through the event, but going for
something more such as the 1.5 octave
and 18 notes will give the team more
versatility and more points. Limiting
your range makes it tough to find music
that they enjoy playing and the judges
will enjoy hearing.
 Choosing Music
• Think about the instruments that are being
played.
• If you have a flute and a xylophone you will not
want to choose a heavy classical piece like
Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” or a
Tchaikovsky piece. Choose something light and
airy - Mozart or “California Dreaming”. Keep it
light. Choosing a fast-paced tune for a pan pipe
or soda bottle instruments can leave the team
member ready to collapse before they finish the
piece.
 What to Study
• Waves
– Transverse
• with crests and troughs
– Longitudinal
• with compressions and rarefactions
 What to Study
• Sound Properties
– Pitch and frequency
– Intensity and amplitude (Decibel scale)
– Speed of sound
– Human perception of hearing and the ear
 What to Study
• Behavior of sound waves
– Interference
– Beats
– Doppler Effect
– Movement around a boundary
– Reflection, refraction and diffraction
– Bernoulli Effect
 What to Study
• Natural frequency
• Timbre
• Forced Vibration (sound box)
• Standing wave
– Node - points that appear to stand still
due to destructive interference.
– Antinode
– Fundametal frequencies and Harmonics
 What to Study
• Mathematical calculations of harmonic
frequencies and where the nodes are.
• To properly mount the parts of a
marimba, xylophone or other percussion
instrument you need to know where the
node nearest the end is.
 What to Study
• Resonance
• Closed-end vs opened-end air column
instruments
 Sources
• Books: Any book by Bart Hopkins, but
his Musical Instrument Design:
Practical Information for Instrument
Design is the best. Available on sale
for $12.89 at Amazon. Very thorough.
They suggest a couple of others which
are okay, but more specific.
 Sources
• Website:
• www.phys.unt.edu/~matteson/1251-001/mwf3
0.pp
– Excellent powerpoint about wind instruments.
Especially informative about bell shape in brass
instruments.
• http://positron.ps.uci.edu/~dkirkby/music/html/
lectures/Lecture12.pdf
– Mostly about wind instruments. Good illustrations.
It is a pdf of a powerpoint. Good reference.
 Sources
• Websites:
• Physics of Sound and Music
http://hendrix2.uoregon.edu/~dlivelyb/ph
ys152/home.html home page
• This person has a great sense of humor
and offers good explanations as he
teaches. Also some good diagrams.
 Sources
• Websites:
• http://www.school-for-champions.com/s
cience/sound.htm
• Good information on general physics
topics including sound.
• http://method-behind-the-music.com/
• Good site for general information on
music and physics.
 Sources
• Websites
• http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class
/sound/
My favorite. Gives good information to
get students started. Will need to go to
other sources for specific needs, but
this is great for the beginning. Well
organized.
 Questions?
• Patty Sherman
• Shermanp@roadrunner.com
• I can email a copy of this presentation if
you want it.