Plastic Sounds

Ten years ago, Steven Greenall had a crazy idea. What if you could play a trombone made of plastic? The engineer and trombone player from England got to work. Today, Greenall runs a company called Warwick Music Group. It makes plastic trombones and trumpets. It also makes pBuzzes. Those are a new type of instrument for beginners.

Plastic instruments are quickly becoming a popular choice for school music programs nationwide. They’re cheaper and weigh less than brass. That is a type of metal many instruments are made of. Plastic instruments are also easier to clean and maintain. So far, more than 250,000 instruments have been sold.

Most musical instruments make sound by vibrating air in an enclosed space. Air vibrates and bounces off the material. This creates sound. The shape of the instrument and the flow of air through it influences the type of sound produced. For example, the sound of a trombone comes from the shape and length of its tubing.

Greenall and his team faced a big challenge. How do you make a plastic instrument sound like a metal one? Plastic is much less dense than metal. So the air vibrates differently and creates a different sound.

To address this issue, the engineers made changes to the plastic instruments’ designs. The pBone, or plastic trombone, is one example. It has a square-shaped tube. A metal trombone’s tube is rounded.

Brass trumpets have valves, or buttons, that need to be oiled to work. For the pTrumpet, the plastic trumpet, the team replaced the oily valves with self-lubricating plastic. This material is often used in cars and motorcycles.

The School District of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania bought 600 pBuzz instruments last summer. “The kids had a blast,” says Frank Machos, who works at the district. They got the hang of it pretty easily, and now they want to play the pBone too, he says.

Greenall’s team aims to expand their instrument line-up beyond brass instruments. They’re working on a plastic flute and saxophone. “Music transformed my life,” he says. He hopes it will do the same for today’s music students too.   

Brass trumpets have valves, or buttons. They need to be oiled to work. For the pTrumpet, the plastic trumpet, the team replaced the oily valves with self-lubricating plastic. This material is often used in cars and motorcycles.

The School District of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania bought 600 pBuzz instruments last summer. “The kids had a blast,” says Frank Machos. He works at the district. They got the hang of it pretty easily, he says. Now they want to play the pBone too.

Greenall’s team wants to make more kinds of instruments. So they’re working on a plastic flute and saxophone too. “Music transformed my life,” he says. He hopes it will do the same for today’s music students as well.   

Solve the problems using CUBES. Show your work on a separate sheet of paper.

Solve the problems using CUBES. Show your work on a separate sheet of paper.

The Guinness record for the largest group of trombone players playing together is 368 people. The record for the longest line of trumpeters is 1 1/4 times larger. How many more trumpeters were in this record than trombone players in the trombone record? 

The Guinness record for the largest group of trombone players playing together is 368 people. The record for the longest line of trumpeters is 1 1/4 times larger. How many more trumpeters were in this record than trombone players in the trombone record? 

One pBuzz costs $30. The Philadelphia district wants to buy 6,000 pBuzz instruments. So far, it has bought 1/10 that amount. How much money has the district spent so far?

One pBuzz costs $30. The Philadelphia district wants to buy 6,000 pBuzz instruments. So far, it has bought 1/10 that amount. How much money has the district spent so far?

A metal trumpet costs $300 on average. A pTrumpet costs half as much. A school wants to buy 25 trumpets. If it buys all plastic trumpets, how much money does it save? Explain, using multiple equations.

A brass trombone weighs 1 1/2 kg. A pBone weighs 1/2 that weight.

What does a pBone weigh? What is the difference in weight between 3 brass trombones and 3 pBones? 

A brass trombone weighs 1 1/2 kg. A pBone weighs 1/2 that weight.

What does a pBone weigh? What is the difference in weight between 3 brass trombones and 3 pBones? 

A pTrumpet is 2/3 the weight of a pBone. Using the weight of the pBone that you found in part A, what is the weight of a pTrumpet? 

A pTrumpet is 2/3 the weight of a pBone. Using the weight of the pBone that you found in part A, what is the weight of a pTrumpet? 

A band needs to bring 3 pTrumpets and 3 pBones to a concert. What is the total weight of the instruments the band is bringing to the concert?

A band needs to bring 3 pTrumpets and 3 pBones to a concert. What is the total weight of the instruments the band is bringing to the concert?