A water-level controlled wind instrument developed by a team-based project for an undergraduate acoustic class

Abstract

During an introductory undergraduate class of acoustics, a team-based project was given to design and implement their own musical instrument, after studying basic concepts of resonance, standing wave, and modes of string, pipe, bar, membrane, and plate. One of the teams designed and implemented “W.L.C WINDY (Water-Level Controlled Wind Instrument),” which the length of the pipe can be adjusted by water level inside the pipe. The lengths satisfies the modes of a stopped pipe (open-closed end) with end correction. There are several advantages of this instrument for education of acoustics; cheap, easy to make, and easy to understand the principles of modes. It costs less than one dollar (a transparency hose, a syringe, an O-ring) to make “W.L.C WINDY”. This is how to make the instrument; 1. Connect a transparent hose with a syringe without needle using an O-ring. 2. Fill the hose with colored water for easy visualization. 3. Press the thumb rest of the syringe to make various sounds by controlling the water level. Even though W.L.C WINDY is not optimized to play music, it may contribute to easy demonstration of the principles of the modes for education of acoustics. [Supporting program: NIPA-2013-H0401-13-1007.]