Sounds of Music C

[phillies413]

how are you guys tuning your instruments?

I was thinking about this the other day. I haven't tried it but you should be able to tune your instrument using your computer, a microphone and a program like Audacity (Free Download). The waveforms are likely to be complex, so be sure you're looking at the fundamental. In the past, some have had problems on some instruments with an electronic tuner locking on to the wrong note. This could have been due to their inexperience with the instrument/tuner.

So, just to clarify, this program will show the frequency of the sound being made, or the note being played, or both?

[fleet130]

this program will show the frequency of the sound being made, or the note being played, or both?

The frequency of the sound being made. It's up to you to You to know what the frequency should be. You play a note on your instrument; the microphone "hears" it and sends it to the program on the computer. The program analyzes the sound from the microphone and displays its frequency. I have no data on its accuracy, but it should be sufficient for this event.

Start by recording the note with Audacity. Select an area of the recorded waveform where the note was recorded. From the top-line menu, select "Analyze" and then "Plot Spectrum". Place the mouse cursor over the largest peak of the spectrum displayed. The frequency is displayed below the spectrum display.

As I said in my previous post, I haven't tried this, so your results may vary. I'm sure it's better than nothing if you don't have access to a good electronic tuner. The cost is next to nothing, so you have next to nothing to lose (except the time you spend trying it).

Edit: This is a very simplified presentation of the process. There are many pitfalls and factors it doesn't consider. I believe it should work in most cases. If you discover any enhancements/suggestions, please let us know.

[kalithepianist]

Can anyone name some examples of the questions that the judges may ask about the instruments? I found a written version online, but I heard that the questions will most likely be asked orally, though.

[zyzzyva980]

The questions should be asked orally. The test I put on the test exchange does detail some of the questions you might face. Obviously, you won't be drawing your instrument, like in one of the questions, but some of the questions you could see might include:

"Why did you choose [material] to build your instrument?"
"How do you tune your instrument?"
"How did you determine the length of the bars/pipes/other for your instrument?" (for xylophones)

Those deal specifically with the instruments, there will also be questions about the basics of sound and the physics of sound.

[personasaurus rex]

Can anyone name some examples of the questions that the judges may ask about the instruments? I found a written version online, but I heard that the questions will most likely be asked orally, though.

when one of my friend's sister did this event couple years ago, she said that at one of the competitions, they basically just told her "explain to me the physics of sound and how it's created in the next 4 minutes"

[kalithepianist]

Ah, well, that doesn't sound that bad. *crosses fingers*
Is there a strict time limit? The required piece is roughly two minutes and our other piece is about three-and-a-half minutes.

[zyzzyva980]

You have four minutes to perform both songs.

[personasaurus rex]

Ah, well, that doesn't sound that bad. *crosses fingers*
Is there a strict time limit? The required piece is roughly two minutes and our other piece is about three-and-a-half minutes.

So just to be on the safe side, you might wanna cut down your arranged piece a little. And I'm not sure how slow you're going for Shenandoah but when I timed myself playing those 2 lines on the violin at a reasonable tempo, it was only about half a minute...

[AlphaTauri]

Ah, well, that doesn't sound that bad. *crosses fingers*
Is there a strict time limit? The required piece is roughly two minutes and our other piece is about three-and-a-half minutes.

So just to be on the safe side, you might wanna cut down your arranged piece a little. And I'm not sure how slow you're going for Shenandoah but when I timed myself playing those 2 lines on the violin at a reasonable tempo, it was only about half a minute...

Eh, you could probably stretch it out to a minute, while going at a reasonable tempo, but two minutes seems a little long.

[personasaurus rex]

Eh, you could probably stretch it out to a minute, while going at a reasonable tempo, but two minutes seems a little long.

Yeah, I was planning on going somewhere like quarter note equals 88, and that was half a minute. However, that's the thing with slow songs: they could either go really bad or really well. If you're good, it's a beautiful piece and with a good harmony, you could make the judges fall in love with you. Orrrrr on the other hand, your instruments' tone could suck and you're there holding these long half notes, letting the judges pick on the bad quality of the player/instrument.