TJ Nicolella: Musical Instrument Blog #2
As previously stated, my musical instrument of choice for the “Science Rockers” project is an acoustic guitar. I am not exactly sure how I’m going to construct it but I have a general idea based on what I saw when inspecting the other guitar that a student made last year. I’m going to need wood for the bridge, actual guitar strings of different lengths to represent different notes as well as a hollow box of some sort to resonate the sound when the strings are plucked. (ex. cigar/tissue box)
As we get more in depth when learning about waves I can more easily understand how a guitar works when those different strings are strummed. I have found that when the strings are strummed, and vibrating they help move around the rest of the instrument. Part of the vibrations from the strings reverberates through the back of the instrument and through the empty cavity of the guitar, called the sound box. These vibrations will escape through the sound hole that is on the body of the guitar. So most of the sound comes from the strings but the body of the guitar helps to resonate those sounds/vibrations and pushes them out of the sound hole that is located underneath the portion of the strings that the player strums.
The thing that changes the pitch when the guitar is played is the different sized strings. Each string varies in width, with the top of the bridge containing the thickest string and the bottom containing the thinnest. Also, at the top of the bridge there are prongs that can tighten up or loosen the tension of the strings, which also alters the sound, or tunes the guitar. I have a general idea of what I will use to construct my guitar but I am still wondering if the sound of the guitar will be loud enough and/or how I will be able to make it loud because, unlike a real acoustic guitar, mine is bound to have holes or cracks other than the required sound hole that allow the sound to escape or trail off which makes it harder to hear.
As we get more in depth when learning about waves I can more easily understand how a guitar works when those different strings are strummed. I have found that when the strings are strummed, and vibrating they help move around the rest of the instrument. Part of the vibrations from the strings reverberates through the back of the instrument and through the empty cavity of the guitar, called the sound box. These vibrations will escape through the sound hole that is on the body of the guitar. So most of the sound comes from the strings but the body of the guitar helps to resonate those sounds/vibrations and pushes them out of the sound hole that is located underneath the portion of the strings that the player strums.
The thing that changes the pitch when the guitar is played is the different sized strings. Each string varies in width, with the top of the bridge containing the thickest string and the bottom containing the thinnest. Also, at the top of the bridge there are prongs that can tighten up or loosen the tension of the strings, which also alters the sound, or tunes the guitar. I have a general idea of what I will use to construct my guitar but I am still wondering if the sound of the guitar will be loud enough and/or how I will be able to make it loud because, unlike a real acoustic guitar, mine is bound to have holes or cracks other than the required sound hole that allow the sound to escape or trail off which makes it harder to hear.
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