Activity
Making Music
The main
ity
part of this activ to
loped
ve
de
en
be
s
ha
Club session
fit into a STEM
y 40 minutes.
of approximatel
be required
ll
More time wi
session and
to prepare the
estions
materials. Sugg how
ow
sh
to
n
ve
are gi
be
this activity can
extended.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) have a huge affect on
our lives, even in areas such as music. Whether it’s thinking about how we hear
sounds, how we record and playback music, or make musical instruments, STEM has
a role to play. This activity was inspired by Mark Bush, a STEM Ambassador.
... During this session students will model musical instruments, and investigate
the musical notes they produce; how close can they get to the notes produced by
real instruments?
Introduction
Download sound recording & editing software (there are
lots of different types available online e.g. Audacity is a free,
open source programme for recording and editing sounds
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download). Please note
the school may already have suitable software.
A computer and a microphone (some laptop computers
may have an integrated microphone).
What You Need
Per group (of two to four students)
:
cycled materials
n of re
✓ A selectio
tubs,
s, plastic boxes/
cardboard tube
cuit tin
plastic bottles, bis
bands / elastic
nt width elastic
re
fe
if
D
✓
of Paper
✓ Greasepro
Tape
and masses
✓ Masking
eel wire, a pulley
st
or
rd
co
g,
rin
✓ St
✓Balloons
✓Rulers
✓Scissors
Straws
✓ Drinking
G Clamp
✓
ake more
ight wish to m ay need
your group m
um
yo
–
ts
en
Please note –
m
ru
(wooden) inst
sophisticated
e case.
ials if this is th
er
at
m
nt
re
diffe
have
– Schools will
Ambassadors
ith the
w
k
ec
ch
Note for STEM
so
,
ms you need
many of the ite
e your session.
or
ef
r b
he
ac
te
by the
should be done
k assessment
Remember a ris nning this session.
begi
school before
in partnership with
What To Do
Some Extras
Part One
1. Download a recording and editing programme prior to your session.
Check that the programme loads onto your computer and that you
are happy with how it works.
2. Ask students to bring in musical instruments or use any the school
already has. Record a series of sounds from a variety of the musical
instruments. Remember to save a copy of how each note looks as
well as sounds. (You may wish to print screen shots).
Try to show your group a spectrum of sounds on screen such as musicalinstrument notes, glasses being tapped, keys being dropped, crisp
packets being rustled, balloons being popped.
If you are time or equipment limited start with the quicker soundsources such as popping a balloon and twanging the clamped rulers.
Remember you could pre-prepare these to help save time in your session.
3. We want students to make their own musical instruments out
of the materials available and attempt to replicate the sound
and look of notes produced by the ‘real’ versions,
using their simple designs.
Wind Instruments:
a. The easiest wind instrument to make
is a straw kazoo (pictured right).
Flatten one end of your straw.
Then cut a small (flat top)
triangle into the end of the
straw (see diagram right).
Don’t let the triangle form a point.
Cut along the
dotted lines
Blow into the opposite end.
What happens if you cut different shapes, or make your straw shorter?
b. Attach greaseproof paper to the end of some card tubing and blow
into the opposite end. What note is produced? Where should finger
holes be placed?
String Instruments:
Stretch elastic bands across your plastic box or biscuit tin. Which
thickness of bands should be used, and where should they be placed?
Can the students extend the musical instrument to include different frets?
These are just basic ideas your group can be as creative as they want!
Remember you can also record the students talking or singing to
compare notes and waves.
Part Two
4. In turn, groups should record the notes their musical instrument
makes. Does this match any of the ‘real’ instruments?
Print out these notes to form a STEM Club display.
5. Questions to think about:
v Why have they chosen a particular style of instrument?
v How close were they to the pre recorded notes?
v How could they adapt their musical instrument to make it better?
v What limitations do their musical instruments have?
v How could the instruments be manufactured on a large scale?
Note for teachers – STEM ambassadors from your regions may be
able to support this session as ‘experts’ helping your students analyse
the notes produced from their musical instruments. To request an
ambassador, speak to your local STEM Ambassador manager, visit
www.stemnet.org.uk.regions
Page 2
In a follow up session you could select the
more successful instrument designs and then
get a number of groups to build them, at
different pitches, then play a simple piece of
music. Can your STEM club fool the rest of the
school into believing that the piece of music
is being played ‘real’ instruments?
To further extend this session students can
investigate 3 aspects of musical sound:
Pitch – what is the link between the pitch of the
sound and the trace on the screen (here you can
introduce the idea of frequency – the number of
complete oscillations per second)? The trace on
the screen changes shape as the pitch changes.
Level – what is the link between the level of
sound in the room and the trace on the screen
(this introduces the ‘amplitude’)? The frequency
of the sound may stay the same but the wave on
the screen still changes shape by increasing
in amplitude.
Attack & Decay – what is the link between
the type of percussive instrument used
and the trace on the screen? The attack
(sudden rise in amplitude) is evident
in a handclap or finger-snap. The trace
decays away almost instantly because
the energy from the impulse propagates
away in the air. When an energy impulse is
put into something that can retain energy for
a while (like a drum skin), you can see a slower
decay in the trace as the energy dissipates. This is
most evident when a ruler is ‘twanged’ on a desk.
The decay is very long.
Perhaps they can look at making more
sophisticated instruments? Investigate an existing
musical instrument and update and adapt it
for the 21st Century consumer? For example
manufactures have released a self tuning guitar.
www.gibson.com/robotguitar/guitar.html
Perhaps your STEM club would like to discover
which other materials can be used to make
musical Instruments. Growing Sounds is a project
from the Universities of Southampton and Salford,
and EPSRC and contains lots of recipes for making
musical instruments out of fruit and vegetables!
(www.growingsounds.sound101.org)
Or you could experiment further with the audio
editing software. Ask the groups to imagine they
are radio producers asked to speed up the terms
and conditions blurb at the end of an
advert so that it doesn’t take up too
much air time. The students must
record a short statement then
use the sound editing software
to speed it up until it becomes
unintelligible.
How fast can they make
this? What is the time
difference between the
‘normal’ and the speeded
up version?
Mark Bush
STEM Ambassador
Who Works With These Ideas?
STEM Ambassador Profiles
James Rene
Engineer/Acoustician
James Rene is an Engineer/
Acoustician working in the
construction industry. James needs
to use his knowledge of sound and
apply this to buildings.
What I do on an average day
There is no average day! My time is split between
desk work, meetings and the most exciting part –
construction sites. This is where everything we design
on paper, or electronically these days, is brought to
life. I also carry out acoustic surveys using noise level
meters, and occasional site inspections when the
structure of a building goes up.
How I got here: Via the careers service at university.
I always knew I wanted to be in engineering from school,
but not specifically the construction industry. You
could say it happened a bit by accident! I did a couple
of summer placements at my now current employer
who have encouraged me to continue building up
knowledge and experience in the industry.
My favourite part of my job: Seeing everything come
together when a project is completed. Not necessarily
seeing the things that we have designed, but how our
clever and discreet systems contribute to the pleasant
environment inside a building.
Likes: ‘Eureka’ moments, when you’ve finally cracked
something which for whatever reason has been
impossible to solve.
Dislikes: Early mornings when I have to travel across the
country to get to site. I would usually have a little snooze
on the train so I’m wide awake when I get there!
What is Engineering? Engineering is simply problem
solving. It is applying scientific principles and research
to everyday problems, and continually improving our
lives and environment.
Explanation
Sounds are made as a result of vibrations.
By plucking the string or blowing down
a tube we are causing the air particles
to vibrate, in turn neighbouring particles
vibrate and so on. Sound is transmitted
through the medium as a longitudinal wave.
Mark Bush, is the STEM
Ambassador who helped to inspire
and develop this activity.
Industry Sector
Various engineering and IT
How I got here: I have an electronic engineering degree and
have worked in the computer and electronics industry for about
30 years. I’ve always had a strong interest in live music, including
rock, classical music and blues/jazz. I also play tenor saxophone.
I am currently doing an Open University degree in Music and
some of the ideas for this STEM activity came from the things I’ve
learned on that course.
My favourite part of my job: I hope this activity will give people
some idea about what a musical instrument is, how it makes
sounds, and exactly what sound is. You may be surprised at
just what is going on when you play even a single note on an
instrument, and just how clever the ear and brain are in sorting
out the complicated patterns that are part of any kind of music.
Hobbies: Music, film, science and technology.
Likes: Music with feeling.
The future? I think the future for making music is very strong.
There are many computer programmes which allow people to
create and edit sounds, and which help people to improve their
instrument-playing ability, so making music has never been easier.
What is Engineering? It’s a great way of finding out about the
world and earning a good living.
Handy Hints
This really is a creative activity as there are many different
types of musical instruments that could be created.
However students should always think about the ‘user’.
If frets or finger holes are too far apart a musical instrument
becomes useless. How could your group adapt their musical
instrument for different users?
This is a really good opportunity to show how scientists and
engineers can use ICT to test and adapt their theories and products.
This activity allows students to record the sound (and a picture
of the wave) which can be used to compare with the ‘real’ notes,
providing a record of how ‘good’ their STEM Club made musical
instruments are. You may also wish to take the opportunity to
discuss arithmetic progressions in maths; vibrations, frequency
and wavelength are concepts from physics; and even timbre and
note structure are concepts from music.
When you look at your recordings of various sound
sources, you will distinguish two groups, those where
the sound has a harmonic structure and those where
it is essentially unstructured. This is what defines a
musical sound as opposed to a non-musical one, look for
repeating patterns.
For further information on the physics of musical Instruments
visit http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html
Page 3
This is Engineering
Being creative to solve a problem is what
engineering is all about. In this activity students
are required to manufacture their own musical
instruments and use ICT to test their accuracy.
Acoustics, audio and sound engineering are
offered at many universities. These degrees will often
require STEM A levels (Advanced Highers in Scotland)
including mathematics and preferably physics too.
Alternatives include STEM-related Advanced Diplomas
(or BTEC National Extended Diplomas) plus appropriate
qualifications in mathematics and possibly physics too.
See www.ucas.com for more information.
There are many engineering opportunities for
apprenticeships, which cover a wide range of
business sectors. For more information visit
www.apprenticeships.org.uk, or in Scotland
visit www.apprenticeshipsinscotland.com and
in Wales wales.gov.uk/apprenticeships.
Curriculum Links
Using this activity you may wish to discuss:
England Science: Sound and hearing
Next Steps
Remember there are more resources at
networking.stemnet.org.uk
For more information on STEM Clubs visit:
www.stemclubs.net
For more information on Engineers and Engineering:
www.raeng.org.uk
Visit Southampton University’s Institute of Sound and
Vibration Research site for information on their public
engagement Programmes
www.isvr.soton.ac.uk/index.htm
CREST Awards are easy-to-run, encourage
students to continue with STEM
subjects, and add real value to UCAS
applications. To link this activity to
CREST Bronze Awards, contact your
CREST Local Coordinator:
Accredited
www.britishscienceassociation.
Scheme
org/crestcontacts
Students can be very
creative. These students at
Amersham School decided
to make a water xylophone!
Contact Us
Generously supported by
The Royal Academy of Engineering
Prince Philip House, 3 Carlton House Terrace
London, SW1Y 5DG
Tel: 020 7766 0600
Fax: 020 7930 1549
Web: www.raeng.org.uk
www.baesystems.com/education
Engineering Engagement Project
Web: www.raeng.org.uk/eenp
Email: [email protected]