The special project is an opportunity for you to explore an aspect of the subject of acoustics that interests you. The choice of topic, and even the medium of presentation, is fairly fluid. The only requirement is that the topic be concerned with ascientific approach to a musical or acoustics subject. To make sure you are on the right track I want you to get an approval from me of your chosen topic before you start.You should have chosen a topic and have it approved by mid-October. Don’t neglect this part of the course, or put it off until too late in the semester; remember the special project represents 25% of your final grade.

Experience has taught me that the "create your own musical instrument" is one of the more fun and rewarding means of fulfilling the special project requirement. I realize that this choice is not for everyone because you might need access to at least some rudimentary tools. My main restriction here is cost—I don’t want you to spend more than $40 on parts; you can work in pairs to split costs and combine skills with the provision that you will each get the same grade, so choose your collaborator carefully. If the $40 limit really cramps you on a project that you have always wanted to try then talk to me. On one or two of the last days of the semester we will have "show and tell" day where you can demonstrate your creation in class by playing a simple tune or whatever your creation is capable of. A written reportmustalso be done but it can be short (2-4 pages) describing the design, how your instrument produces sound, and the instrument's frequency range. You might digitally sample a note or two from your instrument and look at the spectrum and see if you can relate it to the physical characteristics of the instrument (this concept will become clearer as the semester progresses). If you are looking for ideas to get started you should check out the library for books on making simple musical instruments.

A second more traditional approach to the special project involves writing a paper (8-12 pages in length, double spaced) on the physical principles of a specific musical instrument; preferably one that you play, have access to, or have some special interest in. Your written paper should typically include the following sort of information:

1. A physical description of the instrument and its history.

2. Details of how the instrument is played, how it creates sound and the frequency range over which it is capable of producing notes.

3. Describe the acoustic properties of the instrument. What is the sound generator, the resonator, the formant structure (we’ll get to this in class).

4. Compare the properties to other similar instruments.

5. As you will learn in class, we can take an individual note of an instrument, recorded digitally, and break it into its frequency spectrum. I would be willing to do the spectra of a few representative notes of the instrument you are working on.

The biggest problem from past papers is that some tend to become too historical and/or music oriented—I am looking for an approach that emphasizes acoustics in the quantitative scientific sense. At the "show and tell" session at the end of the semester you should have one interesting point that you learned from your paper to relate to the class. This "traditional" paper format gives an idea of the level of effort I am expecting for those who choose one of the less traditional avenues.

A third option, similar to the second, is a written report [8-12 pages] not on a musical instrument but on some aspect of acoustics, electronic synthesis of sound, digital processing, or something else that I have not elaborated here but that meets the requirement of being scientific or technological in approach and relating in some way to music or acoustics. Be creative! Discuss these ideas with me so that I can give you some guidance.

A final idea is that you might design an acoustic survey testing some acoustic or psychoacoustic phenomenon to inflict on 20-30 of your friends, acquaintances, or classmates; your report should detail the purpose of the test, what the test is, and tabulate results. For example, although people tend to find musical notes from instruments (so-called complex tones) to sound pleasing if they are in nice ratios such as a fifth apart, the same is not true for pure tones (i.e. pure single frequency sine waves). Any interval beyond a third sounds equally pleasing to "untrained ears". You might try to design a test to see if this conjecture is true. This is just an example. You might want to test a cross section of folks to see how accurately they can replicate a tone heard for a few seconds. Discuss ideas with me—I might also be able to help you with the technology to get a test created. Note: no one has ever followed this option! I don't know if that's good or bad.

All of the projects require at least a short written component. In traditional form this written report should be word processed not actually hand written. However, as an alternate medium to a traditional hardcopy write-up you might want to write your report in HTML format. Although content is always of paramount importance I will give "flash" points for good layout and/or effective use of technology. If your web work is good, and you agree, I will include your report as a link off my web pages.

For more good ideas for projects, visit Makenzine.