Sounds of Music C

[Team2Tact]

In the video's intro I thought I recognized some really familiar Anime OST but I couldn't put my finger on it's name.

Your Lie In April OP. I remember that the other songs were enjoyable, one of the earlier ones might have even been recognizable, but it is all such a blur after scrambling to answer those questions haha

To anyone who can answer: has any sort of golden standard method-of-choice for pitch measuring been established yet (among event supervisors and such)? I have personally found the PaSO online program to be the most convenient, but I wouldn't know if there's something more precise to the 'average over 3 seconds' rule. I tried to use Google's Science Journal, but the average is butchered by any quietness in the interval as it'll be interpreted as 0 Hz and drop the average significantly.

[mastersuperfan]

Yep, I am! Thanks for proctoring and writing the test yesterday btw. It was really well written and proctored. The test was obviously extremely hard and I don't think we even got 50% lol. Will you be releasing a score distribution?

I'm not allowed to disclose exact numerical scores, but I will be able to post high scores later, as well as unlabeled relative distributions.

Was wondering if anyone recognized any of the songs from the MIT aural section of the test?

In the video's intro I thought I recognized some really familiar Anime OST but I couldn't put my finger on it's name.

First song was pretty chill, and the second and third songs were honestly kinda hype, like some VGM type thing.

All in all that section was really interesting. Would've liked a bit more time with the questions, but all in all (somewhat) a nice suprise.

I don't remember the first song but the second song (the one in 7/4 time?) felt like some kind of vgm to me as well. Kinda sounded like some kind of boss fight music to me.

I think the exit music was Mozart's first variation on twinkle twinkle though?

Yeah, that's what the ending music was. I know a lot of people were curious about the source of Passage #3 in particular—if you or anyone else wants to know where the passages were from, DM me and I'll tell you. Or you can try to figure it out amongst yourselves The links will be given out along with exam release. (I will say that is highly unlikely that anyone recognized Passage #1, but I know there were quite a few people who knew the intro and Passages #2 and #3.)

By the way, here are some pictures of the papers taped to the wall that some of you might remember:

[builderguy135]

Yep, I am! Thanks for proctoring and writing the test yesterday btw. It was really well written and proctored. The test was obviously extremely hard and I don't think we even got 50% lol. Will you be releasing a score distribution?

I'm not allowed to disclose exact numerical scores, but I will be able to post high scores later, as well as unlabeled relative distributions.

Was wondering if anyone recognized any of the songs from the MIT aural section of the test?

In the video's intro I thought I recognized some really familiar Anime OST but I couldn't put my finger on it's name.

First song was pretty chill, and the second and third songs were honestly kinda hype, like some VGM type thing.

All in all that section was really interesting. Would've liked a bit more time with the questions, but all in all (somewhat) a nice suprise.

I don't remember the first song but the second song (the one in 7/4 time?) felt like some kind of vgm to me as well. Kinda sounded like some kind of boss fight music to me.

I think the exit music was Mozart's first variation on twinkle twinkle though?

Yeah, that's what the ending music was. I know a lot of people were curious about the source of Passage #3 in particular—if you or anyone else wants to know where the passages were from, DM me and I'll tell you. Or you can try to figure it out amongst yourselves The links will be given out along with exam release. (I will say that is highly unlikely that anyone recognized Passage #1, but I know there were quite a few people who knew the intro and Passages #2 and #3.)

By the way, here are some pictures of the papers taped to the wall that some of you might remember:

That last picture in particular though lmaooo

[gz839918]

Hello,
Yesterday we competed at the MIT invitational for sounds of music and we were pretty unlucky because the microphone didn’t pick up half the notes on our instrument. We built a copper and conduit pipe xylophone and the microphone was only registering the overtones for half the notes. Does anyone have an idea on how to amplify the sound while reducing the overtones? Also does anyone know what model microphone they’ll be using at nats? The proctor told me they were using the same model they’re using at nats but I couldn’t find it anywhere online.

I'm sorry to hear that sounds of music didn't go as you would have liked, although it's worth noting that the fundamental frequency is not the same as the pitch. The pitch of an instrument is the note that you actually hear. However, that note happens to consist of multiple frequencies; the fundamental just happens to be the lowest frequency of the bunch. So, when your event supervisor uses an app to measure pitch, that app is actually measuring the most prominent of the frequencies*, and if overtones are more prominent than the fundamental, then the overtones are what the pitch app will pick up. In fact, it's possible for an instrument to play in the overtones without even playing the fundamental. And if the fundamental isn't playing, there's not much an event supervisor can do, no matter what microphone he or she uses.

If you need to amplify the sound of the fundamental, I'd suggest adding specialized resonator tubes that resonate at the fundamental frequency of the copper pipes—that is, you'd be converting your instrument from a glockenspiel into a vibraphone. You may also be interested in building something to damp the higher overtones somehow. It's actually possible to build special boxes around each bar that capture and stifle higher overtones, but I'm not sure of how to execute it in practice.

And to retweet mastersuperfan, the Neewer Condensor will appear at nationals as stated in the ES Guide.

*This is actually a drastic oversimplification, but it does happen to be true for glockenspiels. And I know you said your instrument a xylophone, but due to the bizarre nature of instrument names, your instrument is actually known as a glockenspiel because it's made out of metal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have been getting the same issue as Micker when practicing with pascioly.org/sounds at home, especially for one note in particular (E5). Audacity shows the overtones pretty clearly so I'm not really surprised that this happens though. Any suggestions for fixing it?

I don't really know how to help beyond what's already written: use resonators to amplify the fundamental, and build anti-resonator boxes to extinguish the overtones. Apple5775 has also suggested changing how you strike the bars. If you have a more specific question or other problems arise, feel free to ask again here or shoot me a message. Good luck!

By the way, here are some pictures of the papers taped to the wall that some of you might remember:

this is amazing omg I love this lol

[builderguy135]

I'm sorry to hear that sounds of music didn't go as you would have liked, although it's worth noting that the fundamental frequency is not the same as the pitch. The pitch of an instrument is the note that you actually hear. However, that note happens to consist of multiple frequencies; the fundamental just happens to be the lowest frequency of the bunch. So, when your event supervisor uses an app to measure pitch, that app is actually measuring the most prominent of the frequencies*, and if overtones are more prominent than the fundamental, then the overtones are what the pitch app will pick up. In fact, it's possible for an instrument to play in the overtones without even playing the fundamental. And if the fundamental isn't playing, there's not much an event supervisor can do, no matter what microphone he or she uses.

If you need to amplify the sound of the fundamental, I'd suggest adding specialized resonator tubes that resonate at the fundamental frequency of the copper pipes—that is, you'd be converting your instrument from a glockenspiel into a vibraphone. You may also be interested in building something to damp the higher overtones somehow. It's actually possible to build special boxes around each bar that capture and stifle higher overtones, but I'm not sure of how to execute it in practice.

And to retweet mastersuperfan, the Neewer Condensor will appear at nationals as stated in the ES Guide.

*This is actually a drastic oversimplification, but it does happen to be true for glockenspiels. And I know you said your instrument a xylophone, but due to the bizarre nature of instrument names, your instrument is actually known as a glockenspiel because it's made out of metal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have been getting the same issue as Micker when practicing with pascioly.org/sounds at home, especially for one note in particular (E5). Audacity shows the overtones pretty clearly so I'm not really surprised that this happens though. Any suggestions for fixing it?

I don't really know how to help beyond what's already written: use resonators to amplify the fundamental, and build anti-resonator boxes to extinguish the overtones. Apple5775 has also suggested changing how you strike the bars. If you have a more specific question or other problems arise, feel free to ask again here or shoot me a message. Good luck!

Sorry for not mentioning this earlier, but I have a violin :\ The strings are bought from a store too.

edit: bad quote formatting

[Micker]

Hello,
Yesterday we competed at the MIT invitational for sounds of music and we were pretty unlucky because the microphone didn’t pick up half the notes on our instrument. We built a copper and conduit pipe xylophone and the microphone was only registering the overtones for half the notes. Does anyone have an idea on how to amplify the sound while reducing the overtones? Also does anyone know what model microphone they’ll be using at nats? The proctor told me they were using the same model they’re using at nats but I couldn’t find it anywhere online.

I'm sorry to hear that sounds of music didn't go as you would have liked, although it's worth noting that the fundamental frequency is not the same as the pitch. The pitch of an instrument is the note that you actually hear. However, that note happens to consist of multiple frequencies; the fundamental just happens to be the lowest frequency of the bunch. So, when your event supervisor uses an app to measure pitch, that app is actually measuring the most prominent of the frequencies*, and if overtones are more prominent than the fundamental, then the overtones are what the pitch app will pick up. In fact, it's possible for an instrument to play in the overtones without even playing the fundamental. And if the fundamental isn't playing, there's not much an event supervisor can do, no matter what microphone he or she uses.

If you need to amplify the sound of the fundamental, I'd suggest adding specialized resonator tubes that resonate at the fundamental frequency of the copper pipes—that is, you'd be converting your instrument from a glockenspiel into a vibraphone. You may also be interested in building something to damp the higher overtones somehow. It's actually possible to build special boxes around each bar that capture and stifle higher overtones, but I'm not sure of how to execute it in practice.

And to retweet mastersuperfan, the Neewer Condensor will appear at nationals as stated in the ES Guide.

*This is actually a drastic oversimplification, but it does happen to be true for glockenspiels. And I know you said your instrument a xylophone, but due to the bizarre nature of instrument names, your instrument is actually known as a glockenspiel because it's made out of metal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So I looked up the resonator tubes you suggested to amplify the targeted pitch but they're suppose to be positioned vertically to the bars. If this is the case, then using the resonator tubes would exceed the size constraint... Idk are there other ways I could amplify the sound?

[smayya337]

Hello,
Yesterday we competed at the MIT invitational for sounds of music and we were pretty unlucky because the microphone didn’t pick up half the notes on our instrument. We built a copper and conduit pipe xylophone and the microphone was only registering the overtones for half the notes. Does anyone have an idea on how to amplify the sound while reducing the overtones? Also does anyone know what model microphone they’ll be using at nats? The proctor told me they were using the same model they’re using at nats but I couldn’t find it anywhere online.

I'm sorry to hear that sounds of music didn't go as you would have liked, although it's worth noting that the fundamental frequency is not the same as the pitch. The pitch of an instrument is the note that you actually hear. However, that note happens to consist of multiple frequencies; the fundamental just happens to be the lowest frequency of the bunch. So, when your event supervisor uses an app to measure pitch, that app is actually measuring the most prominent of the frequencies*, and if overtones are more prominent than the fundamental, then the overtones are what the pitch app will pick up. In fact, it's possible for an instrument to play in the overtones without even playing the fundamental. And if the fundamental isn't playing, there's not much an event supervisor can do, no matter what microphone he or she uses.

If you need to amplify the sound of the fundamental, I'd suggest adding specialized resonator tubes that resonate at the fundamental frequency of the copper pipes—that is, you'd be converting your instrument from a glockenspiel into a vibraphone. You may also be interested in building something to damp the higher overtones somehow. It's actually possible to build special boxes around each bar that capture and stifle higher overtones, but I'm not sure of how to execute it in practice.

And to retweet mastersuperfan, the Neewer Condensor will appear at nationals as stated in the ES Guide.

*This is actually a drastic oversimplification, but it does happen to be true for glockenspiels. And I know you said your instrument a xylophone, but due to the bizarre nature of instrument names, your instrument is actually known as a glockenspiel because it's made out of metal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So I looked up the resonator tubes you suggested to amplify the targeted pitch but they're suppose to be positioned vertically to the bars. If this is the case, then using the resonator tubes would exceed the size constraint... Idk are there other ways I could amplify the sound?

It just needs to fit inside the box when you bring it in. You can possibly try to leave it disassembled until setup, when you can add them to your xylophone glockenspiel vibraphone. However, resonators are not the easiest things to build and keep in tune. We're struggling with the same issue right now, except our instrument is just barely audible

[Micker]

I'm sorry to hear that sounds of music didn't go as you would have liked, although it's worth noting that the fundamental frequency is not the same as the pitch. The pitch of an instrument is the note that you actually hear. However, that note happens to consist of multiple frequencies; the fundamental just happens to be the lowest frequency of the bunch. So, when your event supervisor uses an app to measure pitch, that app is actually measuring the most prominent of the frequencies*, and if overtones are more prominent than the fundamental, then the overtones are what the pitch app will pick up. In fact, it's possible for an instrument to play in the overtones without even playing the fundamental. And if the fundamental isn't playing, there's not much an event supervisor can do, no matter what microphone he or she uses.

If you need to amplify the sound of the fundamental, I'd suggest adding specialized resonator tubes that resonate at the fundamental frequency of the copper pipes—that is, you'd be converting your instrument from a glockenspiel into a vibraphone. You may also be interested in building something to damp the higher overtones somehow. It's actually possible to build special boxes around each bar that capture and stifle higher overtones, but I'm not sure of how to execute it in practice.

And to retweet mastersuperfan, the Neewer Condensor will appear at nationals as stated in the ES Guide.

*This is actually a drastic oversimplification, but it does happen to be true for glockenspiels. And I know you said your instrument a xylophone, but due to the bizarre nature of instrument names, your instrument is actually known as a glockenspiel because it's made out of metal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So I looked up the resonator tubes you suggested to amplify the targeted pitch but they're suppose to be positioned vertically to the bars. If this is the case, then using the resonator tubes would exceed the size constraint... Idk are there other ways I could amplify the sound?

It just needs to fit inside the box when you bring it in. You can possibly try to leave it disassembled until setup, when you can add them to your xylophone glockenspiel vibraphone. However, resonators are not the easiest things to build and keep in tune. We're struggling with the same issue right now, except our instrument is just barely audible

Maybe the move is just to build a string instrument then

[builderguy135]

So I looked up the resonator tubes you suggested to amplify the targeted pitch but they're suppose to be positioned vertically to the bars. If this is the case, then using the resonator tubes would exceed the size constraint... Idk are there other ways I could amplify the sound?

It just needs to fit inside the box when you bring it in. You can possibly try to leave it disassembled until setup, when you can add them to your xylophone glockenspiel vibraphone. However, resonators are not the easiest things to build and keep in tune. We're struggling with the same issue right now, except our instrument is just barely audible

Maybe the move is just to build a string instrument then

i have so many regrets building a string instrument

[smayya337]

So I looked up the resonator tubes you suggested to amplify the targeted pitch but they're suppose to be positioned vertically to the bars. If this is the case, then using the resonator tubes would exceed the size constraint... Idk are there other ways I could amplify the sound?

It just needs to fit inside the box when you bring it in. You can possibly try to leave it disassembled until setup, when you can add them to your xylophone glockenspiel vibraphone. However, resonators are not the easiest things to build and keep in tune. We're struggling with the same issue right now, except our instrument is just barely audible

Maybe the move is just to build a string instrument then

I (my partner, really) made a string instrument last year. It's a lot easier to build than percussion, but trying to adjust the tension of the strings is a pain and making sure your fingers are in the right spot is not easy either. A percussion instrument is harder to build but easier afterwards, IMO. You mentioned the judges can only pick up your overtones - have you tried sanding down your bars near the nodes?