Instrument Design Challenge: Ukulele

Project Explanation:
For this project, we chose to design and build a ukulele out of the resources that we could use.We wanted to see if we could make an instrument that usually requires professionals to build well.

Technological Concepts:
The vibration of the ukulele's stings are what cause it to make sound. The note pitches are determined by where we put our fingers on the strings, which changes the vibration speeds. The harder the strings are strummed, the greater the amplitude of the sound waves will be.

Learning Goals:
In doing this project, my partner and I wanted to see how well we could use our building skills to make an actual string instrument. String instruments have many details and characteristics, so we also wanted to learn how they are put together and how they work. We were up to the challenge of making this ukulele.

Our Project:

Our ukulele was built with many pieces of wood. We started off by making the body of the instrument, using two flat, triangular pieces of wood, and four thicker pieces of wood to give the body dimension. We then made and attached wooden pieces to make the neck and the bridges (to hold the strings above the neck). We also used metal screws and plastic ukulele strings. The instrument is about two feet long and fits snugly when holding it in playing position.

Positive Feedback:
My partner and I were very happy and impressed with how our ukulele turned out. It looked like a real instrument, and it worked like one as well. Our handiwork and attention to detail made putting all of the pieces together worth it. Other people gave us many compliments as well, saying that it looked like a real instrument and that it was impressive that we built it. I'm really glad that we took this challenge because our hard work payed off in the end with a great result.

Redesign:
If we had to redesign this ukulele, we would have made the fingerboard a little thinner, because it is slightly difficult to reach our hand around to all of the strings. Also, the highest string wasn't able to tune high enough, so we had to put a clamp down to reach the B note. I think we could have figured out a better, although more complicated, way to set up the string tuners. The ukulele is also kind of quiet sounding, but I guess that came from the fact that we used wood shop wood and plastic ukulele strings.

Technological Resources:
We mostly used the materials that were available for us in the tech lab, and then Amanda bought the ukulele strings from the Music Go Round store, which only cost about four dollars. The project took time, and we worked in phases, progressively putting each piece together. We also used musical knowledge to figure out the tuning and the playing of our ukulele.

Biggest Challenge:
The biggest challenge of this project was figuring out how each part of the instrument was attached to the structure and how it worked. Making the tuners work was especially challenging, because we tried to do a simple screw tuner, rather than attaching little mechanisms like we saw in other examples. After some detailed handiwork, we eventually were able to make our tuners work the way that we wanted them to.
Also, planning our ukulele was pretty easy, but initially, we felt slightly overwhelmed with actually cutting and having to attach the pieces that would make it. It was an easier process than we thought, though.

What I Learned from this Challenge:
I learned from this challenge that it is a lot easier to build things than I thought. I always thought of instruments to be built by only professionals, because of how fancy they seemed, but we successfully built a professional-looking ukulele! So, as long as there is a plan and accessible resources, any project can be done.