Project Blog 4/15

(This is an image of my instrument)

Summary

During this past unit, my science class has been learning about the different parts of a sound wave and how sound waves work. In order to understand how sound waves can make different pitches more significantly, my class was assigned to create a "one man instrument". A "one man instrument" is an instrument that contains a various amount of instruments in one, allowing the musician to simultaneously play a number of different instruments at a time all by them self. The premise of this project was that we were musicians that our teacher entered into a National One Man Show Competition. Given the situation, it was evident that this project would be individual. There were several requirements that we had to follow and keep in mind while making our instrument. The first requirement was that the instrument had to have three different types of instrument. This included a string, percussion, and wind instrument. In addition our instrument can't contain any real parts from musical instruments. The challenge of the project was that our instruments had to be "home made", meaning it had to be made with common materials/items we would find at our house. The pitch aspect of the project that helped us learn more about sound, was that each of our different types of instruments must be able to play three different notes on pitch and it will need to be loud enough to record the sound. Lastly, our instruments had to have an original and creative appearance, not replicating any existing instruments.

Backward-Looking

The process of creating my instrument was quite long. I began by brainstorming ideas of how I would create the string, percussion, and wind aspects of my instrument. I decided that my string would be sort of like the strings of a guitar, where I would strum the strings with my hand to create sound. Then I decided that my percussion would be sort of like drums, where I would use a stick to hit the surface in order to create sound. Finally I decided that my wind would be sort of like a flute, where I blow into a tube like structure to create sound. The next step was figuring out how I was going to put these instruments together into one. Something that helped was sketching out my visions of what I wanted my instrument to look like. Once I had a clear idea, I started gathering materials for my instrument prototype. This part was challenging because it was difficult finding substitution materials that replicated the sound of real instruments. In addition, they had to be items I could find and didn't have to buy. In the end, I found that rubber bands worked as my strings, a metal cover worked as my drum/percussion, and straws worked as my flute/wind. When building the instrument, I decided that a cardboard Ziploc bag box would be my base. As I constantly rebuilt and tested my prototype, I found ways to rearrange the parts and improve the sound of my instrument. After I finished with the final product, it was time for the test. The test consisted of recording the three different pitches of each part of my instrument, then answering a question to test my knowledge of what I learned during this unit.

Inward-Looking

I feel really confident and proud about this piece of work. I believe that my instrument is well made and thought through. The final product took a lot of work to make with all of the building and testing that I had to do in order to perfect my instrument. Some parts of my instrument that I particularly enjoy is the strings and wind part of my instrument. I really like the strings because when I strum the rubber bands, it actually sounds like those of a guitar. I like the wind because I managed to create a homemade pan flute out of straws. When I blow into the open end of the straws, it makes loud whistled sounds that are on pitch. I enjoy playing these parts of my instrument. However, the part that I enjoy about my instrument as a whole, is that each part of my instrument works well. Each part of my instrument, whether it be the strings, percussion, or wind, accurately replicate the sound of the real musical instrument. Of course this considers the given materials that I was required to use. The only part of my instrument that I didn't enjoy was the fact that my instrument was plain. I wish that I had decorated it or painted the base to cover the original design.

Outward-Looking

I didn't really create my instrument the way my classmates made their instruments. The final product of my instrument didn't look like the others. Most of my classmates made their instruments with the wind being a pipe. In my case, I used straws as my wind. In addition, those of my classmates who used pipes made their instruments revolving around it, where the pipe was the base of the instruments. However, I used a cardboard box as my base. After observing most of my classmate's final product instruments, I believe that I am the only person who used a cardboard box the way that I did. Some of my classmates also used a cylinder container, such as a pringles container, as their base. The similarities I had in my instrument that I shared with my classmates is that the wind aspect of my instrument was the same as many others. Those that didn't use pipes as their wind, used straws made into a pan flute or used straws to make a regular flute. Almost all of my classmates also used rubber bands as their strings. This is mainly because rubber bands were the only thing we could use.

Forward-Looking

Looking back at the final product of my instrument, the only thing that I would change or improve upon is the decoration. My instrument ended up looking quite unappealing. The glue and tape that held it together was clearly shown everywhere. In addition, I used a Ziploc bag box as the base of my instrument and the design of that was still shown on the outside of my instrument. With this in mind, I would definitely want to improve the appearance of my instrument. If I had a chance to do this project over again, I would keep all the functions and arrangements of my instrument the same, the only thing that I would change would be to take time to decorate the piece. I would probably cover the outside with paper or even paint it. This extra step would hide the original designs of the materials I used and would make my instrument look more professional, neat, and more attractive overall.