Guthman Music Awards
The Guthman Musical Instrument Competition is an annual event hosted by the Georgia Tech School of Music which provides a platform for inventors to share unique, innovative musical creations. In search of a new award to present at the 25th competition, we were asked to design and build an award that reflected the spirit of the competition and instruments.
Time Frame:
January - March 2023
Team:
Teddy Koutsoftas, Sophia Kim, Nolan Helmuth,
Ava Raterman, Katelyn Sheridan
Role:
Client Communication, Instrumental Research, Ideation, Prototyping, Final Model
Skills/ Tools:
Sketching, Fusion 360, Laser Cutter, Water Jet,
Woodworking Tools
Ideation
We approached the design similar to the inventions of the competition; create something that took an iconic instrument and put a unique flare on it.
By meeting with the competition organizer we knew the idea of an interactive award appealed to them and throughout the design process the team had to figure out how to achieve this interaction without compromising aesthetics.
The School of Music also gave us access to their musical instruments and helped us understand what kind of instruments and materials would work best for the project.
By iterating through rounds of sketches and CAD models, we eventually arrived at our final design.
Build
Utilizing Georgia Tech’s maker space, the team was able to produce a high-quality model with the machinery and technology of the studio.
The plaques of the awards were cut from a sheet of steel using a water jet and the text was etched on with a laser cutter.
The padauk wood’s natural coloring complimented the steel notes and plaque well and was machined using a table saw and router.
Final
Coordinating between the clients and two of the team members who were studying across the world added another layer of coordination, but our persistence and hard work payed off in the end.
