30 April 2013

Alex Buettner_Project 4

9 comments:

Nstraube said...

Good topic. Narrow enough with enough testable constraints within it. I would push the visual comparison/contrast through drawings not just photographs. Analyze the geometries of each guitar and it's components. What is the range of the arc size in the curve of the body? Does this relate to hole size? or the curve of the neck etc? Really push some morphological studies and see what happens? What is the prototypical? What is abnormal? How are these identified?

Unknown said...

very nice presentation!, man nick basicaly said everything that i keep thinking about for you to do next. So yea maybe you could diagram the evolution of form? Im sorry i can't think of anything else it was well done!

Unknown said...

There is some really nice analysis here!
Nick focused a lot on the form of the guitar, but what about the physical properties of the different woods used? You diagram the price variation and traditional wood-types used, but what specifically do these wood qualities bring to the guitar? If you begin examining the various woods, do some have a higher or lower moisture content thus creating a softer wood? What effect can this have to the life-span of the guitar? What kind of finish is required to extend the life of the wood? Where are the greatest faults in the construction of a guitar and how does the type of wood account for that?

Sort of a digression from that: is it possible to find a wood replacement for the traditional woods used? Can recent advancements in thermal modifications of wood to create a more controlled moisture content expand the wood possibilities? If the wood needs to be a harder, drier style, can thermal modifications be done to less expensive/less endangered wood to create the same quality? Just something to throw a hat at...

Dan Kornaus said...

As someone who does not know anything about guitars, I appreciated the guitar body type overview at the beginning to gain context. It was very interesting to see how you were able to create form out of this topic, and overall it was a good presentation.

I'm not overly suprised that sound quality did not decrease with price. With a lot of specialty companies like this, they want to keep a consistency in quality and reliability across their product line, and price is probably influenced more by the labor and materials.

Unknown said...

Could the densities of the different woods you researched ever be replaced with synthetic materials?. Obviously sound not playing a factor in this analysis, could price be looked at by replacing the rare woods with synthetics?. How much time does it take to manufacture each, and how do all models compare?

John Annis said...

I learned a bit about size to sound ratio here. I think you touched on some good information for those who are not skilled in playing the guitar.

What if you made comparisons to what the sounds of the guitar to ordinary objects everyone would be familiar with. A baby's cry, a bus, etc. You could make the sound of music easily relate for those who do not play or know music scale.

Unknown said...

I agree with John. I'm impressed with the analysis, but I do want to see something comparing sound. Also, how does the curvature in the body effect sound? I'm a lamen when it comes to guitars, so this is all very interesting to me.

Unknown said...

I think that your project topic lends itself quite well to the analysis we are doing. I think developing your own personal graphic notation for the project would be helpful.

travis nissen said...

The topic provides a number of possible directions. Another method to deepen your argument. How do these forms connect to music? are certain guitars used for different genres? Do the models target various genres? I.e Spanish finger style/folk?