University of Northern Colorado issued the following announcement on Sept. 9.
As the fall semester continues at the University of Northern Colorado, many faculty members are finding creative ways to keep students involved virtually.
Don Finan, Ph.D., a professor of Audiology and Speech-Language Sciences at UNC, is doing just that with two of his classes this fall: Musical Acoustics and Health Issues (ASLS 220) and Acoustics of Music (MUS 403), with a total of around 30 students enrolled overall.
These courses involve hands-on projects where students build cigar-box guitars and PVC pipe didgeridoos to learn about acoustics. Because both of these classes are remote this semester, Finan has assembled and sent kits to his students so they can build the instruments at home. He cut and shaped around 40 guitar necks and cigar boxes and drilled over 640 holes in total to make this possible.
“The purpose of the classes is to develop an understanding of acoustics by exploring how musical instruments (including the human voice and auditory system for singing) transform energy into sound,” he said. “This also includes exploring how the energy that underlies sound can lead to damage of the hearing and vocal mechanisms and how we can prevent injury.”
Normally, students would do the majority of the construction; however, Finan prepared the components so that students are only required to assemble the instruments. Students will “explore and experiment with the physical properties of the instruments to discover effects on the sound quality.”
After students have assembled their instruments, each will demonstrate their cigar-box guitar and didgeridoo by playing them during a live Zoom class session.
“We’ll have a ‘performance day’ for both of the instruments … hopefully it will sound musical,” Finan said.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Finan says he has had to “rethink how to teach this normally ‘hands-on’ course” and has developed ideas for new projects that students can complete remotely.
“This semester, I can’t require students to cut the holes in the cigar boxes, drill the 12 holes in the guitar necks or cut the PVC pipes, as few students would have access to the necessary tools,” Finan said. “The project kits allow students to complete the musical instrument construction in a simplified way, yet they will still be able to customize their own instruments.”
Original source can be found here.
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