DIY musical instruments: how and from what can you make them?

I remember a bright moment from childhood: Sviridov’s “Blizzard” is performed by a musician on a broom. On a real broom, but with strings. Our violin teacher created such a “broom chord” from what we had.

In fact, if you have hearing, making such musical instruments with your own hands is not so difficult. Let’s start with something simple. Percussion – we go to the kitchen for inspiration.

Even a child can make a shaker. For this you will need: a Kinder Surprise capsule, a small amount of semolina, buckwheat or other cereal. Pour the cereal into the capsule, close it and seal it with tape for security. The dynamics of the sound depend on what kind of cereal will rattle inside the shaker.

Sounding glasses

One of the most fabulous hand-made musical instruments is a xylophone made from glasses. We line up the glasses, pour water and adjust the sound. The level of water in the vessel affects the pitch of the sound: the more water, the lower the sound. That’s it – you can safely play and compose music! There are three secrets to playing with glasses: choose glasses made of thin glass, wash your hands thoroughly before playing, and when playing, barely touch the edges of the glass with your fingers dipped in water.

Dudochka according to grandfather’s and modern recipes

We go to nature for materials for the pipe: we need reeds, reeds (or other tubular plants) and birch bark (or bark, dense leaves). The “tube” must be dried. Using a knife, make a flat area on the side and cut out a small rectangle on it. We cut out a rectangular tongue from birch bark, making one end thinner. We attach the tongue to the tube with tape and bend it a little. If desired, you can add several holes on the pipe.

The American version of the pipe is an instrument made from a cocktail tube. As a basis we take a tube with a bend. We flatten its smaller part with our teeth. Then, using scissors, we cut off pieces of the upper part along the edges: you should get an angle at the middle of the edge of the tube. The angle should not be too large or small, otherwise the pipe will not sound.

Detailed instructions for making a pipe are here – How to make a pipe?

Coin castanets

For a real Spanish instrument we will need: rectangles of colored cardboard measuring 6x14cm (4 pieces), and 6×3,5cm (2 pieces), 4 large coins and glue.

Fold large rectangles in half and glue them in pairs. From each of the small strips we glue a ring (for the thumb). Inside the rectangle, on each of the opposite sides, glue a coin, at a distance of 1 cm from the edge. When folding cardboard castanets, the coins should touch each other.

DIY percussion musical instruments

A ceramic flower pot with a diameter of 14 cm, several balloons, plasticine, sushi sticks – this is what you need for a children’s drum.

Cut off the “neck” from the ball and stretch the rest onto the pot. The hole at the bottom of the pot can be sealed with plasticine. The drum is ready, all that remains is to make the sticks. To do this, attach a ball of plasticine, previously frozen, to sushi sticks. We cut off the bottom part of the balloon and stretch it onto a plasticine ball. And the elastic band from the top of the ball will help tighten this structure.

However, musical instruments do not have to be made with your own hands. Listen to the music of the streets and you will discover the music of garbage cans, pots, hoses and even brooms. And you can also play interesting music on these objects, as the guys from the STOMP group do.