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I participated in a drum circle over the weekend and thought to make my analysis on all the different drums that were present. Some were hand drums and others had sticks and other tools for striking the head of the drum.

A drum is played by striking the head of it with either one's hand, stick or other relatively hard object. On some drums its impossible to change the note however on others, specifically hand drums, the player can place their hand on the open end to distort the waves on the inside and increasing the pitch. Hitting the drum at different distances from the center to the rim also changes the pitch, the center being the lowest and the rim being the highest.

Different drums are shaped differently and thus have different sounds, however the basic design is a cylinder open on one end and covered with an elastic material covering the other. Some drums have strings attached to the elastic head, that when tightened increase the pitch of the sound produced.

While observing and experimenting with all the pitches I was able to make with the drum, I noticed it was similar to the slinky lab we did on Friday. When the drum head was pulled tighter by the strings attached to the side there was less space for the same amount of energy to travel. Similar to the slinky when it was pulled for a long distance and shook the waves seemed long and slow, however when the distance between start to finish was shortened the waves shortened and seemed faster.

I'm going to San Francisco! I'm one of six people going as entourage to root on Sinnea and the rest of Philly's Brave New Voices team. This is a tremendous opportunity and I'm extremely gracious that I'm going. Now we just need to fundraise money. Our fundraising goal is $20,000. We're off to a great start with almost $7,000 dollars raised. If anybody knows of anybody who can help please send them to pypm215.org. Any help is extremely appreciated. People who are social media savvy please tweet the link and put on you facebook walls! Thanks!

I'm going to San Francisco! I'm one of six people going as entourage to root on Sinnea and the rest of Philly's Brave New Voices team. This is a tremendous opportunity and I'm extremely gracious that I'm going. Now we just need to fundraise money. Our fundraising goal is $20,000. We're off to a great start with almost $7,000 dollars raised. If anybody knows of anybody who can help please send them to pypm215.org. Any help is extremely appreciated. People who are social media savvy please tweet the link and put on you facebook walls! Thanks!

It's nice to just relax alllllllllllllllllllllllllllll weekend. Yesterday there was a kinetic fair thing. It was pretty cool. Some kids in the engineering club were there. They made a bike in the model of a rocket. My manicure is chipped already.

Yesterday I walked around with stefen and these other two girls. We walked from 42 to university center and walked on the u-penn campus. there was a pond full of turtles ,ducks and Koi fish. There was a giant koi fish and we named him/her magikarp on the other side of the lake was a guy playing guitar making a mood and stuff.we bought bread and feed them to the ducks and koi and walked partially to 30th and market then back to Zachs house after that zach and stefen walked me to 40th street and I went home from there and I almost got hit by a car while dancing in the street. Fantastic day.

My mom and I have very different definitions of the word "enough".  I tend to fall on the lighter end, while with her, a party for 8 becomes a gathering for 20. I like to think that I am usually right, that we have too much food.  However, there are times when I wish we had a little more. Today we went food shopping together and, despite my protests. came home with 5 bags of chips, 4 trays of sushi, 3 packages of cookies, 2 pounds each of nuts and carrots and 2 tubs of hummus.  Did I mention the drinks?

There comes a time when we all have to learn to live life in the moment. If we live in the past we'll never truly move forward and if we only live for the future we'll never notice the joy that surrounds us in the present.

Absolutely exhausted.

Called out of work yesterday.

Went to Applebee's for Patty's birthday.

Got some ice cream.

Had an amazing time at prom with my perfect boyfriend.

Spent the night at his house.

Now I have to go to work today.

I HATE MCDONALD'S.

It was actually pretty fun.

Prom wasn't as horrible as I thought it was going to be. ​

I was sitting at the curb and talking to me friends. We were talking about black people and i was about to say "Yea i don't like some black people" while i said that a car full of african americans drove up and i got glared at. I just laughed and walked away from the car before anything could happen.

On the other hand
Everyone looked wonderful during prom and my legs are killing me from dancing in those heels. I got turned down to dance with someone but i still danced anyway. Then afterwards i just rode around in the limo with my hand stretched out reaching for the sky "in that moment i felt infinite."

The instrument I want to play is a xylophone. This instrument originated in Africa. The xylophone belongs in the percussion family and consists of either wooden or metallic bars of different lengths. These bars are then adhered or tied down to a base that gives enough space to allow the bars to vibrate. These bars are struck by a mallet that can be made out of plastic, wood, or even rubber. This is what gives the instrument its sound because when struck the bar vibrates.

The general shape of a xylophone is a rectangle. To change the not of a xylophone, you have to hit a different note on the xylophone with a mallet. You can alter the sound by altering the density of the individual notes. I've noticed that different dimensions of bars give off different sound. So this can tie end to density and surface area having something to do with what produces certain certain waves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHP5xjBP-9I (This is a link that shows a xylophone being played).

 

For my Physics Benchmark my group will have to form a band with our own homemade instruments. The instrument I would like to focus on is the guitar, I would like to build this instrument because growing up I always wanted to play the guitar but I was never able to take lessons so this would give me a perfect opportunity to play this instrument.

 

The guitar is played by plucking a set of strings and sliding your fingers down the long fretted neck of the guitar that makes different sounds when touched in different places which would be the way you changed a note by moving your finger to different places on the neck of the guitar.

 

There are two types of guitars, there is the acoustic and the electric. The basic shape of a guitar I would describe as the figure eight with a hole directly in the center of the body on an acoustic guitar. However, an electric guitar doesn’t have a hole in the center of the body. They both have different but very similar shapes, both types of guitars have 12 components minimum but an acoustic guitar has 20 total.  Below is a picture of both types of guitars with their matching and different parts labeled. 

 

I believe that the hole in the body of the guitar combined with the way you move your fingers on the fret board have something to do with the way you create and change the sounds that come out of the guitar. I believe that when the stings on a guitar are plucked they send some type of vibration or wave through the fret board and that causes the strings to make the different sounds that they make causing them to turn into different sound waves.

Everybody looked really nice yesterday

Prom started at 7. I got there at 9. I still had fun though. 

​Prom,

   You were wonderful.

         from,
             Christine

Cameras,

    You are cruel, unflattering, and should not be made available to certain segments of the population for so small a price.
 
         from,
             Christine

Friends and Companions,

     I do not deserve any of you. Thank you dears. By the by, you are a handsome bunch. 
       
         from, 
              Christine

I want to create a simplified version of a "hammered dulcimer", which is a kind of string instrument. Here is a video of someone playing a hammered dulcimer, and here is an instructional video on how to play.

The instrument is played by hitting strings with a kind of mallet/stick. Different strings produce different notes. I'd want to make a similar version of this instrument, so I might not include the piece that divides the string into two. I don't know. When the string is struck, it vibrates, creating sound waves. I could control various aspects of the wave by controlling the length of the string and how tight it is. I'd have maybe seven or eight strings, each playing different notes. I could also put in a bridge at some point to control the length of the waves. If there is a bridge one-third of the way down the string, that piece of the string would be held in place - and that would control the length of the wave. One thing I wonder is what kind of mallet is used. I also wonder how to make a good base for the instrument that will help to make the sound audible.

Before starting, consider what type of instrument you might be interested in making for this project.


The instrument that I'm interested in making or playing is the celesta or piano.

Try to find a video of someone playing the instrument. As you do so, take notes on the following questions:



http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32473749/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/t/secrets-behind-amazing-piano-playing-cat/

It's played with elegance. 
--What does the person have to do to produce sound?
Press on the right notes on the keyboard. 

I can have rods of different sizes like an organ and put it in a box then have metal rods as the keyboard and underneath the rod will be small metal balls attached to it so, when I press on the keyboard the sphere will hit the "organs" and create a sound. Just to think about it, after all that work, I should just go straight to making a xylophone. 

The xylophone is part of the percussion family, where the user is required to use rubber or wooden mallets to hit pieces of wood varying in length. This instrument is styled much like the piano, where the lower notes are positioned towards the left and become higher as the notes go to the right. It also has bars for flat and sharp notes, positioned at the top in sets of two and three. To change a note, you would hit a specific bar of the xylophone, and each key will be different, since it is of different octaves.

This makes me think about how I can create sound because though I am not trained in playing the piano or xylophone, I still know how to follow a pattern or rhythm. Some connections I can see of this instrument and waves is that the frequency and wavelength of each octave can be varied and played in a pattern. According to Google, the definition of an octave is "A series of eight notes occupying the interval between two notes, one having twice or half the frequency of vibration of the other."

How to Play Xylophone for Beginners (YouTube)

How to Play Xylophone for Beginners (Original Website)

How to Play "Happy Birthday" on the Xylophone

Today is prom.  I've spent the entire week meticulously inspecting my face for any blemishes.  This morning I awoke to a clear face and thanked the acne gods for their help. My prom pictures would be perfect! 

While driving home from the supermarket this afternoon (we needed snacks for pre-prom), my mom looked at my profile. 

"What's on the side of your face, honey?"
"Seriously, Mom, it's not funny. Stop."

I pulled down the sun visor and looked in horror at my reflection.  Just above my eyebrow was a mosquito bite, red and swollen.  I guess I didn't do enough praying the the bug gods...