You can build your own musical instruments, using readily available materials. Discarded boxes, bottles and other "throwaways" can be turned into working zithers, flutes, drums and the like. Other items, such as plastic tubing,are inexpensive and lend themselves well to creative projects. I will describe a few such instruments below.
1. Didgeridoos. Didgeridoos, which are Australian Aboriginal wind instruments, can be made from plastic air hoses and PVC tubing, as well as cardboard mailing tubes. The cardboard tubes found in boxes of aluminum foil, wax paper and plastic wrap also work well. You can tape three or more carboard rolls from paper towels together to make a didgeridoo. A single cardboard roll, such as that found in gift wrap tubes, is even better for the purpose.
Bamboo poles, such as those ordinarily used as curtain rods, make good instruments. You may need to find a way to hollow out the "nodes", however. Bamboo has hollow chambers separated by partitions. The partitions are at the nodes.I have several bamboo didges. One actually consists of a bamboo stick taped to a cardboard tube. I made the bamboo didgeridoos hollow throughout by using a hammer and brass lamp rod. A few sharp raps on the end of the brass rod were sufficient to break through the inner partitions. Sometimes, you may be lucky enough to have bamboo poles which are completely hollow. Such lengths require a minimum of extra work. If you use bamboo, be sure to sand or file down all rough edges. Clear away any splinters which form. Bamboo which is about 1/8 inch thick or more tends to be very durable. The thinner-walled reeds tend to crack and splinter.
Didges vary in length from three to more than six feet long. I have instruments made from four-to-five-foot-long pieces of PVC tubes, as well as foot-long "elbows" which I assembled. For variety, I even have innovative instruments, such as a double-headed didgeridoo, a flexible hose didge, and a double-didge. The double-headed didge is a piece of suction hose connected to clear plastic tubing. I use both ends as mouth pieces and get different sounds from each. The double didge is a two-and-a-half foot PVC tube taped to a three-and-a-half foot long tube.
The diameters of the tubes I use for didgeridoos vary from three-quarters of an inch to about an inch-and-a-half. The wider diameters tend to get the best sounds.
For additional variety, you can bend pieces of PVC into curved or angular didgeridoos. Use a heat gun to do this. Make sure the heat gun is set at the lower setting, about 750 degrees, Fahrenheit. Higher settings, especially 1000 degrees,are too high; the heat will scorch and possibly burn the plastic. Follow any directions and cautions which come with the heat gun. This includes making sure you have adequate ventilation and other forms of protection when you do this sort of work. An air filter and safety glasses are definite necessities. Fumes from heated PVC are noxious. PVC itself is flammable.
When you use a heat gun, try directing it over an area of several inches on the piece of PVC. When the tube is sufficiently heated, bend gently. I find angles of about 45 degrees are optimum. Too much of an angle will choke off the passage of air. You can bend the tube at lengths of one foot, for a three-to five-foot didgeridoo. Once each heated joint has cooked, you can make more bends at 6 inch increments. How you bend the PVC is up to you.
Once you have finished cutting the tubes for a didgeridoo, cover one end with beeswax, thus forming the mouthpiece. Be sure to cover the outside and inside of the tube with the wax. This way, you will not cut or scratch your lips when you play the instrument. Your mouth will also feel more comfortable with a smooth, more or less yielding surface, which the beeswax provides.
You can decorate your instrument or leave as is. I have used latex acrylic paints on several PVC didgeridoos. Acrylic paint takes a fairly short time to dry between coats--about twenty minutes. This kind of paint is also fairly easy to clean up. You can start with a base coat of one color and then add designs using other colors. For bamboo didgeridoos, I use a woodburning kit or a soldering iron. A soldering iron can be an inexpensive alternative to the woodburning kit. Whether you paint or woodburn, you can decorate your instrument using traditional Australian Aboriginal designs or patterns of your own choosing.
Play the didgeridoo using "circular breathing," keeping your lips loose and blowing at one end the way you would a trumpet. Inhale tbrough your nose and exhale through your mouth. Basically, you are pushing air out of your mouth and into the didgeridoo while frequently inhaling. This is easier said than done and takes considerable practice.
2. Drums. You can make drums from coffee cans and similar containers. I've made mine from coffee cans, empty yoghurt containers, cigar boxes and a sculpted piece of terra cotta clay. Pieces of PVC tubing, cut to about a foot long each and taped together with electrician's tape, make excellent bongo drums. For a tomtom, I formed a circular ring with the clay and covered the hardened ring with a balloon. I have also made tubular drums by covering the ends of cardboard tubes with balloons and tying the balloon "drumheads" with twine.
You can beat your drums with your fingers and hands. Drumsticks are also useful. I have made drumsticks from pieces of bamboo, dowel and coat hanger wire. Some of the drumsticks have corks at each end. Corks not only keep me from scratching myself with sharp points but also make interesting sounds when they strike the drums!
3. Guiros. Guiros are Latin American rhythm instruments. I make mine out of discarded spring water bottles. Remove the labels from each bottle. Make sure the bottle is dry. You can either decorate the bottle or leave it as is. Scrape the side of the bottle with a wooden dowel, egg whisker or similar object. Experiment with different rhythms and sounds. You can even treat the bottle like a small drum.
4. Whistles. You can make a simple whistle with a piece of bamboo. Again, bamboo shoots are hollow in the middle, although the hollowness is interrupted by thick nodes, each consisting of a sort of partition between sections of hollow reed. Cut a piece of bamboo close to one of the nodes. Sand to remove rough edges and splinters. Blow across the end furthest from the node. You might think in terms of blowing across a soda bottle filled with soda or water. A piercing whistle will likely result. You can tie several bamboo reeds together into a set of panpipes. If you don't have pieces of bamboo, try a hollowed out twig. plastic pen caps can also serve the same purpose.
5. One-stringed dulcimer. You can build a simple dulcimer, such as the kind played in the Appalachian mountains, by hammering a nail into one end of a two-by-four and then fastening a screw-eye into the opposite end. Drilling a "starter" hole into where you are going to put the screw-eye may help. Be sure to use a drill bit which is smaller than,or similar in diameter to, the screw eye. Tie a piece of nylon twine (such as fishing line) onto the nail. Pull the string tight with a pair of pliers, wind the opposite end of the string several times around the screw eye, tie the twine securely and cut off the excess. Play the instrument by holding a finger down on the string and plucking with the opposite hand. In other words, act as if you are playing violin or guitar. You will probably find you can play at least eight notes (an octave) on this particular model. Most dulcimers have three or four strings. You can make your own by adding nails, screw eyes and strings to the model you have or by building a separate instrument.
You can build a zither (a stringed instrument related to the harp) using a rectangular board, as well as a wooden box (such as a cigar box). The advantage of using a wooden box is the added feature of a resonator. A richer, deeper sound is produced when you pluck the strings. Start with a board zither. Draw a line one inch from one side of the board. Drive eight, evenly spaced nails into the board, using the line as a guide. On the other side of the board, draw a diagonal line. Measure from each nail to the point of the diagonal line opposite, forming eight "X's". Drill guide holes in the "X's." Insert screw eyes. Tie a piece of nylon twine to each nail and wrap it around the screw eye facing it. Pull the string tight with a pair of snub nose pliers. Wrap it around the screw eye several times, tie securely and cut off the excess.
For a cigar box zither, you can insert the nails into the side of the box facing you (the side of the box with the smallest width). Insert screw eyes along the back top edge. Use smaller (3/8ths of an inch diameter) screw eyes for cigar box zithers to prevent the wood from splitting. Now you can make sound holes. Either drill several such holes into the top of the box or cut out a large hole using a coping saw. If you make a larger sound hole, it can be round or triangular.
Draw a diagonal line from one front corner to the other. Glue a wooden dowel (a quarter of an inch in diameter is useful) onto that line. The dowel will serve as a bridge; it also progressively shortens each string. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly. Install strings as you did with the board zither.
You can tune your zithers by ear or by using a piano or guitar. Tune the zithers according to a major or minor scale. You can play these instruments by plucking or strumming with your fingers, although using a guitar pick is easier.
A variation of the zither is the Japanese koto. Kotos can have a many as thirteen strings. I have built models with six strings each. Instead of using a cigar box, I have used six pieces of plywood nailed together. The two end pieces are square while the sides are rectangular. There is a sound hole on rectangular top piece, as well as a diagonal bridge, glued below the sound hole. The bridge serves to progressively shorten each string. I play the koto by plucking and strumming the strings. I also move the fingers of one hand up and down the finger board as I strum or pluck with the other. Authentic instruments of this kind have moveable bridges.
6. Flutes. You can build flutes using plastic tubing, wooden twigs, bamboo shoots or metal pipes. I've also built flutes from clay and other kinds of modelling material. Plastic tubing tends to be fairly easy to handle. I have found I can get fairly clear notes from playing a flute made from a snorkeling tube. Such a tube is between twelve and fourteen inches long. Bamboo flutes can also yield pleasant tones. I've made working instruments from tiki torches. I will give instructions on how to build a bamboo flute here:
If you have a straight piece of bamboo, cut a length of between ten and fourteen inches. Sand rough edges smooth. Be sure the tube is hollow throughout. If not, either drill a hole through any node in the wood (through the inside only) or use a round file to knock a hole through the inside partition. Make sure the bamboo rod remains intact! This can be delicate work.
Insert a cork at one end of the tube. Drill a hole into the tube, approximately one-and-a-half inches from the end with the cork. Use a 3/16" drill bit. Use the bit or a small round file to widen the hole into an oval shape, 3/8" of an inch wide and 3/16" across. Measure two inches from the opposite end of the tube and drill a 3/16" hole there. You can then drill five to seven more holes, each 1" apart from one another, along the length of the tube. Or, drill holes where your fingers will fit most comfortably.
An alternative method requires extra special care, as well as proper ventilation. You can use a soldering iron to literally burn mouth and finger holes into the wood. This takes time! Press the end of the soldering iron against the wood until the point where the iron tip smolders and turns black. If you don't want to take the time to burn the holes straight through, carefully drill into the charred spots with a small bit and then use larger bits until the holes are the right sizes. File or sand all cut edges smooth.
I have used the soldering iron to make finger holes in shakuhachis and quenas (Japanese-style and Andean flutes). Shakuhachis and quenas are end-blown notch flutes. These instruments are hollow all the way through. The mouth pieces consist of a notched end piece. The notch of the Shakuhachi resembles the upper part of a "Y", while that of the quena more resembles a "U" shape. Both have thumb holes on the back, although the quena has six finger holes in front to the Shakuhachi's four. Quena finger holes vary in size from about 1/4 of an inch to 15/16th of an inch. This I've noted in my own readings. Shakuhachi finger holes are about 1/3 inch in diameter. I've measured this on a genuine flute. Shakuhachis and quenas require a good amount of time and patience to make, as well as to play.
Let us consider the flute with the cork at one end. In some cases, the cork is not necessary, if you have a piece of bamboo which is closed off at the end nearest the mouth piece. This particular instrument is a transverse or cross flute. You might also consider it a sort of fife. To play, hold the flute with both hands. Purse your lips and blow gently across the mouth hole. Experiment with your hand positions until you can get a clear tone. You may need to bevel the mouth hole. Also, having wide finger holes often improves tone quality. 3/8" should be large enough for each finger hole but you may want to widen any hole which doesn't give you a clear note when you cover it. With practice, you are sure to get consistently clear notes.
7. Thumb pianos. Thumb pianos are also called mbiras and kalimbas. Most such instruments come from Africa. The rhumba box is a sort of larger relative of the thumb piano. You can make a thumb piano using pieces of plywood and popsicle (craft) sticks. Skewers or coat hanger wire, cut to lenght, also make good tone bars. I've seen thumb pianos with coping saw blades for tone bars but consider such materials dangerous.
If you have a cigar box, you don't need to cut any pieces of plywood to length. A wooden dowel, diameter 3/4" or so, is quite useful, however. Cut three pieces of dowel, each as long as the cigar box is wide. If you want your thumb piano to have a sound box (resonator), drill holes in the lid of the cigar box or cut a large hole, using a coping saw. Glue two pieces of dowel to the far edge of the box, parallel to one another and with a 1/2" space between. Allow to dry completely. Wood glue is excellent for the purpose.
If you use popsicle sticks, cut each stick to length--minimum of 2 1/2 inches and longer sticks approximately 1/4" longer. You can use a minimum of seven popsicle sticks. Place the sticks evenly across the two dowels.
Drill three holes into the third piece of dowel. Insert three screws in each hole and fasten the dowel to the box lid in such a way that the dowel is resting between the other two dowels and holds the popsicle sticks down at the same time.
Play the mbira by plucking each popsicle tone bar with you thumbs and index fingers.For a rhumba box, you can substitute coat hanger wire for popsicle sticks. Cut several pieces of wire from a coat hanger. Usually, you can get seven or more pieces from two hangers. File cut points. You can either pound each point flat with a hammer or bend the ends back against themselves, using a snub-nosed plyer or wire former. Form loops in the wire with your choice of bending tool. Insert a wood screw into each loop. Drill as many holes across the top of the box as there are wire loops and insert each loop into a hole.This method saves eliminates the need to use wooden dowels to fasten the tone bars (coathanger wire pieces) to the plywood board or cigar box--which-ever you are using to build your instrument.
Play the rhumba box using plectrums made from small pieces of wood, such as tongue depressors, or from other materials. I use pieces of copper wire, pounded flat, to play the rhumba boxes I've built.
8. String banjo. You can build a simple, two-string banjo from a piece of wood 3' x 1 1/2 x 2", the bottom half of a plastic milk carton, four screw eyes, a 3/4 inch diameter wood dowel, about two inches long, and nylon fishing line. Cut a plastic milk carton in half and discard the top half. Cut slits on either side of the remaining half, near the bottom. Make the slits large enough that you can slide the long piece of wood through, leaving an inch at the end. Fasten the milk carton to the wood using two nails, each about an inch long or less(short enough not to go through the wood completely). Use a coping saw to cut two shallow (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep) grooves in the wooden dowel. Glue the dowel to the face of the milk carton. Make sure the grooves run vertically. When the strings are installed, they will fit in each groove.
Insert two screw eyes, half an inch apart, at the end of the board which just sticks out from the bottle. Insert two more screw eyes, again half an inch apart but also with an inch between them, near the opposite end of the board. This way, one string will be shorter than the other. Tie the end of a piece of nylon fishing line to one of the bottom screw eyes. Pull the twine tight, making sure it is in the groove directly above it. Wrap the twine around the upper screw eye several times and tie. Repeat with the other two screw eyes.
How you tune the banjo is up to you. You can play tunes using both strings as is or using one string for melody and the other for a bass drone/harmony. Banjos and fiddles can also be made using cigar boxes instead of milk bottles. You can also have three or four strings instead of two. However,two-string banjos allow for plenty of opportunity for musical improvisation.
Hopkin, Bart. Musical Instrument Design. Tucson: See Sharp Press, 1996.
Hunter, Ilene & Judson, Marilyn. Simple Folk Instruments to Make & To Play. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.
The Ultimate Show-Me-How Activity Book. New York: Smithmark Publishers, Inc., 1997.
Waring, Dennis. Making Folk Instruments in Wood. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1979.
Thanks also for Amy G, Burnt Earth Works and other sites for valuable information on how to build these instruments. Thanks also to AskJeeves.com for pointing the way to these sites. The information you have all provided is invaluable!
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