Other denizens of the Imaginary Menagery

Cat tales

 Okay, my clay felines have been demanding equal time.

 Here is an animation created using Pencil, a free two dimensional animation program for Macs.

More animations

 Squirrels who play golf. Why not?

Back to the mice:

 Here, the critter on the right is called Inflaterat, the ultimate decoy and secret weapon!

 The Punkrats unleash Roborodent!

 Punkrat karate: Kiya! Banzai! Here, a dozen mice try their hands at busting boards. Oh yes, and they don't just use their hands, either, as you can see.

 The mice on and in the machine. The cat's computer came with a mouse--or two!

 Mice in and on a Mac

 Flying squirrel aka levitating rodent

Shifting gears: Not instruments now but animations

Mice jamming....

Okay, rather than writing a separate blog, I figured I would add a different topic: animations. The above is my latest.

I love punnery! This second one is called "Miceskating."

 Mouseboat! Two mice driving radio controlled boat on tile floor "lake", along with their water-skiing buddy.

 Bikerodent. Okay, that's a made up word. But I guess the word says it all.

 micyclist: not exactly a contender for the "Tour de France" but he tries.

 Mouse didging: If mice could play didgeridoos, would they settle for plastic drinking straws or make instruments out of straw, grass, twigs or even bamboo? Whatever.

 It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it. This mouse runs over mouse traps in a one rodent crusade to save lives.

 Here we have mice playing drums. The second video was actually the first one. I decided a spool does not look very convincing as a drum so I carved a piece of wood dowel and covered a plastic drinking bottle cap with aluminum foil for a slightly more authentic look.

Cats are demanding equal time. Here they are, being themselves, hmm, cartoon wise:

 Cat soccer: European style football for felines...

 Catfish, merkitty, whatever

Cat playing saxophone or maybe glorified kazoo, whatever.

 Cats on a boat. Only this time, they are driving, not napping or fishing.

Rhythm Instruments III: Drums I have made from scratch

 Tongue drums are musical instruments typically carved from wood. The tongues can be formed using a jigsaw. My version is made from clay. Unfortunately, clay is probably not the best medium for something like this. Striking the top of the drum with too much force can damage the instrument. Oh well. So much for that idea.

 Here's a simple tongue drum made from bamboo. This material is much more durable than clay when it comes to striking a firm surface.

Tongue drums are usually box shaped, whether square or rectangular. I made my version from a piece of bamboo. This model resembles the African slit drum, itself often made from a hollowed out log. Tongue drums are common to Central America.

 Okay, so this is another plastic drinking bottle. I just posted this video to be sure I had tested the limits of sound possibilities for this quasi-instrument.

This is a tubular drum made in the style of the Nigerian udu drum. The tube is open at the top and has a hole on one side. Partially or completely covering the side hole and striking the open top produces a variety of interesting sounds.

An inkwell is not really an instrument per se but I found the sound potential for this one quite interesting. I treated this object as if it was an udu drum and struck the open top with the palm of one hand. Note the "ploit" sound.

 Here's a sort of udu drum made from a gourd.

Here is my largest clay udu drum or udu-style drum. I had no genuine instrument on hand to study for design details. Basically I just "winged" making my own version. Even though this particular drum resembles a small pumpkin rather than a water pot with a hole on one side, I think the sounds are rather impressive.

I also made a few small udu drums. Here is one example.

Okay, another one.

 And a third. The difference in color does not do anything for differences in sound.

 Okay, this is not a drum either. It is an alarm clock. I decided to see what sounds I could find by striking the two bells. Chimes come to mind.

 Coils from a burned out heating unit can be quite useful in terms of percussion.

 Thunder tubes consist of coiled springs attached to cylindrical bodies with closed off ends. The bodies serve as resonators and amplify the sound. I haven't tried making a thunder tube yet but figured I would jangle these coils around to see what sounds I could get from them.

 Here is one way to recycle a water cooler bottle.

 And a metal coffee can with a plastic lid.

 How about a couple of plastic coffee can bongos?

I drilled a hole in the bottom of a wooden goblet and covered the top with a piece of leather. The result was a makeshift djembe.

 Here's a sort of clay doumbek.

 another one,

 Deerskin hide shrinks as it dries. That is an advantage over other kinds of leather. Here is a clay drum I made using deerskin for the drumhead.

 Here is another one.

Here is a bamboo tomtom with two drum heads. One consists of leather and the other is chamois. Leather has the advantage of being flexible enough to stretch over the frame, thus making the drum head firm, rather than loose.

 Here is yet another udu drum. This one is made from a shellac finished pumpkin gourd.

 I made this Native American frame drum from a  kit.

 I made this frame drum from scratch, using the Native American drum as inspiration. I thought the frame was wood but it turned out to be leather and cardboard. Still, the drum manages to hold its shape pretty well.

 Here is another frame drum I made from scratch. If I had had my drothers, I would choose a different design, rather than an eye or other body part.

 Some Native American frame drums are eight sided (octagonal) in shape. I tried making such a drum but miscalculated a few things in terms of design. The drum is a bit odd in shape and warped. Still, I think I managed to get some good sounds with it.

 This is a thumb piano, aka Mbira or kalimba. Thumb pianos are sometimes made from gourds or coconuts. In some instances, the tone bars consist of rake tines, as in this example. I used a cedar box instead of a coconut or gourd. Also, I modified this instrument so I could hook it up to an amplifier. The pickup is simple: a piezo disk wired to a stereo phone jack.

 Another kalimba, without the amplification.This one has hair pins for instead of rake tines for the tone bars. The instrument body is a cigar box.

 One more kalimba, featuring paper clips for the tone bars and a cigar box for the resonator.

 Finally, here is an instrument inspired by Blue Man Group. The trio builds percussion instruments out of Plumbing pipe, among other materials. My instrument is a sort of xylophone consisting of Schedule 40 Irrigation pipe and 90 degree elbows.

More rhythm instruments

Here is a small wooden djembe or African goblet drum.

 This is a miniature drum with a drumstick. I am not sure whether I am playing it properly. The drumstick is tied to the drumhead, by way of a hole in the drumhead's center.

This is a Native American drum you play by holding the stick in both hands and rubbing them back and forth. The beads strike the drum head. The faster you rub your hands together, the faster the rhythm.

Here's a bongo drum I found at a local Goodwill store. I am sure the larger drum is missing. The drumhead on this one looks like it is worn to the point of being damaged in places. Still, I manage to get good sound from it.

 Here's an intact pair of bongo drums.

The next three videos show djembes of different sizes, from small to large.

This is a Native American frame drum. Note the octagonal shape. This form is easier to duplicate than that of a round frame drum. The frame can be made from lumber, with pieces beveled, i.e. cut at a slant.

Here's another Native American frame drum.

This is a South East Asian frog drum. Such instruments are prevalent in Vietnam and Thailand and consist of blocks of wood carved into the shape of frogs. Rubbing the attached beater across the ridges on the frog's back generates sounds bearing a striking resemblance to frogs peeping.

Here are a couple of rattles I made from gourds. 

 Whittle a couple of twigs and you have instant musical instruments. Then again, two pieces of bamboo can serve the same purpose as in this video. The bamboo is store bought and previously finished with shellac.

Again, I used bamboo sticks, only these are unfinished deadwood.

 Another pair of sticks, just for the fun of it.

 Some instruments can be rubbed or scraped to produce sounds. Examples are the Latin American guiro. Some plastic drinking bottles have ridges which can be struck or rubbed with sticks, producing effects similar to that of playing a guiro.

 Call it silly if you will but maybe using plastic bottles as musical instruments could be an excellent way to recycle empties.

Now here is a guiro I made from a gourd. The gourd was already finished with shellac. I just drilled a hole in one side and emptied out the seeds. I also carved grooves in the side using a round file. The scraper is a bamboo twig.

 A heat sink salvaged from an old dead computer can make a passable rhythm instrument even if the instrument is of the experimental variety.

A triangle can be made from rebar but I have found the material difficult to work with. Copper pipe also has a pleasant sound when struck and is much easier to bend and shape. This triangle is made from copper. When each side is struck, a different note is produced, a feature I do not recall observing with triangles featured in bands and orchestras.

 Here I am trying to squeeze more than one note from a copper bucket. Okay, a copper bucket is not really a musical instrument but still, this one has potential.

Here is a copper pipe I use as a make shift chime. I cut slits on the bottom and drilled a hole in the middle. I am not sure how effective what I did was in creating differences in sound but the experiment was interesting anyway, I thought.

 In the Caribbean, some people use oil barrels as drums. They modify the lids in such a way as to generate a variety of sounds. Different notes can be produced depending on where the player hits the lid. I tried a similar tactic with a sauce pan. Unfortunately, the variety of sounds seems fairly limited in this instance.

The lids of tiki torches may not make the best cymbals but to me, that is okay.

 And the cannisters make interesting "drums" as well.

Here is a set of "Boomwhackers" (TM). These are plastic tubes tuned to the key of C. I bought this set from a local music store. The tubes are light weight enough to strike against my knees and shins. Perhaps similar instruments can be made from PVC, with the understanding one does not treat the PVC tubes the same way as one would these instruments. PVC is harder and thicker, after all.

Rhythm instruments

Rhythm instruments, especially drums, are quite popular. There is also an incredible variety of rhythm instruments from all over the world but especially from Africa. Rhythm instruments may be struck or shaken. Percussion instruments are the kind one strikes or beats. Examples of rhythm instruments include drums, cymbals, gongs, chimes, rattles and xylophones. Drums themselves are not limited to those covered by animal skin or plastic drum heads. Some have open tops. Examples are udu drums which are essentially modified Nigerian water pots with an open mouth and extra hole on one side.


I begin this section by showing me playing instruments I actually bought, rather than made.

Here we have a few rattles or shakers.

 Here are a pair of claves, typically used in Latin American music.

 Okay, this is not a musical instrument per se. It is a tuning fork. Still, I think the sound is interesting.

This is a Tibetan singing bowl.

Okay, here we have a child's xylophone. Yet the xylophone serves a purpose: to demonstrate another possibility in terms of rhythm instruments.

Here is a "simbel" or small cymbal with the sound of a bell. Note the clear tone and its duration.

This is a "cheap" Chinese cymbal. As far as I am concerned, the sound is not as impressive as that of the simbel.

Strings II

Here is a two string banjo, made with a plastic milk bottle. One string can be fingered to produce the melody while the other serves as the drone.

Now here's a two string bass, featuring a plastic storage container and two bass strings.

This instrument is a three string cigar box guitar. Sometimes you can do very well with just three strings. If you use a two by four piece of scrap wood for the neck, six strings are pretty cumbersome. Cigar box guitars are excellent for blues music. Some successful recording artists began their careers with cigar box guitars they made, rather than the expensive, manufactured instruments. 

 Here are two videos, featuring two ukeleles. In the first one, I demonstrate a store-bought instrument. In the second, I show a ukelele I made from scratch, using an ice cream container, a piece of lumber, several toothpicks, posterboard, four machine head tuners and a set of ukelele strings.

Dulcimers are American folk instruments, commonly played by people of the Appalachian mountain region. . Some dulcimers are shaped like tear drops, with eleaborate scroll work. My version has a simple rectangular box shape. A simple dulcimer may consist of a board with a nut and bridge, along with a single string and tuner. A sound box (aka resonator or "Helmholtz generator") can be added to amplify the sound. Some dulcimers have two to five strings. One string serves as the drone while the others are used for the melody. Three or four melody strings allow the player to play chords, as well as single notes.

Zithers are instruments with a number of strings: as few as six and as many as twelve or more. Zithers feature sound boxes, bridges and nuts. The English psaltery, the Hungarian cymbalom and the Japanese koto are examples of zithers.My zither is made from a cigar box, wood dowel, screw eyes and nylon fishing twine. Unfortunately, this arrangement often lets the strings go out of tune. Screw eyes do not remain firmly in place when inserted into cardboard or thin wood. Zither pins, if available, are definitely a better option. 

Finally, there is the harp. My attempt at harps are definitely experimental. The ones I have certainly do not sound like the professional variety. Mine are made from pieces of lumber, along with cardboard, nails, guitar machine head tuners and nylon fishing line. The strings invariably go out of tune. This sort of instrument might be useful for cartoon sound effects, if anything.

Strings

The string section or family includes violins, violas, cellos, guitars, basses and harps. In addition, there are ethnic instruments such as the Japanese koto (a kind of zither), Chinese qin, Indian sitar and American dulcimer. The number of strings on an instrument can range from one, in the case of some spike fiddles to twenty or more on harps. 

I have made a variety of stringed instruments myself. Let us begin with those with one string each:

This is either a canjo or a canbass. A canjo is a one string banjo with a soda can resonator or "body". My version has a bass string rather than a guitar or banjo string, hence the lower sound.

Here is a washtub bass, aka a gut bucket. The range of this instrument is about an octave and a half. That's not bad for one string, itself consisting of weed wacker cord. My washtub bass consists of a broom handle, a washtub, weed wacker cord, a hose clamp capo and a pickup.

Here's a one string fiddle or perhaps a sort of guitar, made from a two by four and ice cream container. I actually have a violin bow available but it does not seem to work well with this instrument. I guess I positioned the string too close to the body of the ice cream container for the bow to really work effectively.

Here's a one string bass. That's a food container at the bottom. I was going to use a cookie tin but decided all the metal cutting and other steps would be hazardous so I cheated a bit with the design. Or maybe I didn't cheat but made my own working variation. Anyway, this instrument is a lot of fun to play.

The brass section: a few horns

Here's a sort of hybrid instrument: a slide horn. It consists of two lengths of PVC pipe and a connector. The instrument operates according to the principle of the slide trombone or slide whistle. A moveable piece changes the length of the air column and thus varies the sound.

This is a horn made from PVC and a plastic funnel. Maybe the sound resembles that of a huntsman's horn or the ram's horn (shofar) of Jewish ritual.

This is real simple: sections of PVC pipe connected together.

The idea for this instrument came from a children's book about how to make folk instruments. I am not sure what name the author gave this horn. Maybe she referred to it as a plastic bugle or something like that. The design is simple: a length of clear plastic tubing, a plastic funnel and a garden hose attachment. All these parts can be found at a home improvement center. They can then be fastened together with duct tape.

Here's a variation of the above. This instrument is called a hoseaphone (TM)  and is featured on at least one website. You can google the word "hoseaphone"(TM) and find out its origin, history, usefulness, etc. My design is more or less faithful to the original. It includes a trumpet mouthpiece. I am not a trumpet player and find this model particularly difficult to "play." The horn shown in the previous video is considerably easier for me.

Back to the reed section

Several years ago, an acquaintance sent me a link to folkurban.com. Regrettably, the link no longer exists. Luckily, I kept a printout of what found to be useful for my purposes: instructions for building such instruments as a PVC clarinet, as well as a saxophone. Here is a video showing a PVC clarinet I made just a few days ago:

I do not have instructions or information about the saxophone. Unfortunately, I have either misplaced it or lost it completely. Fortunately, I found alternative resources on the Internet and managed, with their help, to finish my PVC saxophone as of yesterday!

I made an oboe of sorts from a bamboo tiki torch. I had very little to go by: just maybe photos from the Internet and maybe examining an actual oboe on display at a local music store. Anyway, I'm not sure exactly how to play the oboe as might be obvious from this video. Hmm. Might be good for moose calls.

Here's a bamboo clarinet I made several years ago, using folkurban.com as a source of inspiration.

And here is a chalimeau (sp?), a relative of clarinets and I think saxophones. Chalimeaux (pl of chalimeau) are also ancestors of these single reed instruments. I've also heard of outback saxophones--instruments made from single pieces of wood or bamboo. Outback refers to Australia. Note clarinets are tube shaped while saxophones are conical in form.

 Here is  PVC chalimeaux or maybe Outback saxophone. I'm not sure what to call this instrument. It has seven finger holes and two thumb holes. I positioned the holes using a plastic recorder as a model.

 Here's one with eight finger holes and two thumb holes. This time I used a PVC clarinet as a model for finger hole placement.

Ocarinas

Ocarina is an Italian word for "little goose." Some ocarinas resemble the body of a goose, especially those also known as "sweet potatoes." Ocarinas are also called vessel flutes or globular flutes. Unlike their cylindrical relatives, they are ovoid (egg-like) or spherical in shape. Many have air duct assemblies or fipples. In this series of videos, I am including examples of ocarinas I have bought, as well as those I have made myself.

Here's an ocarina I bought from an ebay seller. It has four finger holes and two thumb holes. The ocarina was made in South America--Peru, if I remember correctly.

I bought this and the next one from an ebay seller who made both. Each has four finger holes and a thumb hole.

I made this ocarina myself. It has four finger holes and two thumb holes.

Here's our friend, the plastic ocarina, aka sweet potato, with seven finger holes and a thumb hole.

Here's a clay "sweet potato," also with seven finger holes and a thumb hole. I'm glad to note I could get more than a few notes from this model. Making and tweaking it were not the easiest things to do.

The Chinese xun is an egg shaped flute, open at one end and with anywhere from no finger holes at all to as many as six or eight. One plays the xun in a fashion similar to the way one plays the transverse flute: blowing gently across the top opening. This makes the playing the xun a bit more challenging. My xun, such as it is, looks more like a small clay potato than an egg. At least I manage to get fairly clear sounds while playing this rather crude model.

more flutes, continued

bamboo pennywhistle made from bamboo tiki torch obtained at a local Dollar store. Go figure.

The second to last flute in this series is a plastic recorder.

This last flute is a primitive recorder made from inner corner molding and a small piece of bamboo. The sound is not quite as sweet as with an actual recorder but is probably better than nothing.

More flutes

bamboo

wood molding again

bamboo again!

Examples of fipple flutes: The fujara

The fujara is a bass flute built and played by Slovakian shepherds. It is an overtone fipple flute with three finger holes. The instrument is made from wood. I have made three working models from PVC. Here are videos showing two. Recording my playing the third fujara proved difficult so I set that instrument aside.

 In this second video, the design of the flute is a bit different: the finger holes are placed in such a way as to produce a major scale. 

Examples of fipple flutes--the koncovka

Some flutes lack finger holes. Examples include the Scandinavian willow whistle and various Slavic end blown flutes such as the Slovakian koncovka. All are overtone flutes and are played by overblowing. In other words, the player blows gently or forcefully into the mouthpiece, producing the desired range of sounds. In addition, (s)he partially or completely covers or uncovers the foot (far) end of the flute for additional effects such as more notes, trills and the like.

Koncovkas are typically made from wood but I made mine from PVC or bamboo. Here are a few examples.

Slide whistles and a simple fipple flute

I am not sure whether to call these two  flutes, per se. They are actually  bamboo slide whistle, similar to the plastic novelty items carried by music stores.

Here is a whistle made from inner corner molding and lumber. The instrument has two finger holes and a thumb hole--a sort of primitive recorder of highly limited range.

Whistles

 Police whistles, toy whistles, pennywhistles, tin whistles, recorders, ocarinas and some other flutes share a common feature: the air duct assembly, commonly referred to as the fipple. This arrangement consists of a square or rectangular window cut into the body of the instrument at the mouthpiece end. The edge at the bottom of the window is beveled or cut at a slant, to resemble a wedge. A wood plug is inserted into the mouthpiece end as well. The plug is beveled in such a way as to allow air to pass over it but forced through a slit and over the edge of the window. The above video shows a whistle without a fipple. The instrument consists of a small piece of hollowed out bamboo, played in the manner of panpipes. The rest of the videos in this sequence show fipple whistles made from bamboo, cardboard, PVC, cedar wood from a cigarbox, twigs and clay.

Here's the cardboard whistle. I got the design for this model from http://www.flyingpig.com/uk, I think. You might want to Google "cardboard whistles" for the actual link or something similar.

Here's a clay whistle made in the shape of either a stegosaurus or porcupine. Or maybe some other critter. Anyway, I was glad to get good sound from this whistle.

Okay, so this whistle is small: about the size of the tip of a pinky. But it makes a fairly shrill tone anyway.

You can get sounds from just about any found object. An empty snail shell or sea shell is a good example. 

A drone flute and two double flutes

Drone flutes consist of two parts. One has no finger holes and so plays only one note. The other has finger holes and so one can play a melody on that section. Double flutes also consist of two parts, each with finger holes. Some Native American flutes are drones or double flutes. Double flutes are also common in central and Southeastern Europe. An earlier video in this blog features a Native American drone flute. Here is a drone flute I made from inner corner molding. I started out with a Native American design but glued a piece of bamboo in place for the wood block, thus creating a non-Native variation in design.

Now here is a wood double flute I bought from an ebay seller. I think the instrument was made in Romania.

Now here's a double flute I made. Again, this started off as a Native American design but changed into something else as soon as I used glue instead of tying on a wood block over the sound holes.

Native American flutes

Besides the Anasazi flute (also known as the Kokopelli flute), there is another kind of flute associated with Native Americans: the courting or love flute. This instrument features two sound holes. The first hole directs air from the end of mouthpiece under a wood block tied to the body of the flute. The block is carved to resemble a totem animal. The airstream is forced through a space between the block and the flute, by way of a gasket, over the front edge of the second or "true sound hole." Some Native American flutes have five finger holes, consistent with the pentatonic scale typical of Native American music. Finger holes may vary in size and position. Since rulers and precise measuring devices were not necessarily available many years ago, native craftsmen used their fingers, hands and arms to measure finger hole distances, flute lengths and other values. The above is a Cedar flute made from a kit. I used my fingers and hands to position the various holes.

Now here is a flute made from wood inner corner or cove molding. Molding can be found at a Home improvement store such as Home Depot.

Wood blocks are usually tied onto the body of the flute with leather straps. I use chamois instead. Here are a couple more videos, showing similar flutes built from molding, as well as dowels and pieces of lumber.

Here's a Native American style flute I made from what I call fallen bamboo. In other words, the bamboo was growing locally but parts died off. This piece was from a bamboo stand located in front of a science museum not far from where I live. I consider this piece a lucky find.

Here's another flute made from fallen bamboo.

I also made three flutes from fallen branches. The inspiration came from a book explaining how to go about making such flutes. It happens two of the three reliably make sounds so I include them in this blog.

Now here is a PVC flute made in the style of the Native American flute, with a PVC "fetish" consisting of a two inch section of pipe cut vertically on one side to make sliding over the body of the pipe easier. A section of cork, whittled to fit the inside of the pipe, serves as a plug to divert air through the first sound hole, through the slit between the "fetish" and body of the flute and over the true sound hole.

Now here is  PVC flute made in the Native American style. This flute is from a kit I bought recently at a Music Festival. I made the flute on Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 so it is finished and ready to play.

Reed my lips: an interlude with clarinet

Just for fun

Some flutes can be played with the nose, rather than the mouth. I personally have not had much luck making or playing such instruments but I do have a plastic novelty item called the Nose Flute, no less.
Here I am, playing "Mary had a little lamb" on one such instrument.

Anasazi style flutes

Anasazi flutes are notch flutes similar to the shakuchi and quena. The mouthpiece is slightly bevelled and there are six finger holes. The original Anasazi flutes were found in a cave in Arizona and have been carbon dated as being over thirteen centuries old. I made my Anasazi style flutes according to descriptions of the original instruments. The models I created probably resemble shakuhachi/quena hybrids rather than actual Anasazi flutes but that did not matter to much to me.

Here is a PVC flute made in the Anasazi style:

Here's a bamboo version. I made this one with finger holes placed according to how my hands fit on the instrument. Note this flute is made from bamboo I found lying on the ground. In other words, I made this instrument from scratch.

 Here's an Anasazi style flute made according to descriptions of the original instruments. I was unable to play my first attempt properly because I had taken the descriptions literally. Then I considered the possibility the original craftsman/player made his flutes according to how his hands fit on the instruments and I followed suit.

A few of my bamboo shakuhachis

cross/transverse flutes

Cross flutes or transverse flutes are basically hollow tubes sealed at one end. An oval hole close to the blocked part serves as the mouthpiece. Blow gently across the edge of the hole to produce notes. You can get a range of sounds just by overblowing or blowing with various amounts of force. Adding finger holes gives the player some control in terms of the notes produced. Here is a video showing me improvising on a PVC flute without finger holes.

The orchestra or band flute, the Chinese di tzi and the Indian bansuri have features in common. They are all cross flutes. The buttons and levers on the orchestra/band flute are of fairly recent invention and supposedly make playing the instrument easier. Traditional flutes lack these features. The bansuri is usually made from bamboo, with holes burned into the instrument with a red hot poker. Besides a mouthpiece hole and six finger holes, the di tzi features an additional hole covered with onion skin. This modification produces a distinctive "nasal" quality to the flute sound. I do not have bansuris in my collection but do have an Indonesian flute and a di tzi, along with bamboo cross flutes I have made myself.

Here is a video of yours truly playing an Indonesian flute bought from an ebay seller.

Now here I am with a di tzi.

Now here's a bamboo flute made in the style of a di tzi. I cheated a bit here: I used clear scotch tape instead of onion skin.

The tune is my rendition of "Japanese banana", sung by Alvin and the chipmunks on a record from the time before CDs replaced vinyl disks.

Playing another bamboo flute here.

This is still another ebay seller purchase. The instrument is tuned according to a scale common to Anasazi flutes (found in a cave in Arizona).

 Clay is an excellent medium for instruments. This is a ceramic fife, about twelve inches long, with six finger holes. The key is B flat, though I did not deliberately tune the instrument to that key.

Here's a little flute made from a bamboo tiki torch. The torch itself cost a dollar so I definitely made a "bargain" instrument. Actually, this might be considered a piccolo, given its high range.

Here's a fife made from a discarded piece of aluminum tubing.

Still another bamboo flute.

One more:

and a last one. This is my rendition of an English tune, "John Barleycorn" played on a fife made from a bamboo tiki torch.

Panpipes

Panpipes go by other names as well: Bolivian or Peruvian flutes or pipes, as well as zamponias. Another name for the instrument is "syrinx." Panpipes consist of hollow tubes sealed at one end and fastened together. "Pan" refers to the Greek demi-god who was half goat and half man. The instrument is common to Greece, as well as Peru, Bolivia, Romania, Hungary, some African countries and even China. Here I am, playing a set of panpipes I bought from an ebay seller. Of the three such instruments I purchased, this one remains my favorite because it is easiest for me to play.

Now here's a set of panpipes I made from scratch, using a couple of tiki torches, cardboard and tape. I was glad to get sounds from this makeshift instrument.

A run on quenas

I made every one of the flutes on this page. Each is created either from a bamboo tiki torch or bamboo I found lying around in front of a local science museum.

More flutes

The flute demonstrated in the above video is a quena made in Ecuador. I bought it from an ebay seller.

Here's a flute I made from a bamboo tiki torch. It combines features of quenas and shakuhachi. There are six finger holes on top and a thumb hole on the bottom. The mouthpiece resembles the Japanese utaguchi "lip" rather than the Andean "U" shaped notch. The scale of the instrument is unique due to the fact I positioned the finger holes to fit my hands, rather than to play a particular scale.

The shakuhachi

Once again, the shakuhachi is a Japanese endblown flute. It is typically made from bamboo and features a beveled lip or "utaguchi". This instrument has four finger holes on top and a thumb hole on the bottom. Traditionally, finger holes are burned into the flute with a red hot poker. They are large and wide: on the order of one third of an inch apiece. The shakuhachi's range is over two octaves--remarkable for just five holes. I purchased this bamboo shakuhachi from an ebay seller.

 This is a PVC shakuhachi I bought from an ebay seller who lives in Thailand.

Here's a PVC shakuhachi I made from scratch, using the one from Thailand as a model.

The kaval

The kaval is an endblown flute made from wood. Kavals are played in Turkey, Bulgaria and  the countries making up the former Yugoslavia. Here is a video showing me playing a kaval I purchased from an ebay seller.

Now here is a video showing me with a PVC kaval I made just yesterday (October 18th):

A few notes each from neys

Several months ago, I purchased a Turkish ney flute from an ebay seller. The flute is challenging for me to play. This video clip shows me getting just a good clear notes from the instrument.

Here's a clip showing me playing a PVC ney I made myself.

Endlbown flutes of the empty variety

The Middle Eastern ney, Japanese shakuhachi and Andean quena are all of fairly simple design. They are also hollow throughout. All three are quite challenging to play, with the ney being the most difficult. Arabic and Turkis neys and quena feature six finger holes and a thumb hole each. Persian (Iranian) neys have five finger holes, in addition to the thumb hole. Shakuhachis have four finger holes and a thumb hole. The Anasazi flute resembles all of these flutes put together. The mouthpiece end is beveled and the body of the flute includes six finger holes.

Paintings of court musicians playing ney flutes date back at least three thousand years. These paintings have been found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. Neys are usually made from reeds (Arundo donax). The Arabic word "ney" itself means "reed." 

This first video shows me playing a makeshift ney made from a tiki torch. I am not sure whether the way I shaped the mouthpiece end is typical of ethnic neys. Nor am I sure whether my playing method is accurate. Anyway, I was glad to get sounds from this particular flute. What you hear is my rendition of the Rolling Stones tune, "Paint it black."

The flute section

Flutes are wind instruments with histories reaching back thousands of years. There is an incredible variety of flute designs, as well as of materials used to make these instruments. Some flutes are cylindrical in shape. These include the transverse or cross flute, as well as the Middle Eastern ney, Japanese shakuhachi and South American (specifically, the region of the Andes Mountains) quena. Others are globular in form. Examples include the ocarina and xun, the latter being an egg shaped flute from China. Panpipes consist of several tubes of different lengths fastened together. The Native American flute features two sound holes. When one plays this kind of flute, the air stream is directed out of the first hole, under a wooden block and over the far edge of the second sound hole. Pennywhistles, recorders (aka blockflottes or whistle flutes), the Slovakian fujara and koncovka all feature air duct assemblies, also known as fipples. Such arrangements can also be noted on police whistles and the like. The fipple consists of a square or rectangular window near the mouthpiece end. A specially shaped wood plug is inserted in that end and positioned in such a way as to allow a thin stream of air to be directed over the far edge of the window, thus producing the sound.  In addition, the transverse flute consists of a tube blocked at one end, with a mouthpiece (embouchure) close to the plug, along with a number of finger holes. The shakuhachi features a lip or "utaguchi" for the blowing edge. The quena has a U shaped notch. The mouthpiece end of the ney is slightly beveled or cut at a slant. All three of these flutes are hollow throughout.

Flutes may be made from wood, clay, metal, plastic, bamboo, glass, bone and other materials. Ocarinas and xuns are typically made from clay. Ethnic flutes such as shakuhachis, quenas and neys are made from bamboo or cane. Native American flutes are often made from wood, although people in warm climates use bamboo. Fujaras, koncovkas and similar flutes are made from wood.

It is interesting to note the similarities of some flutes across cultures. Panpipes are found in South America, Greece, Romania, Hungary, China and Africa. The Chinese di-tzi resembles a transverse flute but with an additional hole covered with rice paper for interesting variations in sound. The bansuri of India is also a transverse or cross flute.  In addition, Turkish and Arabic neys resemble the quena in terms of all these flutes having six finger holes in front and thumb holes in back.

golf stick didge

Several years ago, I found a golf ball retriever/storage tube at a local sport shop. The tube bears a striking resemblance to a didgeridoo but with a rubber grommet at one end. The grommet serves as an excellent mouthpiece. I just covered the length of the tube with colored tape and had a short (three feet long) didgeridoo with a relatively high register or range of sounds.

store bought didge

A year or two ago, I bought a bamboo didgeridoo at a local music store. The didgeridoo was made in Indonesia, a country quite different from Australia in a lot of respects. All I can say is, go figure. Anyway, here is a short clip showing me playing an Australian aboriginal instrument made in Indonesia.

most recent didgeridoo

Here's a video of me demonstrating a didgeridoo I made earlier today, as of Saturday, September 25, 2010. The instrument is made from bamboo given to me by a friend. The didge (short for didgeridoo) measures three feet and four inches.

A shorter PVC didge

The longer a pipe for an instrument like the didgeridoo, the lower the sound. The shorter, the higher. Here's a video showing a PVC didgeridoo tuned to the key of C.