How to Make a Two-by-Four Xylophone

By eHow Arts & Entertainment Editor

Make a Two-by-Four Xylophone

Rate: (53 Ratings)

The xylophone is a percussion instrument. If the bars are made of metal instead of wood, the instrument is called a metallophone. If they are made of rocks, you call it a lithophone. If they're made of bone, it's a bone-ophone.

Flag Article

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Foam Pipe Insulation
Measuring Tapes
Old Drawer Chests
2-by-4 Boards
Wide Rubber Bands
2 Small Ball-peen Hammers
Handsaws
Sandpaper
1/2-inch thin wood dowels

Step1

Choose a 7- to 8-foot-long two-by-four.

Step2

Cut off a 3-foot piece. This will be the low end of the xylophone.

Step3

Saw progressively shorter pieces at 2-inch intervals.

Step4

Sand the wood to prevent splinters.

Step5

Slide foam pipe insulation along the inside edges of a discarded drawer.

Step6

Lay the pieces of two-by-four across the drawer to form a sounding box.

Step7

Cut two 1/2-inch dowels to about 12 inches long.

Step8

Wrap the ends of the dowels with wide rubber bands to make soft mallets.

Step9

Use small ball-peen hammers for hard mallets.

Tips & Warnings

Try different types of wood, which will produce different sounds.
Driftwood makes for a great-looking instrument.

Comments

dz6667 said

Flag This Comment

on 6/22/2007 This is very generic and doesn't take in varying factors. The quality of the wood, such as density and consistency (consistent density throughout), contribute to sound quality. Environmental issues will also affect the wood if care is not taken to minimize this. Basically, it is possible to have a short bar to have the same tone as a longer bar. The author made no mention of getting correct tone quality from each bar. The definitions of the instruments are generic as well. The Marimba is another type of instrument made of wood (it's tone is 1 octave lower than a xylophone). A vibraphone has metal bars as do glockenspiels.

View All