Acoustic construction is pretty important! The quality of an instrument’s sound depends on the acoustic properties and shapes. It is often thought that a piece of wood will make a sound like itself, like how a flute sounds like it and nothing else can. However, there are many types of wood which sound very different from each other; Maple, Mahogany, Rosewood, Spruce etc. Even different types of the same wood sound different from each other.
This is because even though they are all made of the same thing (wood), their construction is very different. These differences affect how air travels through them and makes sound. There are many kinds of shapes that can be found to create an instrument.
The first kind of construction is a stick with a membrane on one end, and a hole at the other. This includes flutes, xylophones and pianos. In this case the air inside the instrument vibrates very much like earthquakes do; it hits both sides of the chamber at once from opposite directions, and then the string (which is not actually a string but more like a membrane) vibrates to make sound.
The second kind of construction is when the air inside the chamber vibrates much like earthquakes do; it hits both sides of the chamber at once from opposite directions, and then one string (which is not actually a string but more like a membrane) vibrates to make sound. Also included are the oboe, clarinet and bassoon. This is very similar to the first but there are slight differences which can be felt in how they sound.
The third kind of construction is where the air inside the chamber vibrates much like earthquakes do; it hits one side of the chamber at once from one direction, and then a string (which is not actually a string but more like a membrane) vibrates to make sound. Also included are the violin family, viola da gamba, guitar and harp. The difference in this category is that it isn’t a hole which air travels through to make sound, but a little slit. This causes the air to travel much slower, and also causes a slightly different sound from the other two kinds of construction.
The fourth kind of construction is when the chamber is full and has no hole at all. This includes flutes and organ pipes. In this case it works very much like blowing out a candle; the air vibrates the membrane and causes it to generate small differences in pressure which travel through the air to make sound.
The fifth kind of construction is when there is a small tube with an opening on one end, and that open hole vibrates solids or membranes inside it. This includes triangles, cymbals and bells. The hardest type of construction to understand is this one, because it is so different from the other ones. The air inside the tube vibrates in a way which causes a solid or a membrane in there to come in contact with another solid or membrane and cause them both to vibrate.