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In this packet, you will find five masters, labeled with letters a-e, to be duplicated for use as you teach the lessons outlined in the In Harmony With Education ® program Teacher’s Guide. The remaining, numbered masters can be duplicated by you or your students as a source of ideas for the task of building musical instruments. These masters are not, however, the only possibilities that you or your students should explore. They are included here because they are instruments that are: relatively inexpensive (most of the parts can be purchased at either a hardware store or, in the case of strings for some instruments, at a neighborhood music store). likely to work well together. well-suited to teaching important aspects of the production of musical sound. Your students may elect to make instruments that are much simpler than those described here. If limited by time or resources, for example, students may produce: an Indian jaltarang, a percussion instrument consisting of a series of bowls tuned by the level of water in each bowl. a zither consisting of a series of rubber bands stretched over a resonant cavity (large Styrofoam cups work well). percussion instruments such as spoons (clappers) or shakers—or even an “instrument of defined body-percussion methods. Whenever students produce instruments with definite pitch, you will want to make cer- tain that the pitches used will work in the context of the In Harmony With Education pro- gram. This means that the instruments should produce pitches from the pentatonic scale, G, A, B, D, E. (Note that some of the instruments defined in the Black Line Masters produce a plagal version of this scale, D, E, G, A, B). Whatever the students’ approach, you should encourage them to think through the cultural background of their instruments, the best musi- cal uses of their instruments, and the scientific implications of the ways that they can use their instruments to control sound. The printed black line masters have notes on these aspects; the blank master gives students a place to spell out this information, as well. You should ask that all students submit plans for their instruments before making them. This will give you the chance to make certain that the students are thinking logically about the dimensions of sound to be controlled and the musical effects to be gained. It will also help parents who are involved enough to accompany the students on trips to buy (inexpensive) supplies—because the Black Line Masters used in planning contain parts lists. Finally, you should demand that students follow all appropriate safety procedures when making their instruments. Insist that students adhere strictly to all manufacturers’ instructions regarding ventilation for adhesives and safety glasses or other items for tools—and insist that they use common sense in their work. Black Line Masters for the MENC: The National Association for Music Education The In Harmony With Education ® Program

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Page 1: Bose Blackline Masters

In this packet, you will find five masters, labeled with letters a-e, to be duplicated for useas you teach the lessons outlined in the In Harmony With Education

®program Teacher’s

Guide.

The remaining, numbered masters can be duplicated by you or your students as a sourceof ideas for the task of building musical instruments. These masters are not, however, the onlypossibilities that you or your students should explore. They are included here because they areinstruments that are: • relatively inexpensive (most of the parts can be purchased at either a hardware store or,

in the case of strings for some instruments, at a neighborhood music store).• likely to work well together.• well-suited to teaching important aspects of the production of musical sound.

Your students may elect to make instruments that are much simpler than those describedhere. If limited by time or resources, for example, students may produce: • an Indian jaltarang, a percussion instrument consisting of a series of bowls tuned by the

level of water in each bowl. • a zither consisting of a series of rubber bands stretched over a resonant cavity (large

Styrofoam cups work well). • percussion instruments such as spoons (clappers) or shakers—or even an “instrument of

defined body-percussion methods.

Whenever students produce instruments with definite pitch, you will want to make cer-tain that the pitches used will work in the context of the In Harmony With Education pro-gram. This means that the instruments should produce pitches from the pentatonic scale, G,A, B, D, E. (Note that some of the instruments defined in the Black Line Masters produce aplagal version of this scale, D, E, G, A, B). Whatever the students’ approach, you shouldencourage them to think through the cultural background of their instruments, the best musi-cal uses of their instruments, and the scientific implications of the ways that they can usetheir instruments to control sound. The printed black line masters have notes on theseaspects; the blank master gives students a place to spell out this information, as well.

You should ask that all students submit plans for their instruments before making them.This will give you the chance to make certain that the students are thinking logically aboutthe dimensions of sound to be controlled and the musical effects to be gained. It will also helpparents who are involved enough to accompany the students on trips to buy (inexpensive)supplies—because the Black Line Masters used in planning contain parts lists.

Finally, you should demand that students follow all appropriate safety procedures whenmaking their instruments. Insist that students adhere strictly to all manufacturers’ instructionsregarding ventilation for adhesives and safety glasses or other items for tools—and insist thatthey use common sense in their work.

Black Line Masters for the

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

The In Harmony With Education® Program

Page 2: Bose Blackline Masters

MASTER #1

Making a Nail Violin/Nail Piano

1

On the plywood, mark outan arc by using a compass setto 5" (or do it freehand).

2

Starting 1" from the edgeof the wood, pound innails every 1-1/2" alongthe arc–putting thelargest nails at the topand the smallest at thebottom. Don’t hammerthem too deep.

Tune the instrument:raise the pitch of anynail by hammering it in;lower the pitch by care-fully pulling out a littlewith the hammer's claws.

Tune to: D, E, G, A, B

3

12d

12d 12d

10d

8d

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 3: Bose Blackline Masters

The first nail violin thatwe know of was invented in1740 by a German violinist,Johann Wilde. The nailsvibrate in much the sameway as the bars on the xylo-phone and, like the xylo-phone bars, will give a pitchthat gets progressively loweras the nails get longer andheavier. That is why the nailviolin can be tuned bypounding the nails more tomake them higher in pitch.[Note that, just as you canstrike the nails on a nail vio-lin, you can bow the bars of axylophone or metallophone.]

The Nail Violin inScience and Culture

Materials

❑ piece of 1/2" plywood, 12" x 6" or larger

❑ 5 nails: 3 12d, 1 10d, 1 8d

❑ violin or cello bow, or general instrument bow (see Master #2)

Playing the Nail Violin

Hold it in your left hand, with the arc ofnails facing in front of you and the bottomresting on your left knee. Then, either:

• bow the nails near the nail heads, or• strike the nails with a stick near the

board

Page 4: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Multi-Purpose Bow

MASTER #2

1Notch each endso that the notchesgo about 1/8" intothe wood.

24"2

Run a loop of dental floss to a chairabout 30" away from you, back toyour hand, and back to the chair—until you have a pretty good sizebundle.

3Tie one end ofthe bundle offto the uppernotches andpull tight.

Tie the other endaround the stick about1/2" short of the lowernotches. Then, slidethe knot down (bend-ing the stick as you doso) and pull tight.

4

Run the stringsover the rosinuntil they are wellcoated.

5

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 5: Bose Blackline Masters

Bows for stringed instru-ments are used by culturesthroughout the world—theEuropean viol and violin fami-lies, the Arabic rebab, theChinese er hu, to name a few.In playing with any bow, amusician needs to be able tocontrol the tightness of thebow fibers. On modern violinbows, this is done with a screwmechanism; on many otherbows, this tightness is regulatedwith the thumb.

On many bows, the fiberthat is rubbed across the stringsof an instrument are madefrom animal hairs—the bestknown being the long hairsfrom the tails of horses. Whenthe bow is rubbed across thestring, friction helps it pull thestring to one side. When theelastic force of the string (theway the string “wants” to goback to being straight) getsstrong enough, it springs back.If the bow is still moving, itpulls it to the side again; itsprings back again; and so on,over and over—many times asecond.

Rosin (made from the sap ofcertain trees) is rubbed on thebow hairs to add to the frictionthat makes the bow work.

The Bow in Science andCulture

Materials

❑ 1 flexible wood lath, about 1/4" x 1/2", or 1/4" diameter dowel, about 24" long (in a pinch, a relatively straight stick from a tree will do)

❑ 1 roll unwaxed dental floss

❑ 1 cake violin, cello, or bass rosin

Tools

❑ knife

Playing with the Bow

Grab the stick at the lower end (tradition-ally, with the right hand), and insert thering and middle fingers between the stickand the fibers. Using those fingers, hold thefibers away from the stick and run themover the string to make it vibrate.

Page 6: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Slide Clarinet

MASTER #3

1 Make an acute diagonalcut in one end of the1/2" diameter pipe withthe hacksaw.

���������������

2 Holding the sand-paper flat on thetable, round off thediagonal cut so thatit is convex.

3

On the other end of thepipe, wrap two bands ofelectrician’s tape about fiveor six layers deep, leavingabout 1/4" free spacebetween them.

4

Roll the O-ringsinto placebetween thebands of tape,and coat withVaseline.

Tape the reed in placeso that its tip is justeven with the top ofthe pipe; the flat sideshould be against thepipe.

Insert into the13/16" pipe.

11"

6

5

1

2

3

4 O-

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 7: Bose Blackline Masters

The clarinet is technically ablown instrument with a cylin-drical (straight) tube and a sin-gle reed. The reed is held in theplayer’s mouth in such a waythat it “flaps” against the end ofthe clarinet, opening and closingmany times a second and settingup a vibration in the air insidethe instrument. The closedcylindrical shape of the air col-umn gives it a distinctive sound(with only every other over-tone); by opening holes in theside of the instrument, the play-er can effectively shorten theclarinet and produce higherpitches.

There are early clarinets—that is, single-reed instru-ments—in many cultures. Onetype was called the chalumeau—and the lower, fuller part of themodern clarinet’s range is stillcalled the “chalumeau register.”The modern European clarinetwas developed by JohannChristoph Denner in about1710. The fingering system wasgreatly improved in about 1840by H. Klose and L. Buffet (whofollowed the principals intro-duced on flutes by T. Boehm).Clarinets exist in many sizes,which allow players of the wholefamily of instruments to playvery low and very high notesand to play conveniently inmany keys.

The Clarinet in Scienceand Culture

Materials

❑ 1 piece 1/2" inside diameter PVC pipe, 13" long

❑ 1 piece 13/16" inside diameter PVC pipe, 11" long

❑ 1 roll electrician’s (black) tape

❑ 2 rubber O-rings ( 3/4 x 9/16 x 3/32); you can get them in the plumbing section of a hardware store

❑ Vaseline

❑ 1 clarinet reed (#2)

Tools

❑ hacksaw❑ 100 grit sandpaper

Playing the Slide Clarinet

• Dampen the reed with saliva. Place it against your lower lip and blow hard.

• Holding the top of the 1/2" pipe with yourleft hand, slide the 3/4" pipe in and out with your right hand. You should be able to get a range of about a Major 3rd, G to B.

Page 8: Bose Blackline Masters

About 5" from theother end, drill two1/8" holes.

1Drill a 1/4" hole in thecenter of the plywood,about 2" from one end.

2

Taking the emptycan with one endremoved, use a can open-er to make openingsacross from one anotherin the base near theintact end.

4

Drill a 1/8" holein the center ofthe intact end ofthe can.

Insert the dowel through the trian-gular openings in the can and thenthrough the 1/4" hole in the board.About 2" from the lower end of thedowel, wrap tape around the dowelbeneath the board to keep it fromslipping back through the hole.

Run the guitar stringthrough the smallhole in the can andloop it several timesso that it doesn’tslip—through thetwo small holes inthe other end of theboard.

6

5

Making a Dan Bau

MASTER #4

1. 2.

3.

4.

3

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 9: Bose Blackline Masters

Playing the dan bau showsthe interaction betweenstring tension and pitch—thetighter the string, the faster itvibrates, and the higher thepitch. It also shows the inter-esting sound quality that cancome with harmonics. Whenthe string is touched at a“node,” located at a pointthat cuts the string intolengths that form a simpleratio, only the “harmonic”that is still at that point canvibrate.

Normally, strings vibratesimultaneously with manyharmonics. The result is ahigh-pitched, pure sound.

The dan bau is native toVietnam. In that country, itis usually more elaborate—and the technique for pro-ducing harmonics is moreelaborate than that givenhere. It is often used toaccompany the reciting ofepics, but is also played byitself.

The Dan Bau in Scienceand Culture

Materials

❑ sheet of 1/8" plywood, about 6" x 30"

❑ dowel 1/4" diameter or larger, about 8" long

❑ tin can (such as a soup can)

❑ steel guitar string, about .014 gauge

❑ tape (such as electrician's or masking tape)

Tools

❑ saw, to cut wood parts to size

❑ 1/4" drill

❑ 1/8" drill

❑ can opener

Playing the Dan Bau

• Squatting on the floor, hold the dowel in the right hand with the other end of the board to your left. Hold down the far left end of the board with one foot.

• Raise the can off the board by about 3"and pull the string tight.

• Pluck the string with the left hand while pulling on the dowel to adjust tension with the right.

• To get the real dan bau sound, you must play harmonics. Experiment with pluck-ing the string with the index finger of the left hand while hitting the string at one point with the thumb—which you have to locate at a point 1/4, 2/3, or another simple ratio along the length of the string. It takes practice to find the exact point for a “harmonic node,” but the sound is worth it.

Page 10: Bose Blackline Masters

Make a Tunable Drum

MASTER #5

1

Place the cloth tightly overthe inner circle of theembroidery hoop. Place theouter hoop around it andtighten.

2

Run a thin line of gluearound the placewhere the cloth disap-pears into the spacebetween the hoopsand let it dry. Make athin “varnish” ofwatered-down glueand coat the entirecloth surface.

Cut the bottom 2" or 3"out of the soda bottle.Fold about 1" of theremaining bottle materialinside.

3

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 11: Bose Blackline Masters

Drums—membranesstretched over a resonantcavity—appear in almost allcultures. In any drum,tightening the head gives ahigher pitch (though thepitch may be too complexto be heard as a singlepitch). This effect is used byplayers of the dunsdun ofthe Yoruba people, whopress on the strings thathold the heads of theirhourglass-shaped instru-ments to vary the head ten-sion while they play.Modern orchestral kettle-drums, or timpani, have amechanism to accomplishthis same effect. The mech-anism on these instrumentsis worked with a foot pedalor a hand crank.

The difficulty in identify-ing exact pitches of manydrums comes from the factthat the drum head canvibrate in many, extremelycomplex, ways—and not allof these ways of vibrationgive frequencies that line upaccording to the orderly over-tone series produced byinstruments of exact pitch.

The Drum in Scienceand Culture

Materials

❑ 1 embroidery hoop (6")

❑ 1 square of linen or other cloth, about 8" x 8"

❑ white glue

❑ 2-liter plastic soda bottle

❑ pencil or mallet

Tools

❑ knife

❑ scissors

Playing the Tunable Drum

Hold the soda bottle neck down, grab thebottle between your legs. Place the hoop-and-cloth “drum head” over the wide open-ing. Holding the edges of the hoop downwith the left hand, use a pencil end orother small stick to strike the head.Pressing down on the hoop will raise thepitch—and you can experiment with damp-ening the cloth of the head to tighten itand get a better sound.

Page 12: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Hoseaphone

MASTER #6

1Insert the mouthpiece into oneend of the tubing. Blow into it,using the same embouchure as onany brass instrument, and deter-mine the note (which should bea little flat from G).

2

Using the knife, cut off a lit-tle of the free end of thehose and test again. Repeatas necessary until the funda-mental note sounds as G.

Insert the funnel into the freeend. Test the tuning again; itmay be necessary to trim thetube a little more.

3

Coil the tube and tapethe coils together.

4

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 13: Bose Blackline Masters

The hoseaphone is a fancifulinstrument played by some musi-cians as a joke—but, in princi-ple, it is equivalent to any one ofa number of “lip-vibrated aero-phones” (instruments into whichthe player blows, creating vibra-tions with his or her lips). InOceania, shells have holes cutinto them that act as mouth-pieces; in Tibet, large animalbones are hollowed out andblown in this way; in the north-western corner of SouthAmerica, some cultures made“trumpets” out of pottery; andthe use of metal to make these“brass” instruments dates back atleast to the first millenniumB.C.E. in uses by Assyrian,Egyptian, and Hebrew cultures.

One of the most interestingaspects of the science of trum-pet-making is the effect of theshape of the tube on the sound.First, the tube can be curledaround without any appreciableeffect on the pitch or tonecolor—but the shape of the tubehas a great effect. For example,modern orchestral trumpets arebasically cylindrical (straight)tubes. Cornets, on the otherhand, have a more conical tube,giving them a “softer” tone colorwith weaker upper overtones.

The Hoseaphone inScience and Culture

Materials

❑ 1 brass instrument mouthpiece

❑ 3/8" inside diameter plastic tubing (about 5' 4")

❑ kitchen funnel

❑ electrician’s tape

Tools

❑ knife

Playing the Hoseaphone

You can hold the coiled tube in any wayyou want—keeping the funnel to the frontwill project more sound to your audience.Keeping your lips loosely compressed, putthe mouthpiece to the center of yourmouth and blow, allowing the lips to“buzz.” By increasing the pressure of yourblowing and the tension of your lips, youwill be able to play some of the overtonesavailable on your instrument (you shouldbe able to get at least G, D, and G anoctave higher).

Page 14: Bose Blackline Masters

Making Panpipes

MASTER #7

1

Cut the PVC intothe followinglengths (in inches):9 1/2", 8 1/2",7 1/2",7" and 6". Sand theends smooth.

2

Align the topends of the tubesand tape themtogether.

Insert a “cork” of rolled up plasticwrap into the lower ends, a littleat a time, and tune the tubes toG, A, B, D, and E. Pushing thecorks in will make the pitchhigher—pushing out with adowel or other stick will makethe pitch lower.

3

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 15: Bose Blackline Masters

Also called raft pipes(because they look somewhatlike a raft of logs), they areused by many cultures includ-ing the Aymara of the SouthAmerican Andes and theBasque of Spain and France.They were even specified asthe instrument for the char-acter Papageno in Mozart’sopera, The Magic Flute.

The sikuri (singular siku),the pipes of the Aymara, aredistinctive in that they aremade in pairs. The notes ofany given melody are dividedbetween the players of eachpanpipe in the pair—andonly by alternating, or inter-locking, the notes of theirtwo paired instruments canmusicians play their relative-ly complex and very excitingpieces.

When panpipes areplayed, blowing over the topsof the tubes causes turbu-lence in the air stream. Theair tends to alternate passingover the top and into thetube, setting up a vibrationinside the tube. The speed ofthe vibration is set by thelength of the tube—thelonger the tube, the slowerthe vibration, and the lowerthe pitch.

Panpipes in Science andCulture

Materials

❑ 1/2" diameter PVC tubing (about 37" total)

❑ duct tape

❑ plastic kitchen wrap

Tools

❑ hacksaw

❑ 100 grit sandpaper

Playing the Panpipes

Hold the pipes with the longest tube onyour left. Blow strongly across the top, say-ing something like “doo” to get a definitebeginning to the sound. Practice doing thiswith each tube in scale order and jumpingfrom note to note.

Page 16: Bose Blackline Masters

Making an Erhu

MASTER #8

1 Open one end ofcan. Make twoholes with the nailor awl on oppositesides near closedend of can.

2Widen each hole withmetal shears to 1"diameter.

Tape around jaggededges of holes.

On the 1" dowel, drilla 3/8" hole 2" fromone end, and an 1/8"hole at other end.

On the 3/8" dowel,drill an 1/8" hole nearone end.

3

Run the guitar string throughthe 1/8" hole in the bigdowel, over the small piece ofwood (the bridge) placedagainst the can, and throughthe 1/8" hole in the littledowel.

Twist the little dowel to tune.

5

Stick the 1"dowel throughthe tube; stickthe 3/8" dowelthrough the 1"dowel.

4

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 17: Bose Blackline Masters

The name “erhu” meanstwo-stringed barbarian [fid-dle]—it was introduced intoChina in a period of expand-ing foreign influence. Thereal erhu has two strings,with the bow passed betweenthem. The erhu fits into thegeneral classification of“spike fiddle” or string instru-ment in which a single spike,which holds the string orstrings, is driven through aresonator.

Instruments of this typeshow up in many culturesand are possibly at the basisof modern Western bowedstring instruments.

The Erhu in Science andCulture

Materials

❑ can (large, such as 28 oz. tomato sauce)

❑ 1" wooden dowel, about 20" long

❑ 3/8" wooden dowel, about 4" long

❑ piece of wood, about 3" x 1/2" x 1/4"

❑ metal guitar string (about .010 gauge)

❑ electrician’s or duct tape

Tools

❑ 1" drill❑ 3/8" drill❑ 1/8" drill❑ metal shears (tin snips)❑ nail or awl

Playing the Erhu

Hold the upright spike of the instrumentbetween the thumb and palm of the lefthand. Place the lower spike against theright thigh, and hold a bow in the righthand. While drawing the bow across thestrings, you can lightly touch the stringswith the fingers of the left hand to get newpitches. Don’t try to push the strings all theway down to the spike.

Page 18: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Maraca

MASTER #9

1 Put the rattling medium in the box or can. 2 Tape or seal it shut.

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 19: Bose Blackline Masters

Maracas are best known tomost residents of the UnitedStates in the context ofmusic from South America,but in the generic form ofshakers, they are used inmany musics, notably thoseof Native Americans. Folkinstruments are often gourds(large seed-pods of variousplants) filled with beads,seeds, or stones.

Maracas in Science &Culture

Materials

❑ Anything that can hold things, like an old coffee can, juice can, cardboard box (such as a one-serving cereal box)

❑ Anything that rattles, like rice, beans, popcorn, small stones

Playing the Maraca

Rattle, swirl, or strike it. Try to hold it sothat it does not inhibit the vibration of thebox.

Page 20: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Güiro

MASTER #10

1 Take a cardboard paper toweltube. Coat it with a few layersof white glue. Alternatively, usea plastic tube or thick woodendowel.

2 Cut a series of slits on oneside of the tube.

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 21: Bose Blackline Masters

An instrument most oftenfound in the music of CentralAmerica and the Caribbean,it goes by many other names:rascador in Cuba, guacharain Panama and Colombia. Itis usually a piece of wood or agourd (plant) with serrations(rough spots) in one side.The player slides a scraperover the serrations. As a per-cussion instrument, it has theadvantage of allowing veryshort, accented effects, or (byscraping more slowly) longerheld “notes.”

The güiro is called for insome very large orchestralscores, like Stravinsky’s Riteof Spring. In Ravel’s opera,The Child and the Sorcerers,the güiro is specified as apossible substitution foranother instrument—thecheese grater.

The Güiro in Science andCulture

Materials

❑ 1 cardboard, wood, or plastic tube

❑ 1 thin stick as scraper

Playing the Güiro

• Hold the instrument cupped in the left hand, leaving as much of the tube free tovibrate as possible.

• Holding the stick in the right hand, scrape it along the serrations. Experimentwith moving the stick more or less rapidly.

• For a louder sound, hold one end of the güiro against a desk, box, or otherresonator.

Page 22: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Prepared Piano

MASTER #11

1Using great care not to drop or mar anything, screwa wood screw between one of the pairs of strings inthe tenor register of the piano.

Try moving it for different sounds.

2

Try placing a rubbereraser between stringpairs.

Again, try moving itfor different sounds.

Try weaving a piece of paper over and under the stringsabout 5" in front of the hammers. Note: you can also trypreparing an autoharp.

3

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 23: Bose Blackline Masters

American composer JohnCage developed the preparedpiano as a way to get thevariety of sounds offered by alarge group of percussioninstruments—without havingto cart around a large groupof percussion instruments. Inhis 1940 composition,Bacchanale, he directed theperformer to “prepare” apiano by placing screws,bolts, and bits of rubber inthe strings.

The exact placement ofthe items is essential—if apreparation is put at a “node”of one of the string’s over-tones, it will tend to rein-force that overtone. If it isplaced at a point that is not anode, it will tend to deadenthe string and make the pitchless definite (harder to iden-tify as a single note).

The material is alsoimportant; if it is softer, ittends to deaden the string’svibration.

The Prepared Piano inScience and Culture

Materials

❑ 1 piano (preferably a grand rather than an upright)

❑ several wood screws, erasers, paper

Playing the Prepared Piano

Play just as you would any piano—but youwill find that the pitches aren’t necessarilyin order any more. So in writing for pre-pared piano, you should think of each keyas actuating a separate percussion instru-ment rather than a note on one instru-ment.

Page 24: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Tube Vina

MASTER #12

1Drill a 1/4" hole about1" from one end of thetube; use the nail orawl to poke a smallhole in the other end.

2 Thread a nut and wash-er up to the top of theeye bolt; insert in the1/4" hole.

3 Put the other washerand nut inside andtighten finger tight.

Saw a shallownotch per-pindicular tothe axis of thetube about 1/2"from the smallhole. Place aPopsicle stickin it.

4

Working from inside out, poke guitar stringthrough the small hole, run it over thePopsicle stick bridge, thread it through andaround the eye bolt, twisting to bring it upto a “d”.

5

Press the string against the tube to find thenotes E, G, A, B, and D. Mark the positions ofeach note. They will be about 2 1/2", 5 3/4", 7 1/4", 8 3/4", 10 3/4" from the screw.

6

Loosenthestringand cutnotches at the marked positions. The notchesshould be deep enough thata Pospsicle stick placed ineach one just clears the topof the tube

Re-tighten the string.

7

4

6

5

1

2

3MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 25: Bose Blackline Masters

The earliest references tothe vina are about 3,000years old—and various relat-ed instruments are stillplayed today in India and inSoutheast Asia. The bin andthe sitar are perhaps the bestknown such instruments. Inaddition, the basic idea of astretched string running overfrets appears in many cul-tures—closest to home in theUnited States, in the guitar.

Plucking the string givesenergy for vibration, and thespeed of vibration is directlyproportional to the length ofthe string. That is why thefret for the octave D in thisinstrument ends up exactlyhalf way between the bridgeand the tuning bolt.

The Vina in Science and Culture

Materials

❑ 1 cardboard mailing tube (about 3" diameter, about 24" long)—must be thick cardboard

❑ 1 eye bolt (1/4" x 2", with 2 nuts and washers)

❑ 6 Popsicle sticks

❑ 1 guitar string (D or 4th for nylon-string guitar)

Tools

❑ saw (preferably a keyhole saw)

❑ 1/4" drill

❑ nail or awl

Playing the Vina

• Hold the instrument upright, resting on your left knee.

• With the left hand, place a finger just behind one of the Popsicle stick frets.

• With the right hand, pluck the string close to the bridge.

Page 26: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Mbira

MASTER #13

1 Glue down onePopsicle sticknear one edge ofthe block ofwood.

2 About 1/2" backfrom the stick,make holes for 6screws. Separateeach hole by1/2".

3

Put a screw in each holeand insert a Popsiclestick between each pairof screws. The sticksshould project over theglued-down stick.

Tighten the screws a little—still allowing some move-ment of the sticks. Pull inand push out to tune to G,A, B, D, E.

4

1

2

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 27: Bose Blackline Masters

Mbira is only one word fora “lamellaphone”: an instru-ment that makes sound withlamella (thin plates of wood,metal, or another material).If the material is uniform, alonger lamella will produce alower note. If it is not uni-form, factors such as weightand flexibility come into playto complicate matters.

In several parts of Africa,lamellaphones are used asimportant instruments toaccompany song. Othernames for it are malimba,kalimba, likembe, agidigbo,and sansa. In some cases, asamong the Nsenga people,the music is purely instru-mental. The resonator cavityfor the instrument is some-times a wooden box (oftenwith soundholes that can becovered or uncovered by theplayer to alter the tone), andsometimes a gourd.

The Mbira in Scienceand Culture

Materials

❑ 6 Popsicle sticks (better to have more, asthey can vary considerably in thickness and flexibility)

❑ 1 block of 3/4" wood, about 5" x 3"

❑ 6 screws (flathead #6 sheet metal screws)

Tools

❑ glue

❑ screwdriver

Playing the Mbira

• Place on a resonant surface (such as a desk or table) and hold in place with the left hand; flick down on the Popsicle sticks with the right hand.

• To make the mbira self-contained, mountit on a permanent resonator such as a box, a discarded one-gallon milk container, or other hollow body.

• You can also make a bass mbira by using larger screws and wooden (not plastic) rulers in the place of Popsicle sticks.

Page 28: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Metallophone

MASTER #14

1Cut the cardboard asshown and tapetogether to form a box.

2

Cut the conduit to thefollowing lengths: 135/8", 12 3/4", 11 5/8",11", 10 5/8", 9 5/8"[Hint: cut the longestlength first and use thefile to tune (as you filea little off, the pitchrises). This way, if youfile off too much, youcan still use thatlength for a higherpitch.]

Hold up each length oftubing by a string tiedaround its center pointand strike to tune by fil-ing a little off eitherend. You should be ableto get the notes D, E, G,A, B, and D. Color the“G” red—it is the“home” note of thescale.

Place the bars inorder along the res-

onator cavity. For thebest sound, they should besupported by the cardboard atpoints 1/4 of the way in fromeach end. When you find thebest (most resonant) point foreach bar, mark the spot andcut shallow notches in thecardboard to keep the bars inplace. Note: you can usewooden dowels (at least 3/4"diameter) in place of the con-duit to make a marimba—butyou will have to experimentwith the proper length toproduce the pitches you wantbecause lengths will varydepending on the type ofwood and thickness. You canalso experiment with othermaterials—evenpaper towel rollswill give a softnote (of less defi-nite pitch) whenstruck in thisway.

4

4"

3"

3"

12"

8"

3"

11 3/4"

3

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 29: Bose Blackline Masters

Metallophones first showup in Chinese tombs fromaround 700 C.E. Today, theyare prominent in the musicof Indonesia and, in the formof the Glockenspiel andVibraphone, in Westernmusic. The shape and size ofthe resonant cavity in a met-allophone is critical: that iswhy the vibraphone can get apulsating effect by using amotor to close off and openup the resonating tubes thathang below each key.

The marimba (the sameinstrument, with woodenkeys) shows up around theworld—notably in Africa andas an African import intoSouth America.

The Metallophone in Science and Culture

Materials

❑ corrugated cardboard (from an old packing box)

❑ packing tape

❑ 3/4" electrical conduit (about 70" total)

Tools

❑ hacksaw

❑ metal file

❑ knife

Playing the Metallophone

• Strike the bars near the center.

• Experiment with different beaters—metal, wood, pencil eraser ends, and so on.

Page 30: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a Koto

MASTER #15

1 Mark out on the plywood two lines runningup from the two lower corners (at about a45 degree angle).

2 Drill a series of five 1/8"holes about every 2" alongthe lines.

Fasten the twowooden slatsbelow the long sides of theplywood, using glue andnails.

With the angleformed by thelines on the plywood fac-ing away from you, insertthe screw eyes in the holesto the right.

Run nylon twinethrough the holeson the left, tie it to the screw eyes onthe right, and twist the screw eyes totighten.

Sand thesmall wood

blocks to makea peak on the top ofeach one. Fold thesandpaper andsand a notchacross eachpeak.

6

Insert the blocksunder the strings,

about halfway between theholes and the screw eyes.

7

5

4

3

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 31: Bose Blackline Masters

The koto is basically azither with moveable bridges.As such, it is a member of alarge family of instrumentsacross eastern Asia such asthe zheng of China or thekayagum of Korea. Zithersare also important to manyother musical traditions. Forexample, the Latvians play akokle; and in Burundi, musi-cians play an inanga.

Tuning and playing thekoto demonstrates the inter-dependence between lengthand tension in setting thepitch of a stringed instru-ment. Tuning the stringstighter (raising the tension)raises the pitch—but so doesmoving the bridge (adjustingthe length). And the kotechnique of increasing stringtension while playing alsochanges the pitch.

The Koto in Science andCulture

Materials

❑ 1 sheet 1/8" plywood, about 9" x 30"

❑ 2 1/2" wooden slats, about 1" x 30"

❑ 5 screw eyes, about 3/4"

❑ 5 wooden blocks, about 3/4" x 3/4" x 3/8"

❑ thin nylon twine

❑ 6 small nails (brads)

Tools

❑ glue (white glue or carpenter’s glue)

❑ 1/8" drill

❑ hammer

❑ coarse sandpaper

Playing the Koto

Tune the instrument to D, E, G, A, and Bby turning the eyes and moving the wood-block “bridges” to the left or right. Pluckthe segment of string to the right. Whenplaying, you can get notes in between thetuned pitches by pressing down with thefingers of your left hand on the segment ofeach string to the left. This technique iscalled, on the Japanese koto, “ko.”

Page 32: Bose Blackline Masters

Making a ______________

MASTER #16

(Create your own musical instrument)

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 33: Bose Blackline Masters

Materials

Tools

Playing a ______________

Page 34: Bose Blackline Masters

Brahms Hungarian Dance #5 Master aD

raw

a c

ontin

uous

line

for

each

of t

he fo

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usic

al s

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. T

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Dyn

amic

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high Pi

tch

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rich

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Col

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Dur

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ody

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Page 35: Bose Blackline Masters

A Section:Identify the instrument type for each instrumental part. Then decide if specific pitches are to be used, and write them in the space provided. Finally, add a melody (if desired).

B Section:Identify the specific instruments to be used, describe the character of the music to be played, and spec-ify and rythmic or melodic ideas.

Rondo Planning Sheet

MASTER b

Melody

Part 1type_________

Part 2type_________

Part 3type_________

Part 4type_________

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

– – – – –

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

– – – – – – –

Pitches?

Pitches?

Pitches?

Pitches?

Instruments________________________Description_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rhythm or melody

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 36: Bose Blackline Masters

MASTER #1

C Section:Instruments________________________Description_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rhythm or melody

D Section:Instruments________________________Description_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rhythm or melody

E Section:Instruments________________________Description_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rhythm or melody

Page 37: Bose Blackline Masters

Part 2Listen, and identify the sound used on CD Track 11. (It is the same sound as that used on CD track 12, with one difference.)

• Musical Sounds - their “envelopes”

Sound, Overtones, and Instruments

MASTER c

violin trumpet

flute sin wave sawtooth wave

1 2 3 4 56 7 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 56 71 1 2 3 4

CD Track 1 CD Track 2

inte

nsit

y(l

oudn

ess)

time

piano

1 2 3 4 56 7

clarinet

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 38: Bose Blackline Masters

MASTER #1Part 3Listen to the “envelopes” for a series of sounds on the same instrument. • CD track 13

Identify the characteristics of your instrument

Instrument name:__________________________________

Method of playing:_________________________________

Instrument richness (place a mark along the scale):

• • • • • • •

Instrument “envelope”

less rich richer ➜➜

sin w

ave

flute

clarin

et

trumpet

piano

violinsaw

tooth wav

e

inte

nsit

y(l

oudn

ess)

time

a b c d e

Page 39: Bose Blackline Masters

Careers That Combine Music, Science, and Math

If you are considering a career in music, you may not be aware of the variety of music professions available to you and the opportu-nities they hold. In particular, there are several careers that can call on an individual’s talents and knowledge in the areas intro-duced in the Bose® In Harmony With Education® program.

Studio ArrangerArrangers can be freelance or affiliated with a particular studio. They score songs for the group and the instruments used in therecording session. The arranger may be a songwriter scoring his or her own works, be a member of a performing group, or work full-time at arranging. Arrangers’ fees are set by union contracts based on number of score pages: the more scores an arranger prepares,the higher the fee. Many arrangers work nights; daytime hours are spent answering inquiries and sometimes conducting.

If you want to become an arranger, it is important to read music quickly and write neatly. While you do not have to play any instru-ments well, it is very important that you have a working knowledge of each instrument for which you might be scoring, includingtheir timbres, temperaments, and ranges. You will also need a strong sense of what is currently popular and an instinct for futuretrends. Income as an arranger is usually based on commissions when music is sold for publication, recording, or broadcast.

Electronic Design EngineerThe market for audio electronics—both for consumer and for professional applications—is very large. The engineers who design theequipment that supplies this market are, consequently, likely to be in demand.

If you want to be an electronic design engineer you will need a high level of math proficiency and knowledge of the sciences (par-ticularly the physical sciences and, perhaps, the life science of psychoacoustics). This means, in practice, taking as much math andscience as you can in high school. With some vocational education, this would allow you to work as a technician, or it could allowyou to get into engineering school. Once in college, you will need a four-year Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering to startdesign work. Further study (useful in moving forward in the profession) generally includes specialization in fields such as program-ming, circuit design, power engineering, or manufacturing/process engineering.

You have the necessary personal attributes if you are good at working as part of a team toward a well-defined, technical goal. And,of course, a love of music can help as a motivator. Salary range in this field for a graduate with a Bachelor’s degree is in the$40,000 range to start.

Instrument Production WorkerDifferent skills are required for the manufacture of different instruments. There is a need in all phases, however, for tool and diemakers, assemblers, screw machine operators, buffers, sanders, and tuners. Manufacturers of brass and some woodwind instrumentshave positions for die casters, solderers, engravers, lacquerers, platers, valve makers, and others skilled in assembling various ele-ments as the instruments near completion.

The newer instruments, such as synthesizers, require the talents of engineers who understand microcircuitry and computer technol-ogy. Since electronic instruments contain chips to handle a variety of functions, engineers must understand not only the functionsof the components but their musical potential as well. (See the section on Design Engineers.)

MASTER d

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Page 40: Bose Blackline Masters

MASTER #1

Pianos, despite changes in style and appearance, are basically the same instruments they have always been. Modern productionmethods may be used to manufacture metal interior pieces and for primary woodworking, veneering, and mill operations, but thefinal product is the result of handcrafting and skilled artisanship.

Likewise, there are few shortcuts in the manufacture of quality guitars, violins, and other stringed instruments. Highly refined wood-working skills are necessary for the production of a good stringed instrument and its decorative carving or inlay.

Among traditional musical instruments, drums have perhaps benefited most from the development of new materials. Plastics havereplaced animal skins as drumheads and are widely used for the bodies. The finished drum, however, still requires handwork. Skilledcraftsmanship is necessary for gluing joints, centering the head, trimming, sanding, and tuning. The final assembly of any instru-ment, in fact, is reserved for the best trained and most highly skilled members of the production staff.

After completion, each instrument is evaluated by a tester before it leaves the plant. Testers must be musicians as well as craftsmen,familiar with the instrument and its musical capabilities and able to make minor adjustments or pinpoint problems for adjustmentby others on the production line.

While some production functions can be handled by a person without musical training, knowing how to play the instrument is animportant asset. According to one manufacturer, knowing how to play an instrument might be compared to having a college degreein another field. In many instances it will be helpful in progressing to a more skilled, better paying job.

If you are interested in a career in musical instrument manufacturing, you can find job opportunities around the United States. Thesupply industries, those making cast-iron plates, actions, keyboards, hardware, tuning pins, strings, and mouthpieces are generallylocated near the manufacturing site.

For a career in instrument manufacturing, you must meet age requirements of various states as well as labor and insurance laws. Youdo not need any basic skills for a beginning job other than the ability to learn, since most manufacturers have on-the-job trainingprograms. Some firms also have apprenticeship programs for the more skilled craft jobs. Salaries vary widely according to the wageand salary scale of each industry.

InventorAnother possibility for a career in instrument manufacturing lies in design and development. Often, specialists in other fields, suchas electronics and engineering, computer software, or music performance, have created new instruments that have led to the devel-opment of new industries.

Influential musical instrument inventors have included John Philip Sousa, sousaphone; Laurens Hammond, electric organ; HaroldRhodes, electric piano; Robert Moog and RCA engineers Harry Olson and Herbert Belar, synthesizer; and John Chowning ofStanford University, digital synthesizer. Hundreds of others have made refinements in basic instruments or created accessory items,amplification equipment, and adapters that have broadened the capabilities of instruments or have made them easier to play.

Recording Engineer or MixerThe engineer sets up microphones and operates equipment necessary to record the session. The producer may give presessioninstructions to the engineer, including a studio floor plan showing instrumental groupings, microphone placement, and the acousti-cal baffles to be used. The engineer is concerned with five areas: musical range, rhythm, variety, dynamics, and spectral control.The engineer must be able to compensate for studio limitations, the recording medium, and reproduction equipment.

Salaries in this field can vary widely, depending especially on the size and success of the studio. Since engineering is one of the mostpopular career areas in recording, studios are extremely selective in hiring. To prepare yourself, enroll in a college that offers specificcourses in sound engineering, learn to operate all technical machines, read the trade magazines, and visit recording studios. Try toget a studio job to learn more about the capabilities of the equipment.

Page 41: Bose Blackline Masters

Glossary

Analog: In sound, the method of recording and transmitting sound that was used until a few years ago. It involvestransforming the changes in sound intensity directly into changes in another medium (and back again). For example,a phonograph record contains grooves that vary in width and depth according to the sounds they represent, so a nee-dle in a spinning record’s groove vibrates in a way that can, with amplification, give a recognizable musical sound. Amagnetic analog tape (like a cassette) contains particles of material that are magnetized more or less strongly—likethe record groove’s higher or lower depth—in a way that can be amplified, converted to vibrations in the air by atransducer, and heard as a musical sound.

Cardioid: A type of microphone that exhibits a heart-shaped pattern of sensitivity. In a cardioid microphone, thearea behind the microphone (the “notch” at the top of a heart shape) picks up very little sound; the sides and frontare quite sensitive.

Chorusing: A type of sound effects processing that makes a single voice sound or instrument sound like a chorus. Itis done by making copies of the sound and combining them back with the original signal—but a little later.

Digital: Refers to the recording of sound not as an analog trace (such as the peaks and valleys of a phonographrecord) but as a series of binary digits (numbers in a counting system that use only 0 and 1). A digital recording ofthe loudness of a sound that starts piano and increases to forte, for example, look like a smooth line going up butwould be recorded as a series of numbers, each larger than the one before.

Distortion: “Errors” introduced in the recording or transmission of sound. They are usually unwanted errors that leadto a lack of clarity in the sound, and engineers have designed devices such as limiters to avoid distortion. Some stylesof rock, however, intentionally use more or less controlled distortion for musical and dramatic effect.

Equalizer: A device that can be used to alter the relative strength of various frequencies in a sound. In its simplestform, an equalizer can be the device controlled by the “tone” knob on a radio. More sophisticated equalizers are gen-erally “graphic equalizers,” which have one control for the relative strength every one of several fixed frequencyranges, or “parametric equalizers,” in which both the strength of a range and the frequency of that range are subjectto control.

Headroom: The extent to which a recorder can accept strong signals. If the signal being recorded exceeds the head-room, overload distortion results.

Layering: The process of combining several tracks to produce a complete recording. The musicians providing indi-vidual tracks can, with this technique, work on a recording “together”—but on separate days. It is best done with arecorder that offers many tracks (standard for professional studios is 24 tracks), but can be done with only two tracksby recording track a, mixing the recording from a with a new signal on to track b, mixing that combined recordingwith a new signal back onto track a, and so on.

Limiting: The setting of a limit on the intensity of a signal. It is usually done so that the signal does not exceed theheadroom of a recorder.

Mixing: The process of combining the signals from different sound sources to achieve a well-balanced final sound. Itcan be done for a live performance that must be amplified or for a recording.

MASTER e

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

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MASTER #1

MIDI: An acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It was developed as a way to allow electronic instru-ments to communicate with one another by means of a “code” of digital numbers representing aspects of a musicalperformance. A signal in MIDI “code” might say, for example, that a middle C is turned on with an intensity of100 (on a scale of 1 to 128), and then the pitch is “bent” up by 40 percent, and then turned off. MIDI hasbecome especially useful with computer programs that store these signals in much the same way that a word pro-cessing program stores the letters typed on a computer keyboard.

Noise: This can simply mean unwanted sound—such as noise that someone makes in the next room when youare trying to record a song. It has a technical meaning, too; sound that contains all frequencies (rather than thefew overtones found in pitched sounds).

Noise reduction: All transducers, recorders, or other devices used to store and reproduce sound introduce somenoise. This is particularly a problem with analog tape recorders, so a variety of noise reduction techniques havebeen developed to minimize noise. A series of techniques labeled Dolby A, Dolby B, Dolby C, and Dolby S areused on many recorders, as is a technique known as DBX.

Omnidirectional: A type of microphone that picks up sound equally from all directions.

Panning: The process of distributing a signal between two stereo tracks in the mixing process. A single pianonote, for example, could have 50 percent of its signal to the left and 50 percent to the right, making it sound asthough the piano player was sitting in the middle of the sound field. By changing the panning to 10 percent leftand 90 percent right, however, a studio engineer can make it sound like the piano player just picked up the pianoand moved it to the right.

Patch: An electrical circuit set up to route a signal, especially one set up by means of “patch cords.”

Reverberation: The quality of echoes in a room. All rooms (except for specially-built anechoic chambers) havesome reverberation; that of a small room with a lot of cloth furniture is relatively minimal; that of a large, stonecathedral is almost enough to overwhelm sounds produced in the room. Because of its importance in coloring theway we hear sounds, recording engineers will often add reverberation by means of electronic devices.

Sampling: The process of taking a digital sample—a sort of audio snapshot—of a sound. The sample can be storedin a computer’s memory and played back (in its original form or altered) at will.

Track: One “line” of information that goes into a recording. Often, a track is the recording of one instrumentthat will be combined with other instrument parts in layering the final mix.

Transducer: A device that changes sound to or from another medium—such as electricity. A microphone is atransducer, for example, that changes sound waves to waves of variation in an electrical signal. A speaker does thereverse, changing electrical variations into the mechanical vibration of air that is sound. A speaker can evenfunction as a microphone—and some microphones can function as speakers (but don’t try the experiment unlessyou know what you’re doing or don’t mind destroying your microphone).

Transient: A part of a sound that changes quickly in loudness and often in frequency content—especially, thefirst 1/2 of a second or so of a sound’s “envelope.”