 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: John
Date: 2001-09-30 00:22
How about: what does increasing temperature do to the pitch of various musical instruments. Just don't start too cold, or get them too hot.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2001-09-30 03:28
How about: "Fun With Microwaves" - determining what setting will get Uncle Joe's pacemaker to perform the drum solo from "Wipeout".
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Author: Stephanie Hirst
Date: 2001-09-30 04:07
I was looking for an idea earlier, and I saw that one person had done a psychological one on how and why music affects people (their minds, moods, etc...). I thought it was pretty interesting. Hope this helps you!
Stephanie
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2001-09-30 04:23
How about seeing how many varieties of mold you can grow on a reed left in a Vandoren reed case after the dessicant is shot? (Someone did a similar experiment awhile back and mentioned it on the Klarinet list. As I recall, she scraped a reed into a culture dish. She never did say what she used for a culture though. I think she got around 5 varieties.)
Yecch,
jnk
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Author: Laur
Date: 2001-09-30 04:59
Yeah.. after that reed expirement, i don't think i would ever be able to play clarinet again... lol
me
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-09-30 13:29
Monday! Hum.......and how long have we known about this assignment? Geesh! I thought my kid was the only one who waited until the last minute. Well, a simple idea would be to figure out ratio's for the scale degrees on a string. Perhaps you could enlist the help of our good Dr. and work with the different cork grease products, ie., formulation, lubricative ability, etc....just fishing here but I'm sure there are lots of others out there with ideas. Any evidence that this cyrogenic (sic) freezing of instrument mouthpieces, etc actually works or is it just plain horse hockey?
Good luck.
John
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-09-30 13:36
Effect of bore air temperature on pitch:
How about set up a vacuum cleaner to blow air past a soft-reeded mouthpiece on a clarinet. (Tape the vacuum cleaner hose around the mouthpiece, leaving the reed free - Bagpipe-style.)
It will sound raucus but that does not matter for the experiment. Tape keys to carry out the experiment for say three notes - throat A, C below the stave, and a low note.
Drill a hole in the hose just above the mouthpiece (where the tube is solid) and tape a thermoneter in there. (Hoses must be regularly thrown out by repair places and trade-in places - use one of these)
And record pitch as the vacuum cleaner motor warms up and blows warmer air.
Plot air temperature and pitch on a graph for several notes.
Compare the results with a mathematical analysis. V = F x wavelength.
The wavelength will be approximately that for the note you have chosen, and is constant during the test for that note. Therefore F~V. You should be able to research the formula for how air temperature affects air density, hence V (velocity of sound in air)
You could also add comment on the effect of a lung-full of helium on pitch, to more firmly establish that the connection is not so much between temperature and pitch, but rather between air DENSITY hence speed of sound - and pitch. (Temperature changes air density which in turn changes V) . This would be difficult to quantify though. It would be a load of fun playing the clarinet with helium though.
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2001-09-30 15:29
I read a scientific paper where the experimenter played two recordings of the Brahms Lullaby played on a cello to a group of people- one was very in tune, one very out. The experiment, not suprisingly, concluded that the musicians were more likely to recognize that the out of tune one was out of tune.
I did a really fun science fair project once on the aerodynamics of paper airplanes. And there's always the good old "put different colors of light on different plants and see which one grows the most."
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-09-30 16:09
Ted -
The difference between good and bad science fair projects is whether you actually have an idea and try it out yourself. Science fair is not about research, it's about practical knowledge you created.
Something like a display of clarinet types, where you just gather literature and advertising materials and paste them up, or even show a bunch of instruments, is a sure loser. By contrast, even a badly displayed project where you have an idea and test it, will win some sort of prize.
How about the effect of reed design on pitch. You can get reeds and scrape them thinner at particular spots and see how that affects the pitch. Show how you worked, and where you scraped, and make up a chart of readings from a tuner. You'll find out something interesting and also learn a lot about reed work, which you can share with the list.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Meri
Date: 2001-09-30 20:32
Why not test reed quality, in the sense of using reeds of different brands of comparable strength, and determine which reeds retain good sound quality longest, and which ones the shortest.
You could also test whether soaking reeds in water before playing them really does make them last longer. (as opposed to soaking them in your mouth) You can test this with only one brand or different brands. (in the second case, be sure the strength is comparable).
Good luck!
Meri
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Author: Bart Hendrix
Date: 2001-09-30 23:29
How about some hint what level you are talking about. As one who has judged science fair projects, I would be looking for something different from a fourth grade student as opposed to one about to graduate from high school.
I have to agree with jbutler. Sounds like you waited a bit too long. Oh, well. That can be a learning experience, too.
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Author: Ted Donaldson
Date: 2001-09-30 23:44
This is just picking the experiment you know? the thing isn't due for a few months!
ted
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2001-10-01 03:45
In 8th grade, I did a project on doppler effect. All it took was a tone generator (I'd suggest something electronic, like a tuner that can put out 440 A.), a radio Mic, a Bicycle with an electronic speedo (I guess a car would work), a stereo, and an oscilloscope.
Record at rest and at different velocities with a tape recorder and you're set. Making several passes at the each speed will make data analysis much easier.
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Author: willie
Date: 2001-10-01 04:51
On a recent newscast, about the new huge super grocery stores popping up and going all out for our dollars, they made and interesting statement. "They are even playing different types of music in different sections of the store to stimulate the buying of different types of products".
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2001-10-01 14:08
How about something that has been a subject of some controversy here? For example, you could examine the effect of the material a clarinet is made from on the tone generated.
One way to do this would be to get two identical clarinets of different materials (wood & plastic) and using the same mouthpiece, reed and player perform a double-blind study in which the player plays the same set of tones. You can record the tones in wav files and and, using available software, compare the wave forms.
The main problem with this would be finding two identical clarinets.
Therefore, a better suggestion may be to attach the mouthpiece to various pieces of tubing that have the same length and inside diameter and perform the experiment. For example, you could use PVC pipe, metal pipe, etc.
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Author: Bart Hendrix
Date: 2001-10-01 14:24
Ted:
You still have not given us any clue what level you are talking about. I am a physics instructor and have judged science fair projects. The expectations and abilities are different at different levels.
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Author: Ted Donaldson
Date: 2001-10-04 12:02
sorry, been gone for two days... Ok i have decided what i shall do. Mind you I am in middle school, and this was under the highschool section at my science teachers idea page.
Will different sized particles effect the ammount of time it takes for a chemical reaction to occur?
Alka-seltzer, here i come!
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