Reflective Conversation 1

Researcher's Reflection Space

For my EE, I knew I wanted to integrate my love for playing the piano with my interest in physics. I narrowed down my research by watching videos on MinutePhysics and ultimately chose to investigate the effect of tension on piano string inharmonicity. To further my understanding, I also read a few research papers about the topic.

 

During the research phase, I encountered two challenges. The first was the complexity of inharmonicity’s theory. I lacked the mathematical knowledge to understand it, which was why I asked my mom to explain differential equations and fourier transform to me. My experimental design wasn’t successful either. I had to suspend my piano string under enough tension to hear audible frequencies when it was strung. However this failed even after using gym weights, and I realised I had to take a different approach. Now I need to contact my school’s music department to ask whether experimenting on a real piano would be a possibility.