A violin becomes a complete physics lab using only a smartphone and free software

Evidence

For example, if you play the violin, start with that chapter, and follow all the cross-references to the violin from other chapters. If you find you are fascinated by the bridge hill resonance and the reason for its existence, you might find yourself reading the chapters devoted mainly to the concept of resonance and impulse response. Before long, you might put a little piece of putty on a violin string to see what happens (you’ll be surprised). To understand the drastic result, you might end up reading about the Helmholtz wave, harmonic vibrations on a string, and stick-slip motion of bow and string. Next you might buy a cheap, tiny accelerometer (there’s one in every smart phone), attach it to your violin and then to your laptop, and start making measurements on your own violin. Free sound capture software will record and analyze all the data you need. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 27

Categorization

• CANDY: Adding a bit of putty to a violin string drastically changes its sound — a fun, surprising demo to mention in conversation.
• SEED: Potential article: ‘Your smartphone is a physics lab’ — using accelerometers and free sound software to study the acoustics of everyday instruments.