The semester ended up with a mix of unexpected succes and failure. To start with the dissappointing:
My tape cylinder machine never quite got finished. I spent too much time setting up this nifty lever to
operate a speed control only to find out that actually making that control was more difficult than I expected. I figured that if I just put a potentiometer between the power supply and the motor it would give me a variable voltage that would vary the speed of the motor. While this is true, finding the right potentiometer for the job was difficult. I started with what I had at hand a one mega-ohm pot. This was way too big. by the time I turned it one tenth of the way up, the resistance was so high that the motor stopped altogether. Same results with a 500 kilo-ohm, 100 k-ohm and a 10 k-ohm pot. I think that a 25 ohm (no prefix) might have worked. The end result was that I had a fancy on-off switch and no time to make any tape samples.
Like every unfinished project, I hope to find the time and motivation to work on this next semester but we will just have to wait and see about that.
On the other hand, my harmonic Cello came together really well and exceded my expectations. 
You’ve all seen it but I should just take a minute to describe it fully. It has two strings about 4 feet long. These strings are made of heavy piano wire. I had to use this because guitar strings are not long enough and actual cello or bass strings are very expensive. The strings are attached to screws at one end and guitar tuners at the other. The key to making this a harmonic cello is that there is a bridge in the middle which divides each string into two equal lengths. The pickup, which is a normal electric guitar pickup is at one end (the bottom) and any bowing plucking and fingering is done on the top half. This way the pickup only hears echoes and overtones from the notes played on the other half.
The instrument was very simple to contruct. It was based on the harmonic guitar which is described in the Bart Hopkins book. What surprised me about it was the variety of sounds I was able to get out of it. Cascading harmonics, bends and plucked open notes all give amazingly resonant sounds. By sliding my finger lightly down the string while bowing, it makes natural arpeggios running through the overtone series. The best part about it though is the natural reverb that rings on every note. The unbowed, unfingered portion of the string continues to ring even though the bowed part is dampened.
All in all, I was really happy with the work I did in class as the tape machine was a great learning experience and the cello was a musical success.