Music/instrument people of ns, i need your help

whoa-dere

whoa-dere

Active member
for physics class we have to make an instrument. what should i make? i'm sure most people are going with a little guitar so i don't really want to do that, but any help is appreciated!the two requirements are

-it must be able to play a one octave major scale...

-there can't be parts from actual instruments except strings

i'm thinking flute, or harmonica... still havent decided though
 
you can do a flute or an ocarina relatively easy using clay. If you have access to a kiln. Or use wood . You can make a pan flute relatively easy.
I did a project like this and I made a thumb piano. Basically get some 1/4 inch- 1/2 inch wood of your choice, i used maple, you can use really anything. some small "birdhouse" nails. (just like small little 3/4 or 1/2 inch nails. Make an open box. So 5 of the 6 sides complete a back piece and 4 sides. then create a hole on the front piece much like that of an acoustic guitar. then put that on the open box to create a hollow box with a hole on the top. Get some metal sheeting, (use a strong metal not like aluminum or tin something that is resilient) say you buy a square of it. 4"x4" cut it diagonally. then cut up wards on the diagonal edge about 1/8th of an inch between cuts, and leave about an inch at the top (this inch of excess is what you will use to put it on the box. once you have made your upward cuts. Take every other frill and cut it off so you have a 1/8th inch pieces of metal seperated by 1/8th inches of space. bend all of these slightly upwards, nail the inch long excess to the box above the acoustic hole so the frills are above the hole. You can now "pluck" the metal frills and creates notes and it sounds pretty cool.
You can go in and do the math yourself to figure out how long the frills need to be to achieve a certain note and what not but this is a basic lay out of how to make one. It's simple, easy to make, and fun to play.
here is an example of a professionally built one you can buy.
250px-TrebleKalimba.jpg
 
ya probably like an ocarina or a flute type thing, you really just neeed a plastic pipe and drill, it should do it.
 
pretty neat if you ask me :)maybe a tad bit nerdy, but also a whole lot of awesome !

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i think one of my friends did that when he had physics last semester, it was coolthanks for all the advice, keep'em comin!

 
I remember grade 6.

I made a cigar box guitar, but I used real tuning pegs so I don't know if you'd be able to make your own.

cigarboxguitar.jpg


mine was far shittier than any of those but they're still pretty easy to make and fun to play.
 
that looks interesting, it'd be a nice thing to do. so now i've pretty much narrowed it down to this or a flute. what kind of metal should i use? would they have sheetmetal at like home depot?
 
grade 11 enriched dawg. this kid is writing a python code for his laptop control to a small set of drums, how the fuck do i top that. at the end we have to do a performance with the instrument, im thinking i'll play friday or call me maybe
 
I made a marimba but It didn't go as well as expected. You need the wood you're using to be very consistant, otherwise you'll end up with odd pitches. A better material would be PVC because it's more consistant.
 
Buy PVC pipe. Bring to class with hacksaw. For the scale, just cut off increments of pipe after every note for the next pitch.

Or, you could get one of those water guns thats basically just a sliding tube, cut off the end so there is a hole at both ends, and attach some sort of mouthpiece. That would work for sure.
41j4Vt1E9xL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
Fill mason jars with different amounts of water and play them with your fingers. Simple, but you can tune each one by getting the amount right in each jar. If you strike them the right way they almost sound like tablas and they're super fun to mess around with.
 
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