Do bards have to make sounds to cast spells

I see these examples (not just for the bard, but for all classes) as very good ways of showing how those classes exist in the world, what their roles are, and how they fit into the game from a narrative perspective.

That being said, the examples need not represent spellcasting at all. Not all spellcasting requires material components or a focus of some sort. In the examples provided, I can just as easily see those as representations of the bard's class features rather than the bard casting spells. I also don't know that the examples need to exactly match what can be done in game, for the same reason -- they're narrative examples, not gameplay examples. They might also be incomplete examples.

The first example is most likely a demonstration of the bard casting Legend Lore, which has V, S, and M components. The M components for this spell have a specific cost (250gp worth of incense and 4 ivory strips worth at least 50gp each), which means a bardic focus can't be used to cast it, so in this case, if she is casting Legend Lore (and it sounds like it, from the narrative description) there is no bardic focus.

The second and third examples seem to be narrative descriptions of various uses of the bardic class feature Bardic Inspiration which also doesn't require any sort of focus or musical instrument.

To address your specific concerns:

Is it reasonable to assume that RAW or at least RAI that the implication is that in the case of bards, they can use 1) their voice, 2) an improvised musical instrument, or 3) a bought musical instrument?

As far as RAW is concerned, you have one option: a musical instrument. I understand this is vague. The description in Chapter 5, Equipment (5e SRD) says:

Musical Instrument. Several of the most common types of musical instruments are shown on the table as examples. If you have proficiency with a given musical instrument, you can add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to play music with the instrument. A bard can use a musical instrument as a spellcasting focus. Each type of musical instrument requires a separate proficiency.

The table in question is the Tools table, relevant section reproduced below:

\begin{array}{r|ccc} \text{Musical Instrument} & \text{Cost(gp)} & \text{Weight(lbs)}\\ \hline \text{Bagpipes} & 30 & 6 \\ \text{Drum} & 6 & 3 \\ \text{Dulcimer} & 25 & 10 \\ \text{Flute} & 2 & 1 \\ \text{Lute} & 35 & 2 \\ \text{Lyre} & 30 & 2 \\ \text{Horn} & 3 & 2 \\ \text{Panflute} & 12 & 2 \\ \text{Shawm} & 2 & 1 \\ \text{Viol} & 30 & 1 \\ \end{array}

This list is not meant to be exhaustive, of course, and your bard could use any musical instrument that exists in your world. However, the fact that playing a musical instrument has a specific entry in the rules says to me it's more than just banging on something and making noise. The fact the they require proficiency says to me that not just anyone can bang on a drum to make music. I also take it to mean that the bard requires proficiency in the instrument in order to use it as a bardic focus. This is not explicit but it stands to reason, since you need proficiency to 'use' a musical instrument, and a bard must use the instrument as a bardic focus -- this is the RAI part. I have a hard time believing that any designer intended to allow a bard to use a lute as a focus without being able to actually play the lute.

Taking all of this into consideration, I think it would be a stretch to allow a bard to bang on his armor, hum a few bars, or use some other type of improvised musical instrument, and without proficiency, use that as his bardic spellcasting focus.

1. Voice -- No. And even if so, you'd have a hard time saying your verbal components if you're also humming out a few bars as your arcane focus.

2. Improvised instrument -- No. You don't have proficiency in "banging on your armor."

3. A purchased instrument -- Yes. No problem there; it's in the rules.

And if such an assumption isn't RAW/RAI, what are the implications to allowing it as a house rule?

Not too much of a problem here. It's a cool narrative device. Spellcasting foci aren't required ("you can use a [thing] as a spellcasting focus" in every mention of foci in the class rules). It doesn't really affect the bard's ability to cast his spells whether he has a focus or not -- there's always the option of a component pouch -- and not all spells require foci. All in all if you want to allow it there's no real problem; in the end it doesn't make much of a difference.

Bards don't prepare spells in D&D 5th edition.

The Players Handbook, chapter 10: Spellcasting, mentions that Bards learn spells and can cast them spontaneously. The section "Known and Prepared Spells" says the following:

Before a spellcaster can use a spell, he or she must have the spell firmly fixed in mind, or must have access to the spell in a magic item. Members of a few classes, including bards and sorcerers, have a limited list of spells they know that are always fixed in mind.

Instead of preparing spells, Bards simply have spells known, and they can expend spell slots to cast one of their known spells. When creating a 1st level Bard, check the PHB for the Bard's spellcasting feature, under the subsection "Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher":

You know four 1st-level spells of your choice from the bard spell list.

The Spells Known column of the Bard table shows when you learn more bard spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots, as shown on the table. For instance, when you reach 3rd level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Additionally, Bards learn a new spell (and can swap out an old spell) whenever they gain another level in the Bard class. You can read the full text of their Spellcasting feature on D&DBeyond.