Sketch Model of The Backwards Banjo!!

The short movie below shows the process of taking a computer model and turning it into a physical model. This is only a rough sketch model, meant to help generate ideas, modifications will be soon to follow.... Enjoy!!!

The Backwards Banjo

After looking at several different versions and seeing how the where evolving. I then decided it was time to double check the projection angles. The diagram below shows how the form was slightly modified in order to allow sound to exit through the base and not get trapped.

The Backwards Banjo

My journey with the Banjo has been an interesting one. First learning everything about the banjo and then understanding how I can apply it to makings a acoustical shell. I started looking into the sound source of the banjo and the best place to be able to record it. I found out that the sound exits the banjo from the drum after the strings are plucked. Understanding this and that the banjo is only held together through tension rims, started me on the journey of the backwards banjo. The backwards banjo would be my concept for the acoustical shell. She the diagrams below as the form started to transform by taking into account the following items: positions of the player/ banjo, reflection angles, getting the sound back to the player and the neurological effects.

The Banjo!!

The banjo was my instrument of choice due to it being composed of two different instruments in one; a drum and strings give the banjo the tang bluegrass sound that reminds me of home. There are several types of banjos Five String Banjo, Parlor Banjo and Long Neck Banjo. With this complex instrument understand not only how it is made but that care that goes into the creation of almost all banjos. The diagram below shows the components of a banjo and how it goes to get without any glue. It is held together through a series of metal rings called, Tension hoop, tone ring, flange and some have a resonator as well. Image source: http://4chron.home.comcast.net/~4chron/FullExplode.JPG