CARLIE SYLVAN

THE PROJECT

Freedom to create an instrument of my own design

Over the course of the semester of Musical Instrument Design & Manufacturing, we were tasked with building, analyzing, and composing a piece for a musical instrument of our own design. As a guitarist myself, I knew I wanted to build a guitar.

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STAGE 1: MARKET RESEARCH & DESIGN‍

A guitar to fill a gap in the market

Market research

I dove into market research, looking at guitars from hundreds of years ago to modern-day travel guitars. 

My research revealed a gap in the market: I could not find a travel-sized classical guitar. Classical guitars cause less finger strain than other types, which makes it easier for beginner players or anyone who struggles with finger strain. 

I incorporated design elements of classical, electric, and acoustic guitars in my design. 

Design

I began deciding on dimensions based on the features above for an ergonomic design. I modeled the guitar in CAD using Autodesk Inventor. 

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STAGE 2: FABRICATION

Trial, error, and persistance

Making wood bend with the laser cutter

With a limited time frame and tools, I had to be creative with my fabrication methods. I made the curved sides with a laser cutter pattern called a “living hinge” which allows the wood to bend. 

To keep a consistent visual style, I used the laser cutter to engrave a pattern around the sound hole top plate to imitate the “rosette:” a decorative ring around the sound hole of many classical guitars. 

CNC milling a custom guitar neck and bridge

I suspected that using the ShopBot CNC to make my neck and bridge would be the biggest challenge. This was also on purpose—it was the machine I most wanted to learn. To prepare, I scheduled training and consultations with the maker space employees. Making a “mini neck” during my training helped me anticipate a lot of problems. 

The final neck ended up taking days, numerous failed attempts, and countless adjustments with the software. I persisted because I knew that the neck and bridge of a guitar determine the sound quality. Through my failures, I learned about the constraints of designing for a CNC. 

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STAGE 3: EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Finding the most resonant way to pluck a guitar string

I designed an experiment to investigate the effect of the plucking point on sustain (how long the note rings out). To collect my data, I coded a program in LabVIEW that calculated the sustain and overtones using a Fourier Transform. 

My results show that the plucking point does have an audible effect on the sound of the guitar. 

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STAGE 4: COMPOSITION

Playing an original piece on my guitar

The final component of the class was to compose and perform an original piece on our instrument. I was inspired by flamenco rhythms and classical guitar styles. 

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TAKEAWAYS 

Lessons from fabrication

Trial and error. I learned that it is always better to take a stab at fabricating a part rather than spend endless amounts of time planning and adjusting settings. 

Asking for help. I learned to take advantage of the support available to me. I set up many meetings with the employees of the maker spaces on campus to troubleshoot my problems and ask for their advice.

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EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA! 

Using stop-motion to explain how a guitar makes sound

Another assignment for the class was to create a video explaining how your instrument makes sound.