Homemade Instruments

[seisporocho1]

Bachikaze,

you definitely are passionate about Brazilian music!!!
that's great. Plenty to read.
I think between Brazil and Cuba, percussion is at it's best.

Thanks for sharing the websites!

6x8

[lpcongaplayer]

Here are my wooden bongos.

Wood Bongos.JPG

Those are cool Mike. Have you ever played or heard of the wooden Meinl Bongo Cajon?

[Joseph]

The other day while searching (in vain) for the lyrics to "Ashiko" by Hugh Masekela, I stumbled on to this website:
http://www.nfdc.net/home/cbdb/ashiko.htm#8
A photo essay from a guy who built an ashiko drum.
Well documented, lotsa photos.
Guy built drum from discarded Mahogany church pews!
Very clear explanation of how to build a jig to cut tapered drum staves and beveled stave edges simultaneously.
Good ideas on glue-ing process also.

He provides a link to a program called "drumcalc", that figures angle cuts and stave tapers, depending on size of drum you want to build...but the program wouldn't install for me on WinXP.

Worth reading for any potential homemade drum builders.

[Whopbamboom]

I try to pay attention to things around me in everyday life... lots of neat little percussion items can be found.

The other day I was bringing in firewood (we currently use small pieces of branch wood for a wood-burning stove), and I realized that there were some pieces in there that make nice "claves". The one type of wood that seemed to work better than anything else in the pile was, I believe, ash. A type of ash tree that is common in southern California. I salvaged several pieces that were anywhere from 1" to 2" in diameter, and from 8" to 10" long. These pieces seemed quite resonant with a good amount of volume, yet perhaps a little drier in sound than your typical rosewood clave. A REAL nice wood-blocky sound. These particular pieces were from the smooth-barked branches, not the trunk. I figure I'll wind up using smaller diameters for claves and perhaps make hollow-bottom wood blocks from the larger diameter pieces.

[seisporocho1]

Whopbamboom,

Any pics of the wood or instruments you've made with them?

Percussion instruments are in our face all the time, imagination is the one to recognize them!

Thanks.

6x8

[Whopbamboom]

Uh, so far those are just 8-10" lengths of smaller diameter branch wood with the bark still left on. Not much to see! I haven't made the wood blocks out of the larger diameters yet, but the small-medium diameter pieces make nice claves just as they are, pulled right from the firewood pile. I'll post a picture when I get a chance... but I warn you, there isn't much to see. It's how they sound that makes me happy I discovered them.

[bongosnotbombs]

This shekere was just finished by me.

[stevesdrums]

I love my 1977 mahogony GonBops congas and Bongos and my other pair of fiberglass congas, but always wanted to build my own drums. I don't have a lathe or table saw but managed to build some pretty decent drums with a circular saw and sander and a whole lot of work. I used good glue (TiteBond III) then stain and 3 coats of polyurethane.
I've just finished my 5th drum shell. I built 4 Ashikos and just finished a Djembe shell. I put Goatskin on 1 drum and cowhide on the others. I hate the Goatskin sound and plan to replace it with cowhide soon, although it does sound like a Djembe. The cowhide drums sound like congas and when I have played them in drum circles I've always gotten a lot of interest. I'll probably try to sell a couple eventually. I used Poplar so far but plan to build one with Oak soon. The Ashikos are 28 inches high, The djembe is 26 inches high.
More pictures at http://www.stevesdrums.com

[bongosnotbombs]

Just turned out another shekere for Congadelica, a sweet little cachimbo for guiro.

[seisporocho1]

Stevesdrums,
Thanks for those pics. For a while I've wanted to build my own drums but was discouraged by the fact that I didn't have a lathe or heavy equipment. It's great to also see how one can make a djembe at home without the carving! How is the sound of yours? Does it compare to the pro shells out there?

BNB, you make nice shekeres bro! May I ask what kind of twine you prefer to use? I use #18 Braided, but I've wondered what other people are using.
I also have been using plastic beads but would like to explore heavier duty beads that perhaps don't break as easily. Any suggestions? I love sound the seeds used in Cuba. Some r red and others white. They sound so thick.

Thanks

6x8

[bongosnotbombs]

BNB, you make nice shekeres bro! May I ask what kind of twine you prefer to use? I use #18 Braided, but I've wondered what other people are using.
I also have been using plastic beads but would like to explore heavier duty beads that perhaps don't break as easily. Any suggestions? I love sound the seeds used in Cuba. Some r red and others white. They sound so thick.

Thanks

6x8

Thanks for the compliments, I use a .9mm braided nylon, sounds similar to what you use, but I don't know what size #18 is.
I've never had plastic beads break though. In the white and brown shekere I used wood beads, the black and red plastic.
The pony beads are 6mm by 8mm which is typical, the round ones are 9mm diameter. I really like the round 9mm beads, I've
ordered a thousand of them in plastic for my next shekere. The round ones are thicker with a narrower hole, that might be
what your looking for.

[Mike]

Gourdee-Geordie, gorgeous gadgets
I love the sight of them.
I only own a rather cheap homemade shekere with 10mm wood bead - whoa, they are noisy.
The strings used are hemp... So nothing that can compare at all to the instruments you make.
Hats off, really great stuff!

Mike

[bongosnotbombs]

Gourdee-Geordie, gorgeous gadgets
I love the sight of them.
I only own a rather cheap homemade shekere with 10mm wood bead - whoa, they are noisy.
The strings used are hemp... So nothing that can compare at all to the instruments you make.
Hats off, really great stuff!

Mike

Well the black and red one, plus the one I'm working on now are going to England,
maybe one of my shekeres is destined for Deutschland?....add a few yellow beads to
the black and red?

The new crop of gourds is ready this spring, so save those Euro's.

[Mike]

Well the black and red one, plus the one I'm working on now are going to England,
maybe one of my shekeres is destined for Deutschland?....add a few yellow beads to
the black and red?

Well, why not? It is only that like many Germans, I am a bit anxious of trooping our national colors.
That is different when it comes to football though...

But as you mention it, i will consider it and let´s see what the next gourd season brings about

[bongosnotbombs]

Well the black and red one, plus the one I'm working on now are going to England,
maybe one of my shekeres is destined for Deutschland?....add a few yellow beads to
the black and red?

Well, why not? It is only that like many Germans, I am a bit anxious of trooping our national colors.
That is different when it comes to football though...

Why not combine the two?