Shown in the photographs at the left and the center below are two musical instruments in a family that we call the "shuntophone." They consist of large chunks of copper into which several strips of thinner copper ribbon have been brazed.
When I pluck one of the ribbons sticking out of the copper base it makes a pleasant musical tone, as can be heard by clicking your mouse on the photographs above.
The photograph below shows why they are called shuntophones. They were trimmed from a device in which the thinner copper ribbons were continuous between the two larger copper chunks, forming a resistive shunt. The large electrical current supplying the magnet coils of the University of Maryland Sector Focused Cyclotron (R.I.P.) passed through these ribbons, creating a small voltage drop across the shunt. This voltage was compared electronically with a standard voltage, providing a feedback system that was used to stabilize the current in the coil to less than one part in 100,000. But I digress.
The two shuntophones look different, so here is the question. Do they make different sets of notes, and if so how.
Click here for Answer #324 after October 20, 2008.
