Music Meets Science, Literally!
After leaving his cello in the car on a cold winter's day, Brendan, (a 5th grade orchestra student in Mrs. Gershowitz's class at Woods Road and a participant in the 2011 SCMEA Division I Festival) discovered that his instrument was unplayable; the strings were loose and the bridge had fallen down. He wondered whether the cold temperature had something to do with this? When he brought his cello to music teacher, Mr. Schultheis, Brendan learned that wood, being a natural organic material, is subject to expansion and contraction based on temperature and humidity. Upon this discovery, Brendan realized that he had found a topic of interest for his science fair project, "The Effect of Temperature on Musical Instruments."
For this project, which won First Place to the delight of his parents and teachers alike, Brendan studied the effect of temperature on the pitch of a guitar, glockenspiel, and recorder. Using a tuner, Brendan noted the changes to an A440 pitch on each instrument when subjected to various temperature changes. As a result of his research, Brendan concluded that "temperature does affect the sound of a musical note."
Congratulations to Brendan on his hugely successful project. Let this be a lesson to all orchestra and band students that "to protect an instrument and its sound, it should not be left in extreme temperatures."