^!Video for Of Prototype working Above!^

Our Prompt:  Our task was to make a musical intervention that drew people down the main entrance hallway and could be Musical, not just noise. Our group decided to take up a wall and the ceiling making a xylophone on the roof and activation levers that lead to hammers that hit the pipes (that we have cut certain lengths to make certain notes) that people and friends can play music on.

Our project/musical intervention: My group is building a xylophone that uses hammers and metal pipes cut to certain lengths for different notes. The first step is the planing step, we made our final decision after making prototypes and seeing a video of our activation sequence at Cornell, and finalized the idea and started to design higher quality versions of the mechanism. While two of my group members were working on the activation systems I was cutting and measuring the pipes. We used notes C2 to C4 (15 notes) and then measured the 22.4% in of the total length on each side, which is where we need to hold the pipes up to get the correct sound. We ran into measurement problems and the mechanism actually executing the correct process. Also holding up the chimes that play the notes was a confusing challenge, but with some brain storming it was solved. 

Precedents: Our original idea for the activation system came from the Cornell Chimes lever activation system. we almost mimicked the concept to get the correct function.

Challenges: One challenge was finding the correct lever and hammer lengths to get the best result for a note and not having the hammer muffle the sound of the pipe. We could measure the length from the activation box to the center of the longest note, then line up all of the notes centers and make the same length hammer for all. We could use an elastic bungee cord to pull the hammer back down so it doesn't muffle the sound. Also we haven't figured out how to attach the mechanism that holds up the pipes to the ceiling. An overall problem we faced was the wear and tear that the users bring upon it, we hope people have the respect to not root on it too hard. 

Next steps: We need to make a section that limits the hurt that one person can put on the activation system. Also we want to finish this so we need to make a higher quality more solid final project with minor PLAN improvements. We also need to figure out how to attach the weather stripping to the ceiling. And we need to figure out the correct lengths for the hammers to hit the center f the pipes to get the correct notes.