How to Make a Musical Instrument
Musical instruments can be as complex and intricate as a concert piano or as simple as your own two hands. Many of the more complex musical instruments take years of training and extremely sophisticated tools to make, but even the most rudimentary instruments will let you begin to explore music. Learn how to make two simple instruments, a tube drum and a musical bow.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Saw
- Duct tape
- Dowels
- Cloth
- Mailing tube
- Guitar string
- Sapling
- Pocket knife
- Small saw
Instructions
-
Tube Drum
-
1
Cut a section of dowel that is about 2 inches in diameter and 1 foot long. Wrap the end in duct tape. Then, wrap it in layer after layer of cloth from a ripped sheet or old discarded shirt. After that, wrap it in duct tape again. You now have a mallet.
-
2
Strike a heavy-duty mailing tube with the mallet near the end. Then, strike it again in the middle. Listen to how it sounds.
-
-
3
Cut three pieces from the mailing tube. Make each piece one and a half times as long as the one before it. For example, if the first piece was 6 inches long, the second will be 9 inches in the third would be 13 1/2 inches.
-
4
Attach the three pieces side-by-side with duct tape. Place them on a table and strike them one at a time with the mallet. You now have a very simple three note percussion scale.
Musical Bow
-
5
Find a young sapling out in your yard and cut it down. You can use a small saw or a pocket knife.
-
6
Cut a notch in each end of the sapling with a pocket knife. Tie a guitar string to both notches so that it bends the sapling and has some tension in it.
-
7
Get a thin, 6-inch long piece of dowel. Strike the string at different points with the dowel and listen to how the sound changes.
-
8
Grasp a coin between your thumb and index finger and hold it against the string. Strike the string with the dowel. Now, slide the coin down the string a few inches and strike it again. You should hear the tone changed. You have now built a rudimentary version of the Brazilian instrument, the berimbau.
-
1
