Homemade Miusical Instruments

[Ugly Dougly]

Illy, are you thinking of buiding something, then hauling it from CO to BRC?
We might have us a pair of dueling installations.
If so, we can consider co-locating.

[ygmir]

Dougly:
I found pipe, 3,4,6 inch dia. Aluminum.
Pm sent.

[illy dilly]

Illy, are you thinking of buiding something, then hauling it from CO to BRC?
We might have us a pair of dueling installations.
If so, we can consider co-locating.

That would be awesome. My only concern is I'm very low on packing space.
If they were both wind instruments that were located near each other they could 'play' together. I'm so in!!! I'll have to see what funds and space will allow. I may make mine in such a way that it could be assembled, deconstructed and assembled on the playa!!!

[Ugly Dougly]

Dougly:
I found pipe, 3,4,6 inch dia. Aluminum.
Pm sent.

Thank you Yg and Dilly.
I need to evaluate which diameter would be best. Small diameters are best for producing overtones.

I have a friend who has an RV and is also interested in going. I got a ticket for my SO as well. So it's going to be a theme camp! Yay!

[ygmir]

are you going to register as such?

[Ugly Dougly]

I got a full month to toy with the idea. As usual I want to get as many of the personalities involved together before the event to see if they get along.
Are you in, Ygmir?
I think that I may be able to score some building/storage space here in the flatlands.

[illy dilly]

I just thought about a few more things that I didn't consider at first.
1. How the hell would I light the thing at night?
1b. Does it necessarily need to be out on the open playa, or esplanade?
2. Lets say Bamboo is a bad material for the the desert, and it gets torn apart in a wind storm... How much trouble do I get in? Do I get fined big buck?
3. What does this have to do with 'Metropolis'?
4. What if I build this thing and it doesn't work?

At first this was just a pipe dream (pan flute pipe dream to be exact). As I started to think more about it I think I could make it happen.
But now I'm wondering how many other factors am I over looking?

[Ugly Dougly]

I just thought about a few more things that I didn't consider at first.
1. How the hell would I light the thing at night?
1b. Does it necessarily need to be out on the open playa, or esplanade?
2. Lets say Bamboo is a bad material for the the desert, and it gets torn apart in a wind storm... How much trouble do I get in? Do I get fined big buck?
3. What does this have to do with 'Metropolis'?
4. What if I build this thing and it doesn't work?

At first this was just a pipe dream (pan flute pipe dream to be exact). As I started to think more about it I think I could make it happen.
But now I'm wondering how many other factors am I over looking?

You seem nice enough, so I will go ahead and give you straight answers. Everyone knows how rarely I do that!

1. You don't need to light it if it's in a theme camp. You can do so, however, if you wish. That's up to you and your ingenuity.
1b. To be placed on the open playa, it needs to be "art". I haven't done this yet, but I have found that siting it on a theme camp - if it's not too big - helps liven up the theme camp, make its care and feeding much easier.
2. Windstorms give me a feeling similar to what civilized people call "fear", but I assure you that bamboo is playa-proof. Matter Out Of Place (MOOP) is something to watch for and minimize wherever possible.
3. Nothing. Why?
4. If it doesn't do what you originally expected it to do, then change your expectations. Don't torture yourself; that's my job.

[Ugly Dougly]

[Ugly Dougly]

http://www.grahamsmusic.com/spiritual_m ... mmary.html

Most people know of the overtone series as the basis of harmony. Not so many know of its mirror image, the undertone series, although it has been known for centuries, was written about in the 19th century, was mentioned by Rudolf Steiner, and was in fact the basis of most of the music of the ancients, including the Greeks.

[LeChatNoir]

4. What if I build this thing and it doesn't work?

Then know that you tried and don't sweat it. Enjoy the rest of the week. Do all the homework you can upfront and then go for it.

[Ugly Dougly]

Philospohical or Scientific pitch is C=256 Hz or A=432 Hz.

It is supposedly based on the Schumann Resonance of 7.83 Hz.

[illy dilly]

The formula for calculating the length of a pan flute tube is TL = (S/F) / 4 (the "theoretical length" [TL] equals the speed of sound [S], divided by the desired frequency in hertz [F], that quantity divided by 4)

Any ideas on how to light this thing? I'm thinking of running some El wire around it. Then just carrying a 12V car battery out each night and hooking it up.
Thoughts?

[Ugly Dougly]

My inspiration:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B0hGyKV9qs[/youtube]

[Ugly Dougly]

The formula for calculating the length of a pan flute tube is TL = (S/F) / 4 (the "theoretical length" [TL] equals the speed of sound [S], divided by the desired frequency in hertz [F], that quantity divided by 4)

So with a Schumann resonance of 7.83Hz and S=1,125 ft/s, that would require a pipe of 35 feet 11 inches in length. Yes? Sealed at one end or just one?

I'm not the best to ask about lighting, but El-Wire is very popular.

[illy dilly]

Hell Yeah!!!
It sounds almost like bees! (Or maybe my work headphones suck).
What if there were a bunch of huge pipes at the top of the temple! So that once you pass the man you start to hear it, then when you get their its really loud!
So I have about two full months to figure out weather I'm doing this or not.
I'll probably draw up plan, have some experienced people look at them. Then decide.

[Ugly Dougly]

It's not on an art grant, so watch the scaling. That determines the do-ability more than anything. I got some numbers to crunch.

Here's something to scare you with:

Quartered 8.979885
7/8 7.857399
5/6 7.483238
4/5 7.183908
3/4 6.734914
2/3 5.98659
3/5 5.387931

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UPe6A_UVPc[/youtube]

[illy dilly]

It's not on an art grant, so watch the scaling. That determines the do-ability more than anything. I got some numbers to crunch.

Here's something to scare you with:

Quartered 8.979885
7/8 7.857399
5/6 7.483238
4/5 7.183908
3/4 6.734914
2/3 5.98659
3/5 5.387931

What are you scaling? That last post confused me a little.

[gaminwench]

Hey, Illy, I'd suggest solar light strings for lighting small installations... you'll only have to change batteries once or twice during the week, if that!

[illy dilly]

Hey, Illy, I'd suggest solar light strings for lighting small installations... you'll only have to change batteries once or twice during the week, if that!

Yeah that does look like a pretty good option! I'm wondering what the out put is on those solar chargers?

I'm thinking use this solar output, with a built in protector, http://www.batterystuff.com/battery-restoration/12-volt/SCC005.html
running to this cheap battery (does anyone think it would matter if I used a cheap battery compared to an expensive battery?) http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Detail.aspx?R=NBD7231_0240805066or possibly a used battery out of any random car. Then I would pull off that to run http://www.adaptelec.com/powerbright-pw20012-12v-dc-to-120v-ac-power-inverter-200-watt-capacity-p-66.html?zenid=109bff56cfd2b0f042ac4b97fa498591 power inverter and plug in what ever EL wire i need.

Though now that I think about it. There must be a cheaper easier way to get a a bunch of 12VAC or 6VAC out of something to power about 30' of EL wire.
I would love all suggestions as I know almost nothing about this kinda thing!?!

[gyre]

Depending on power used, rig up a D-cell battery pack in alkaline, or a car battery is a cheap next option.
Hard to justify a good deep cycle unless you need it the rest of the year.

Fancy stuff is worth consideration if you have year round use for it.

Solar is very hard to justify for the burn only, unless you get it really cheap, which is the case with some christmas strings.
But a real battery pack will usually run them a long time.
You can get battery powered strings that run on AAs.
D-cells will last a long time.

Separate LEDs shining on a structure will work too.
Or run LEDs into side diffusing fiber optics.
There is a good post on this idea.

For more light go to 12 volt fluorescent or use an inverter.
Then there is amber Low pressure sodium- highest efficiency of all.
White and colored HID metal halide, cheap and powerful.


Aren't wind chimes just so that stupid people will know when the wind is blowing?

[illy dilly]

I'm actually thinking all green lights. To match bamboo... it has to be green light.
Green EL wire around the out side, and green LED's inside the tubes, shinning out. From what I've read, a shape inside the tube shouldn't cause much sound difference, its the length and depth of the tube that changes the note.
I've never run anything on D cells but flash lights, The whole D cell thing is worth investigating.
As for Deep Cells, I can 95% sure score a used one between now and then. Used general car batteries guaranteed. Do you think a regular 12v would last 7 nights at lets say 10 hours, so 70 hours, pulling (2) 12 volt inverters?
Also, I haven't been able to find what those christmas light solar chargers out put. All the christmas lights I've bought use 3VAC. All the EL wire sites I've read say that you need 12v to run any long distance of EL wire at a good brightness.

[gyre]

It depends on the load you are using and the efficiency of the inverters.
The solar strings I have seen vary a lot, but their actual battery sizes are tiny.
Any inverter will draw more than direct battery power, though some are very good.

The colored metal halide has a great green, about 60% saturation.
You would need some power to run those though.

[Ugly Dougly]

It's not on an art grant, so watch the scaling. That determines the do-ability more than anything. I got some numbers to crunch.

Here's something to scare you with:

Quartered 8.979885
7/8 - 7.857399
5/6 - 7.483238
4/5 - 7.183908
3/4 - 6.734914
2/3 - 5.98659
3/5 - 5.387931

What are you scaling? That last post confused me a little.

It was supposed to be confusing and out of context, and it worked! Yay.

Those are lengths of pipes in feet.

You gave me a conversion for frequency to length of panpipe. Taking the Schumann resonance of 7.83Hz, gives a pipe of about 36 feet. That's too big, so I scaled it down to pickup truck size. The fractions produce the various harmonic frequencies, a la Just Intonation.

[illy dilly]

Those are lengths of pipes in feet.

O, sorry I missed one of your your post so the next post was confusing (had a good bit to drink last night).
Hum, looks good. Except I have to scale it down to 1/5 instead of 1/4.
There is a real good break down of 'best' sizes on wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_flute Then again who knows how accurate that is. The total length of longest pipe might actually be determined by availability of pipe diameters.

[Ugly Dougly]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpMGBnWk8ns[/youtube]
The Impossibilitron.

[Ugly Dougly]

Just wanta throw some inspiration out there.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EflNCoCR4Qk[/youtube]

[Ugly Dougly]

This one's for you, illy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-jDa9PtZd4[/youtube]

[illy dilly]

That's awesome.
Ok, now I'm inspired again. The salvage material place I was gonna get the Bamboo from sold most of it, so I was a little discouraged.
I'm hoping that as spring rolls in people will start remodeling their backyards and their will be some large bamboo some place in town.

[Ugly Dougly]

Here's a cool idea that I am just throwing out there. Chladni patterns:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkox6niJ1Wc[/youtube]

Rice is MOOP of course. But there's plenty of dust out there!!! All you need is an oscillator and a speaker. I dare you to bring this to the playa!