al@abnji.UUCP (a. florey) (01/09/85)
We have a question for anyone who might know the answer: A teacher friend of ours asked us for ideas for a project for the shuttle/teacher program. She is a music teacher. Any ideas? The idea requires originality, creativity, and communication skills. Use of the cargo bay or EVAs are not allowed. Help!
fetrow@entropy.UUCP (David Fetrow) (01/11/85)
> A teacher friend of ours asked us for ideas for a project for the > shuttle/teacher program. She is a music teacher. Any ideas? There is but one possibility: develop an insturment that is light, compact, and REQUIRES WEIGHTLESSNESS to play. Some guy out in Florida builds underwater insturments; perhaps he'd have some ideas for the details. Dave Fetrow Archaic Computers Users Group {microsof,fluke,tektroniks}!uw-beaver!entropy!fetrow
peterb@pbear.UUCP (01/15/85)
Also another possiblity is to develop an instrument that requires VACUUM to operate correctly (Can you imagine the sustains from an electric guitar in vacuum?)
chumphre@uok.UUCP (01/23/85)
The sustains on an electric guitar are affected mainly by the tension of the string, and the strength of the pole-pieces of its pickups. j
peterb@pbear.UUCP (01/29/85)
Air is the predominate factor involved in deadening the string (this is larger than the heat dissipated by amperage created from Lenz'z law by the pickup, and also string flex). One way to increse the sustain is for guitarists to use feedback from an amplifier(acoustic) to increase the sustain. Another is the use of loopback equipment (such as delays and tape echos to 'sample/hold' the note. but if the string is played in vacuum, then the friction of the air is removed, and the sutain is much longer. Peter Barada ima!pbear!peterb
richard@bigtuna.UUCP (Richard Foulk) (02/06/85)
> > but if the string is played in vacuum, then the friction of the air > is removed, and the sutain is much longer. > Sustain of what? No air -- no sound. -- Richard Foulk (..islenet!bigtuna!richard) Honolulu, Hawaii
mike@amdcad.UUCP (Mike Parker) (02/08/85)
> > > > but if the string is played in vacuum, then the friction of the air > > is removed, and the sutain is much longer. > > > > Sustain of what? No air -- no sound. > -- > Richard Foulk (..islenet!bigtuna!richard) > Honolulu, Hawaii I believe the original discussion was about electric guitars, which need no air to produce sound. ( At least the guitar needs no air, it helps if the speaker is put where there is air ) Mike @ AMDCAD
bytebug@pertec.UUCP (roger long) (02/08/85)
> I believe the original discussion was about electric guitars, > which need no air to produce sound. ( At least the guitar needs > no air, it helps if the speaker is put where there is air ) > > Mike @ AMDCAD Okay... but wouldn't it also help if the person *playing* the guitar had some air? I can just see one of the astronauts suiting up and playing an electric guitar out in the cargo bay. -- roger long pertec computer corp {ucbvax!unisoft | scgvaxd | trwrb | felix}!pertec!bytebug
kcarroll@utzoo.UUCP (Kieran A. Carroll) (02/09/85)
* Electric guitars' sound is picked up by magnetic transducers on the body of the guitar; that's why electric guitars have steel strings, rather than gut ones. This effect will work perfectly well in the absence of air, and is the reason that this makes an interesting experiment for a music teacher to try out in space (well, >sort of< interesting...) -Kieran A. Carroll ...decvax!utzoo!kcarroll
herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong [DCS]) (02/09/85)
In article <628@amdcad.UUCP> mike@amdcad.UUCP (Mike Parker) writes: >> > >> > but if the string is played in vacuum, then the friction of the air >> > is removed, and the sutain is much longer. >> > >> >> Sustain of what? No air -- no sound. >> -- >> Richard Foulk (..islenet!bigtuna!richard) >> Honolulu, Hawaii > >I believe the original discussion was about electric guitars, >which need no air to produce sound. ( At least the guitar needs >no air, it helps if the speaker is put where there is air ) > >Mike @ AMDCAD perhaps i am missing something really obvious, but don't electric guitars have pickups that are effectively mini-microphones? if so, then air is definitely needed. Herb Chong... I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble.... UUCP: {decvax|utzoo|ihnp4|allegra|clyde}!watmath!water!watdcsu!herbie CSNET: herbie%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet ARPA: herbie%watdcsu%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa NETNORTH, BITNET, EARN: herbie@watdcs, herbie@watdcsu
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (02/11/85)
> > > > but if the string is played in vacuum, then the friction of the air > > is removed, and the sutain is much longer. > > > > Sustain of what? No air -- no sound. Sustain of vibration. It still vibrates.
cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (02/11/85)
> > but if the string is played in vacuum, then the friction of the air > is removed, and the sutain is much longer. > > Peter Barada > ima!pbear!peterb I believe this should read, "If the string is played in vacuum, then the medium for the sound waves is removed and the sustain is zero, as it never gets to pickup." -Chuck -- - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - {ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}
peterb@pbear.UUCP (02/12/85)
>> >> but if the string is played in vacuum, then the friction of the air >> is removed, and the sutain is much longer. >> > >Sustain of what? No air -- no sound. >-- >Richard Foulk (..islenet!bigtuna!richard) Its an electric guitar, so it doesn't need air to create sound. (use an amp) Peter Barada ima!pbear!peterb
chris@umcp-cs.UUCP (Chris Torek) (02/13/85)
Re: "if it's in a vacuum, how can you call it sustain?" --Easy: whoever
said you couldn't use an inductive pickup? (Well OK that *will* damp the
vibration eventually, but...)
Can we just forget this whole topic?
--
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 4251)
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!chris
CSNet: chris@umcp-cs ARPA: chris@marylandems@amdahl.UUCP (E. Michael Smith) (02/13/85)
> > > > but if the string is played in vacuum, then the friction of the air > > is removed, and the sutain is much longer. > > > > I believe this should read, "If the string is played in vacuum, then the > medium for the sound waves is removed and the sustain is zero, as it never > gets to pickup." > I think the original was in the context of an *ELECTRIC* guitar or some such, where the pickup is magnetic anyway. The string still vibrates, the mag pickup still works, the sustain of the vibrations will be longer, the tone might even change... Why not try something where a magnetic pickup us used to 'listen to space' or some such by picking up ambiant mag fields?
peterb@pbear.UUCP (02/14/85)
>> >> but if the string is played in vacuum, then the friction of the air >> is removed, and the sutain is much longer. >> >> Peter Barada >> ima!pbear!peterb > >I believe this should read, "If the string is played in vacuum, then the >medium for the sound waves is removed and the sustain is zero, as it never >gets to pickup." > >-Chuck > >-- >{ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ > {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem > {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ The original premise was that if an ELECTRIC guitar (or other stringed instrument) is played in a vacuum then the dampening effect caused by air molocules is removed thereby increasing the sustain level. This applies for other instruments as well (such as: tubular bells, pianos, violins, cellos, xylophones, etc.... Peter Barada ima!pbear!peterb
mlm@cmu-cs-cad.ARPA (Michael Mauldin) (02/17/85)
Enough about guitar strings in space!!! 1. Yes, you can play an electric guitar in space. 2. Sure, it might be interesting to hear the difference of the sustains in a vacuum, but 3. IT CAN BE DONE ON THE GROUND IN A VACUUM CHAMBER!!! To REALLY interest NASA in a shuttle project, you have to pick something that can be done cheaper in space than on the ground. Weightlessness should have little or no effect on a guitar string. Michael L. Mauldin (Fuzzy) Department of Computer Science Mauldin@CMU-CS-CAD.ARPA Carnegie-Mellon University (412) 578-3065 Pittsburgh, PA 15213
brent@phoenix.UUCP (Brent P. Callahan) (02/20/85)
>Enough about guitar strings in space!!! > >1. Yes, you can play an electric guitar in space. >2. Sure, it might be interesting to hear the difference of the sustains > in a vacuum, but >3. IT CAN BE DONE ON THE GROUND IN A VACUUM CHAMBER!!! But what about the acoustics of the chamber ? -- Made in New Zealand --> Brent Callaghan AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ {ihnp4|ahuta|pegasus}!phoenix!brent (201) 576-3475