This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited. Article Cite This: ACS Omega 2018, 3, 11026−11032 http://pubs.acs.org/journal/acsodf Musical Instruments As Sensors Heran C. Bhakta, Vamsi K. Choday, and William H. Grover* Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Ave., Riverside, California 92521, United States *S Supporting Information ABSTRACT: The frequencies of notes made by a musical instrument are determined by the physical properties of the instrument. Consequently, by measuring the frequency of a note, one can infer information about the instrument’s physical properties. In this work, we show that by modifying a musical instrument to contain a sample and analyzing the instrument’s pitch, we can make precision measurements of the physical properties of the sample. We used the mbira, a 3000-year-old African musical instrument that consists of metal tines attached to a wooden board; these tines are plucked to play musical notes. By replacing the mbira’s tines with bent steel tubing, filling the tubing with a sample, using a smartphone to record the sound while plucking the tubing, and measuring the frequency of the sound using a free software tool on our website, we can measure the density of the sample with a resolution of about 0.012 g/mL. Unlike existing tools for measuring density, the mbira sensor can be made and used by virtually anyone in the world. To demonstrate the mbira sensor’s capabilities, we used it to successfully distinguish diethylene glycol and glycerol, two similar chemicals that are sometimes mistaken for each other in pharmaceutical manufacturing (leading to hundreds of deaths). We also show that consumers could use mbira sensors to detect counterfeit and adulterated medications (which represent around 10% of all medications in low- and middle-income countries). We expect that many other musical instruments can function as sensors and find important and lifesaving applications. 1. INTRODUCTION In this work, we demonstrate that musical instruments can be used as practical sensors in important real-world Musical instruments create sound by vibrating at a frequency ff applications. For this initial demonstration, we focused our within the range of human hearing. Di erent types of ff ff e orts on the mbira, a 3000-year-old African musical instruments have di erent vibrating parts, and this distinction instrument2 also known as the karimba, kalimba, or thumb has long been used to categorize musical instruments. For 3 − piano. The mbira (Figure 1A) usually consists of metal tines example, in the Hornbostel Sachs system of musical instru- of different sizes and lengths attached to a wooden sounding fi ment classi cation, membranophones like drums and kazoos box; these tines are plucked to create musical notes. As an have vibrating membranes; chordophones like pianos and idiophone, the mbira’s sound is influenced by the physical guitars have vibrating strings; aerophones like flutes and pipe properties of the metal tines: longer or larger tines create low organs have vibrating columns of air; and in idiophones like notes, and shorter or smaller tines create high notes. In general, 1 bells and triangles, the whole instrument vibrates. the frequency f n of a plucked mbira tine is The precise frequencies of sound created by a musical instrument are largely determined by the physical properties of λ 2 EI f = n that instrument. For example, the pitch of a drum is a function n 4 2π ρAL (1) of the size and tension of the drum head; the pitch of a guitar is determined by the length, mass, and tension of the strings; the λ where n is the mode of vibration (n = 1, 2, 3...), n are pitch of a pipe organ is a function of the length of the pipes; eigenvalue solutions of the frequency equation of a cantilever and the pitch of a bell is a function of its size and shape. When beam (constants), and the remaining variables are known a musician tunes a musical instrument, they are altering the properties of the tine: E is Young’s modulus of the tine instrument’s physical properties to obtain the desired pitch. material (often steel), I is the second moment of inertia (a The relationship between a musical instrument’s physical function of the cross-sectional shape of the tine), ρ is the properties and its sound frequencies raises an interesting density of the tine material, A is the cross-sectional area of the prospect: could an instrument’s sound be used to infer tine, and L is the length of the tine.4 Equation 1 shows that at information about the instrument’s physical properties? More least five different physical properties of the mbira tine specifically, could we add a sample to a musical instrument, measure the resulting change in the instrument’s frequency, Received: July 16, 2018 and use this change to determine information about the sample Accepted: August 8, 2018 and its properties? Published: September 12, 2018 © 2018 American Chemical Society 11026 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b01673 ACS Omega 2018, 3, 11026−11032 ACS Omega Article a low-density sample (like air), the net density of the tubing is lower, which results in a higher frequency when the tubing is plucked. When the tubing is filled with a higher-density material (like water), the net density of the tubing is higher, which results in a lower frequency. In general, for a hollow- tubing-based mbira vibrating in its first resonance mode (n = 1), eq 1 becomes 1.8752 EI f = 1 π 2 2 24 2 ((ρπt rro −+i ) ρπs rLi ) (2) where ri is the inner radius of the tubing, ro is the outer radius ρ ρ of the tubing, t is the density of the tubing material, and s is the density of the sample inside the tubing. If we know the tubing’s dimensions, density, and Young’s modulus, we can use eq 2 to predict the frequency of the mbira sensor when filled ρ with a sample of a density s. And even without any information about the tubing, we can approximate eq 2 as f ≈+abρs (3) where a and b are calibration constants for a particular mbira sensor. By measuring an mbira sensor’s frequency f when filled ff ρ with two or more samples of di erent known densities s and ρ plotting f vs s, we can obtain a and b for the mbira sensor from the slope and Y-intercept of the plot. Then, by filling the mbira sensor with a sample of unknown density, measuring the sensor’s frequency, and solving eq 3, we can determine the density of the sample. Figure 1A shows two mbira density sensors, one made from a commercial musical instrument (middle) and one made from scrap lumber and hardware from the author’s garage (right). Why is measuring sample density a worthwhile first application for a musical instrument sensor? Density provides valuable insights into the physical, chemical, and biological Figure 1. (A) This conventional mbira musical instrument (left) has ff state of a sample. For example, brewers routinely measure the 10 metal tines of di erent lengths mounted on a wooden sounding density of fermenting beverages to determine the sugar or box; plucking the tines creates musical notes. By replacing these tines alcohol content, marine biologists measure the density of with a length of stainless steel tubing bent into a U shape (center), we create a sensor capable of accurately measuring the density of any seawater to determine the salt content, and physicians measure sample inside the tubing with a resolution of 0.012 g/mL. Mbira the density of urine to diagnose a range of kidney conditions. sensors can also be made using scrap lumber and hardware (right). Although several tools exist for accurately measuring the (B) Waveform plot of a sound recording of plucking an mbira sensor, density of a substance, these tools are precision instruments obtained using a smartphone’s voice recorder app and our analysis that require great skill to fabricate, calibrate, and use.5 For website (http://mbira.groverlab.org). The early part of the sound (C) example, hydrometers are glass floats that are placed into the exhibits inharmonic overtones, whereas the rest of the sound (inset) liquid to be measured; the hydrometer sinks or floats to a consists of a pure tone. By performing a Fourier transform on this height that is proportional to the density of the surrounding portion of the sound, we determine the fundamental resonance fluid. Hydrometers can make very precise measurements of frequency of the tubing, which is inversely proportional to the density fluid density, but they require glassblowing for fabrication, of the sample inside the tubing. Using the mbira sensor and a smartphone to test river water in California (D) and bison milk in laborious calibration, relatively large volumes of sample India (E). (hundreds of milliliters), and great care in their use and storage. Similarly, pycnometers are glass vessels with precisely known volumes; by filling a pycnometer with a fluid and influence the pitch of an mbira note (and could therefore in measuring its mass, the density of the fluid can be determined. principle be measured by analyzing the frequency of an mbira Pycnometers are also very precise tools for density measure- note). ment, but they share the same disadvantages as hydrometers In this study, we primarily focused on ρ, the density of the (and also require the use of a costly and sensitive analytical tine material, as our physical property of interest when using balance).