INTEGRATION WITH THE UNIT SIMPLE MACHINES - GRADE 5

These are some of the research work done by students under the Transdisciplinary theme 'How the world works'. Students research about the mechanism of different musical instruments and how machines play an important role in instruments to produce sounds.

“THE KEYBOARD”

ž           A Musical Keyboard is the set of levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale. Depressing a key on the keyboard causes the instrument to produce sounds, on electric and electronic keyboards, depressing a key connects a circuit.

 ž The keys were traditionally made of natural materials. The white tangents were made of ivory, the black of ebony, but now artificial materials like plastic are used to cover the wooden keys. Cheaper materials like oak, walnut and soft wood are used now. 

Different Types of Musical Instruments
Musical instruments from all over the world can broadly be categorized as follows:

Wind Instruments: Wind instruments require a person to blow into the instrument in order to produce the desired sound. They work on the principle of sound waves, frequencies, harmonics, resonance and acoustics. When you blow into the instrument, the pitch of the sound note produced, varies depending on the length of the internal air column in which the sound waves vibrate. The shorter the air column, the higher is the pitch of the note produced, and vice-versa.

Percussion Instruments: Percussion instruments require a person to strike or beat the instrument surface in order to generate vibrations, which then produce the desired sound note. Depending on the type of surface, one can use one's hands, sticks, or other similar objects for striking the instrument surface. A characteristic feature of percussion instruments is that the type of sound produced varies depending on the spot that is struck on the instrument surface. For example, in case of the djembe, striking it at the center produces a deep and muffled sort of thump, whereas striking it at the edges produces a sharp and crisp sound which is totally different from the earlier one.

Brass Instruments: All those shiny trumpets and trombones that feature so prominently in jazz and blues music are classic examples of brass instruments. Brass instruments are named so, not because all of them are made from brass, but because of the nature and texture of the sound that they produce. They work on pretty much the same principle as wind instruments, with a few modifications here and there. In case of brass instruments, the length of the air column can be changed using press-valves or through a slide mechanism.

String Instruments: All your guitars, violins and pianos fall under the category of string instruments. String instruments work on the basis of sound wave vibrations that are created with the help of strings. The pitch of the sound note produced depends on the length of the air column as well as the type and thickness of the string involved.

Electronic Instruments: Most of them are designed to reproduce the sounds of existing musical instruments in a simple and user-friendly way.