#homemade instruments

[thezonestalker]

Petr Valek doing his musical thing.

[burlveneer-music]

Tape Bowing Ensemble - Open Reel Ensemble

A musical group that plays reel-to-reel tape recorders as musical instruments. They are delusional about the magnetikpunk world where magnetic technology has developed beyond the realm of reality, and play reel-to-reel tape recorders as “magnetic native instruments." Ei Wada / Open Reel Haruka Yoshida / Open Reel Masaru Yoshida / Open Reel 

Magnetic Tape x Bamboo x Effects = Magnetic Bowing Sound!!! 磁気テープを竹に張って演奏する民族楽器「磁楽弓（じがっきゅう）」三重奏による調べです。 This is a trio performance on the “JIGAKKYU,” a traditional folk instrument made by stretching magnetic tape across bamboo.

Their latest on Bandcamp:

[qupritsuvwix]

Neptune (American band) - Wikipedia

Neptune (American band) - Wikipedia

[het-geheim]

David Simons — Fung Sha Noon (Tzadik, 2009)

[burlveneer-music]

schroothoop - MACADAM - for a band that makes instruments out of scrap, the music is more mellifluous than I expected, favoring international grooves over skronk

Belgian junk jazz trio schroothoop (which translates as ‘junk yard’) bring together multi-instrumentalists Rik Staelens (wind & string instruments), Timo Vantyghem (bass & thumb piano) and Margo Maex (percussion). Their new album called ‘MACADAM’ will be out April 7 via Sdban Records, home of many strongholds in the lively contemporary Belgian jazz and groove scene. In 2020, schroothoop first emerged with their much-acclaimed and infectious debut album Klein Gevaarlijk Afval (Small Hazardous Waste). “Music on homemade instruments with a surprisingly good result” (De Standaard). “Schroothoop show that material limitation can be liberating and that sometimes the source of new sounds is just old junk.”(Written in music). “We assure you that this “scrap heap” is worth gold!“ (Le Grigri). On their second album, to be released on April 7, schroothoop explore the vast sounds of discarded objects found on the macadam streets of Brussels. Wooden crates turn into guitars and lyres. Scrap metal becomes a thumb piano, a cimbalom, or percussion bells. Their compelling collection of semi-improvised songs is born out of several fruitful residencies and live performances during which Margo Maex, Rik Staelens and Timo Vantyghem dive deeper into the possibilities and unique timbres of their DIY instruments. The junk jazz trio find inspiration in traditional Afro-Cuban and North-African rhythms, New Orleans second line grooves, and Arabic Hijaz scales. On Macadam, the band also explore the realms of electronic music, not shunning hints of drum and bass, dub riddims and ambient soundscapes, using pitch shifting delays or gauzy reverbs. The album delivers a mesmerizing trip through the most diverse capital of Europe, mixed and post-produced by none other than sound wizard Dijf Sanders. The trio originally met in the Brussels street orchestra scene. One night they found themselves jamming on trash cans, buckets and other illegally dumped materials. Soon after, they started building their own DIY instruments from street trash. Imagine flutes made out of pvc pipes, a scrap metal drum kit, thumb pianos made out of old kitchen knives, a tin can violin, worn-out cutting discs as gongs, and a washtub bass. Delivering their own brand of “junk jazz”, Schroothoop literally gives junk a second life by immortalizing a whole range of lost and found objects through music. The Brussels-based group effortlessly incorporates jazz, Northern African music, and Afro-Cuban rhythms, resulting in a danceable and hypnotic trip through the city’s melting pot.

[teratodentata]

What’s up I built a ukulele out of cardboard and toothpicks

[phono-optica]

[incredible-fishes]

How to make an Erhu

Hey listen up y’all i’ma show you how to make your own home made Erhu because that’s a thing people want to know how to do 

1. first things first. 

buy yourself some sticks, and some coffee so you can use the container as the sound box

What thickness should the sticks be? i hear you ask. Well I don’t know I just guessed so just make sure the neck is thick enough for pegs to go through. But if you really want to know the thinner wood which will be used for the pegs is about half an inch and the thicker wood which will be used for the neck is about an inch and a half

2. cut 2 holes on the coffee cylinder thing and shove it on the thicker stick 

I did this by makeing the holes smaller then the base of the stick and then cutting slits in the holes so the coffee container would fit nice and snug so it doesn’t slide around

Dimensions: I made the sound box a little less then 2 1/2 inches from the bottom of the neck

3. Measure the width of smaller stick and drill holes the same size or the slightest bit smaller into the neck of the instrument, they should be parallel to each other 

Again when it comes with measurements i just guessed. After doing some research I found that most Erhu’s were 81 cm so i sawed the neck accordingly, and for spacing between the pegs they are about 3 inches apart. The first hole is about 5 inches down from the top of the neck.

4. Cut and insert the pegs

I was lucky enough that the holes I drilled into the neck were small enough that the pegs fit in with out falling out but big enough I was still able to turn them. If your holes are too small you might need to whittle the wood down so the pegs fit.  My advice to you is to create some type of cross section with the pegs so they are easier to turn or at least use pliers to turn them, I’ve been too lazy to do this so I’ve just dealt with getting blisters very time I turn the pegs.

Dimensions: Once again I simply guessed with the measurements but if you really want to know, my pegs are about six inches long 

5. screw in the strings

Make sure you wait until you get the strings before doing this because you need to make sure the loop at the bottom of Erhu strings* can fit over the screw and I made the mistake of putting in a screw that was too big so the strings couldn’t fit over it.

*I just bought the strings off amazon they were only $5

6. Making a bridge

I just used some wood left over from the pegs to make the bridge, and cut the bottom so it would lie flat and not role around and I cut divots into the wood where the strings would go just to insure the strings would stay in place. The piece of felt is optional it doesn’t really affect the sound quality at all

  7. String the strings

and that’s it!

WooOw look at her. 

(you can also add a qianjin if you want i just didn’t like the way if effected the sound, you can look up videos how to tie one yourself)

all in all this project only cost me about $15 dollars