We propose an experiment in which the sound of a drumroll is recorded and analysed according to a simple mechanical model in which the inelastic restitution coefficient of the collision between the stick and drum surface, as well as the ongoing kinematics of the drumstick, are considered. The agreement shows that this model is well suited for…

When a new topic is introduced in the curriculum, teachers seek various ways to teach students the related concepts. For the novel topic 'materials' in the revised Dutch curriculum, I developed an experiment in which students determine Young's modulus using a guitar string. The experiment not only covers several concepts related to 'materials' it…

In this study, we determined the length correction of the Malaysia pan flute using the harmonic series experiments. The Malaysia pan flute is made from bamboo and consists of eight different bore lengths; 15.50cm, 13.50cm, 12.00cm, 10.30cm, 9.00cm, 7.60cm, 6.50cm and 5.20cm. It is categorized as a one-closed-end resonance tube since it is sealed…

The fundamental air cavity mode (A0) of a violin was investigated from the viewpoint of its dependence on the opening area and shape by using holed sheets of paper. The dependences of the frequency response of the A0 cavity mode on the shape, opening area, and orientation of the openings were observed. It was also demonstrated that the change of…

Wind musical instruments are affected in their intonation by temperature. We show how to account for these effects in a simple experiment, and provide results in languages accessible to both physics and music professionals.

In this paper I propose a method of calculating the time between line captures in a standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) webcam using the rolling shutter effect when filming a guitar. The exercise links the concepts of wavelength and frequency, while outlining the basic operation of a CMOS camera through vertical line capture.