Sounds of Music C

[ericlepanda]

Anyone know if neck or body blanks for guitars are allowed? The rules say no parts of professional instruments but I feel like they would be allowed since you have to cut them to the right size and in the right shape (especially the neck blank since its just a block of wood).

You could argue that the blanks are not parts of professional instruments as they require significant modification to serve that purpose. You could also just leave out the fact that you're using blanks specifically for guitars in your documentation by just listing them as hard maple planks or something like that.

That last sentence sounds a little unethical...

Well yeah it kinda does sound a little unethical, but I believe it's completely within the rules and it would be a reasonable change in order to prevent any slim chance of disqualification. I personally believe that if some part of an instrument is actually in violation of the rules and does indeed contain parts from a professional instrument, it's up to the judge to enforce that. If a judge were to be presented with a guitar made made with a guitar blank, I don't believe that they would be able to reasonably claim that a specialty guitar blank was used. Additionally, I believe that the extensive modifications required to turn guitar blanks into an actual guitar would make such a device legal based on my interpretation of the rules. However, if the words "guitar blank" were to be used in the build log, then a judge might use that as grounds to disqualify the device based on their own interpretation of the rules. Leaving out that detail would be perfectly reasonable, as it would make no difference in my own interpretation of the rules and it would protect me against possible disqualification. Feel free to disagree with me, though. I personally haven't omitted a detail like that for any competition, but I'm definitely interested in the ethics of doing so.

[nicholasmaurer]

You could argue that the blanks are not parts of professional instruments as they require significant modification to serve that purpose. You could also just leave out the fact that you're using blanks specifically for guitars in your documentation by just listing them as hard maple planks or something like that.

That last sentence sounds a little unethical...

Well yeah it kinda does sound a little unethical, but I believe it's completely within the rules and it would be a reasonable change in order to prevent any slim chance of disqualification. I personally believe that if some part of an instrument is actually in violation of the rules and does indeed contain parts from a professional instrument, it's up to the judge to enforce that. If a judge were to be presented with a guitar made made with a guitar blank, I don't believe that they would be able to reasonably claim that a specialty guitar blank was used. Additionally, I believe that the extensive modifications required to turn guitar blanks into an actual guitar would make such a device legal based on my interpretation of the rules. However, if the words "guitar blank" were to be used in the build log, then a judge might use that as grounds to disqualify the device based on their own interpretation of the rules. Leaving out that detail would be perfectly reasonable, as it would make no difference in my own interpretation of the rules and it would protect me against possible disqualification. Feel free to disagree with me, though. I personally haven't omitted a detail like that for any competition, but I'm definitely interested in the ethics of doing so.

I think a guitar blank could easily be called part of a professional instrument. It is a component which exists for one purpose: to make guitars. If you were to list it in your design log, you might be penalized for a construction violation under 5.g. However, if it became clear you deliberately concealed/omitted that it was a guitar blank to avoid construction penalties, you might be disqualified for cheating.... Either way, it doesn't seem worth the risk to me. I'd buy something that doesn't describe itself as an instrument component and cut it to the right shape.

Rule of thumb: if you feel the need to conceal something because you think it will cause concerns, don't do it.

[AstroGuyVlogs]

What is a good place to learn the basics of music theory?

[wec01]

What is a good place to learn the basics of music theory?

You could use an ap music theory review book but it’ll cover much more than you need to know for the event so there’re probably better resources for sounds specifically.

[UTF-8 U+6211 U+662F]

What is a good place to learn the basics of music theory?

You could use an ap music theory review book but it’ll cover much more than you need to know for the event so there’re probably better resources for sounds specifically.

Went through a quick search, and https://iconcollective.com/basic-music-theory/ looks good for giving jumping-off points to look into deeper.

[voisinet22]

Last year I had an issue with my instrument not registering on the app very well in competition and had heard that other types of instruments did better? We had a percusion instrument of brass tubing. Any suggestions in what type of instruments would work best?

[UTF-8 U+6211 U+662F]

Last year I had an issue with my instrument not registering on the app very well in competition and had heard that other types of instruments did better? We had a percusion instrument of brass tubing. Any suggestions in what type of instruments would work best?

I made a recorder last year, and it registered pretty well (although the pitch wobbled since I don't play a wind instrument oops)

[BoomMyLever]

What about a marimba? We did a marimba last year but we used oak since it was cheap. We are thinking of doing a maple marimba this year for better resonance. We did have some trouble with registering pitches, so a percussion based instrument may not be a great move, but it is relatively easy to build and tune. I have 3 other build events and a couple test events to work on this year, so I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of time building and tuning an instrument while I need to work on other events. Anyone else thinking about a marimba or have ideas for fixing problems with pitches getting registered?

[TheMysteriousMapMan]

In my opinion, the best instrument for a good consistent pitch is some sort of flute style instrument (flute/recorder), but those are arguably the most difficult to build and play, especially if you build a recorder since that requires a complicated mouthpiece and labium. From there, plucked strings might be the next best for pitch, since you can use preexisting strings, followed by percussion instruments, since getting the bars to produce a good sound and then tuning them is rather difficult.

[CPScienceDude]

I'm definitely out of place here, but someone of my team built a violin last year. So there's an idea, I guess.