Back to: Multiplier Event Luxembourg
The most fundamental concepts in physics and music involve key wave characteristics, such as amplitude, wavelength, frequency, time, and periodicity. These properties determine how sound waves behave and shape our perception of musical elements like pitch and loudness.
In this activity, students will stand on balance boards with their feet in a wide stance. The Circuit Playground Express board will be on the balance board, securely affixed at the midpoint between the students’ feet.
The main goal of this project is to challenge students to maintain their balance within \(x\) degrees of flat in either direction. If they succeed, the Circuit Playground Express board will play one note. If they tilt beyond \(x\) degrees, different notes will be played depending on the direction of the tilt. In short, each student “can” play three different notes. This allows one or more students to play a song segment solely through tilt inputs.
A method will be illustrated for translating the notes played – depending on the direction of the tilt – into Python code. Therefore, it is crucial to understand that all musical notes are based on two primary parameters: frequency and time (duration). Frequency indicates the sound frequency in cycles per second, while duration specifies the sound length in seconds.
The next lesson features simple songs you can listen to and later replay using the balance board.
