By Donald Glander

Faculty Mentor: Rebecca Callaway

Abstract

Though it may not seem like it at first, a piano (not an electric piano, a true acoustic piano) can be thought of as a string instrument. The keys, pressed by a musician, activate levers which strike a string, producing sound. But pianos are large and clunky, so I wanted to replicate this process with a smaller stringed instrument – like a guitar, and use electric components rather than gravity and levers to strike strings. My project, which I have decided to call the Electric Piano-Guitar, is an electrical circuit consisting of three solenoids, each of which are connected wired to a button. Each button, when pressed, activates a solenoid, which flicks downward. The solenoids, arranged on a block are then placed over a guitar, touch the strings to produce sound, allowing the musician to play the instrument by pushing these buttons which each activate a string.