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Make Your Own Instruments

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28 views6 pages

Make Your Own Instruments

Uploaded by

Symphony
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Make your own instruments

Man has invented various musical instruments.


When played, some instruments can produce a
definite pitch and some produce an indefinite pitch.

But at occasions where you will not have these instruments, you could improvise them using
various items available in your surroundings.

Let’s make your own indefinite pitched percussion instrument


(The easiest instrument category that can be made.)

< Before making>

Let’s discuss with your friends.

- How percussion instruments produce sound?

- Striking or beating with sticks

- Shaking

-Clashing two objects

- scraping

- What are the things that you can change in to improvised instruments?

- Empty bottles

- Tins

- cardboard, plastic or bamboo cylinders

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Now let us make some instruments:
SHAKERS

Easiest ones are the shakers.

Required material:

 various types and sizes of empty bottles


 dry coconut shell
 various varieties of grain etc.

find out how the same grain in different types of containers would produce different
sounds or different grains in identical container would produce different sounds.

As a container dry coconut shells also could be used with grains inside and a handle
fixed to it. This will serve as maracas.

Figure 1
BELLS / JINGLES
Metal bottle tops can be made use of for this purpose. The lining should be removed
and a hole in the centre should be made. Then these tops could be threaded together
by a wire. or nailed to a wooden handle.

Nos. 1 and 2

A wooden piece with about 3 or 4 tops nailed together

No. 3

Few tops are threaded by a wire and a wooden handle is fixed.

No.4

A round hardboard or cardboard to which bottle tops or sledge bells are fixed by a

ring. As a ring, curtain rings can be used. This can be painted and coloured streamers
can be tied on to it.

Figure 2

1 2 3

4 5
SCRAPERS – GUIRO
For this purpose a bamboo can be used where notches are cut out in ¾ inch distance. A metal
or wooden stick when dragged along it gives a scrappy sound. For this purpose you can use an empty
‘sun quick’ bottle. It has the same type of groves.

Figure 3

SAND BLOCKS

Cover two wooden blocks with sand paper, glued or pinned down. Handles could be
improvised.

RHYTHM STICKS
For this purpose, a good variety of wood should be selected. 18" long and 1" diameter. They
are struck together to keep the rhythm going or to beat time

Figure 4

DRUMS
Generally drums are imitated on various utensils, tins, a table tops etc. According to various
sizes it gives various sounds. If in a large cylindrical tin, both sides are removed and replaced by rubber
sewn together, it will serve as a drum. When sewing, to make it strong and to prevent the rubber
tearing, it should be sewn like in Figure 5 no.1. then proceed on to no. 2.
Charts, posters, maps etc.. are packed in cardboard tubes with plastic caps on either side.
Remove the caps, cover one side by a piece of rubber and leave the other side open. This gives a good
drum effect. As a rubber a car tube or even a rubber bath cap can be used. Larger the tube the more
effective it will be.

Figure 5 1. 2.
SKIFFLE BASS – STRING BASS
This will be sounding somewhat like a double bass. The sound varies
according to the tension. This is made out of a tea-chest with one side open.

Step 1 The open side of the box should face the floor.

Step 2 Take a broom stick or something similar and send half a nail into
one end of it.
On the other end make a grove so that the string will be in its
place. ( Figure 5 no.1)

Step 3 Make a hole in the beading in one corner of the box to fit the
head of the nail.

Step 4 Make a small hole in the centre of the box and pass a
cotton string of about 1/8" tick and 3 yards long
through this hole from under. To prevent it slipping,
put in a few knots and have something hard like hard
board or metal between the knot and the box.

Step 5 Now place the head of the nail in the hole in the
corner of the box, and hold the stick firm. Take the
string through the grove and then wrap it firmly and
evenly round the stick so that it will make a good
padding to hold on to. (no. 2 and 3)

Step 6 When playing, the knee should be placed on the edge


of the box, to hold it firm to the ground.

Step 7 Pluck the string with the fingers. The nearer the box, the lower
the tone.
Figure 6 1. 2. 3.

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