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.