The end of the beginning

Now that I've completed my goal in making many different musical instruments, I am even more curious about the different types of instruments and noise makers that can be made from household objects. I am excited to see what my classmates who are also making musical instruments have come up with, as I'm sure I will add some of their ideas to my music lesson plan ideas book.

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My Reflection


On completion of my goal to make musical instruments, I feel I’ve explored much more than just the fabrication of instruments. I’ve learned that most subjects are cross-disciplinary and that the incorporation of different subject areas often make for more interesting and thorough learning experiences. I’ve learned that plans often change from how they were originally intended, and that accepting change is OK. Of course, I’ve also learned a lot about the logistics in making musical instruments from cheap household materials that both look and sound good.

Initially I had sought out to have all my musical instruments be culturally themed. I wanted to base each instrument and its accompanying ideas for lesson plans on the countries of origin of the instrument. After researching for hours, I found that it was a lot more difficult than I had imagined to find exact origins of instruments, as different sources would conclude different places of origin for certain instruments. I felt anxious to give credit to the wrong country of origin for certain instruments I was planning on making. I feel that as a pre-service teacher, I want to be 100% accurate in anything I might be teaching to students in the future, however; I do not want to shy away from a topic just because I’m unfamiliar with it. I’ve realized that I will have to continue to push myself to not be afraid of coming upon dead ends after I’ve envisioned a project in my mind. With my goal, I solved this issue by allowing myself to stray from my original culture theme by instead choosing to do most of my projects non-culturally themed. I did however stick to country of origin for my Chinese gong (properly named a chau gong), and for my Mexican maracas. Both of these projects I chose to incorporate the countries colours, and for the gong I was able to try my hand at writing Chinese symbols. I would love to use both of these projects in a classroom setting and further research both the Chinese and the Mexican cultures with my students. With the other instruments, I was sometimes surprised, and other times disheartened at the quality of sound the instruments created. I’ve never made a shoe-box guitar before and was very surprised with the nice sound it can create, however; the tambourine I made didn’t turn out how I had envisioned, probably because of the materials I chose to use. I learned that material selection is often a key in determining the sound authenticity. I also learned that percussion instruments were easier to find ideas about online, and often easier to make then string or wind instruments. I had planned to make a didgeridoo but the materials I had on hand to make one produced a sub-par sound.

Another thing that surprised me about making musical instruments was how inaccurate I was at approximating time to complete projects. Some of the projects I chose to make such as my Mexican maracas and my rainforest rainstick took almost double the time of what I had anticipated. While making my instruments, I considered time management in a classroom setting, taking into consideration students that would be finished quickly, and those that would be the perfectionist type and take longer. I know now that I will have to plan my lessons with extensions ready for the ones who are finished quickly, and find ways to help along the ones who take too much time. I could do this by having the ones who are finished quickly help out the slower ones, or make the projects over many short time allotments so that students don’t get bored with an activity.

I exceeded my original goal of making 4 to 5 instruments by making 7 different instruments; a Chinese gong, Mexican maracas, a bumble bee shaker, monster castanets, a rainforest rainstick, a rock star guitar, and a marching band tambourine. I spread out the researching and fabrication of these instruments over 3 months, using a blog (http://helenasinstruments.blogspot.com/) to keep track of my progress. I learned a lot in the process about activity planning strategies, and also about my own notion concerning what it means to be an effective teacher.

Nov 26 - Rainforest Rainstick

Rainforest Rainstick


Materials: long cardboard tube, tape, beans or popcorn kernels or rice, aluminum foil or push pins, paints or decorated paper

Instructions: (2 versions)
Version 1:
• Cover one end of tube with cardboard and tape
• Fill tube with beans or kernels or rice
• Cover open end of tube with cardboard and tape
• Carefully insert push pins into tube at random intervals
• Decorate as desired

Difficulty: Medium
Timeframe: Short – Medium

Version 2:
• Cover one end of tube with cardboard and tape
• Twist aluminum foil into one long thick piece, then spiral and place in tube
• Fill tube with beans or kernels or rice
• Cover open end of tube with cardboard and tape
• Decorate as desired

Difficulty: Easy
Timeframe: Short

To play: Slowly tip over rainstick to create the sound of rain.

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I made a Rainforest Rainstick with instructions version 2. I used a cylindrical cardboard tube that posters are shipped in, aluminum foil, and rice. I twisted the aluminum foil so that the rice passing by it would hit it producing a light rain affect when turned upside down. I decided on this design because I wanted to make a rainforest without having to buy nails. A classmate told me she had made a rainstick using aluminum foil, so I also decided to try this method. I think it's a suitable method and makes a nice sound. If I had time, I would have liked to experiment with other ingredients to make the sound of rain other than rice. I think hard pasta might have a nice sound.

I was going to paint my rainstick with my acrylic paints, but instead decided I wanted to see what kids thought of the rainforest. I brought my rainstick to the daycare centre that I work at and asked students to help me with my homework. I asked if they could help me draw anything that had to do with the rainforest. My daycare centre cares for children from kindergarten to grade 6, so I got a lot of different drawings and feedback. The children drew rain drops, trees, monkeys, clouds, sunshine, fruit, vines, flowers and birds. I enjoyed discussing with them what colours they think would be in the rainforest, and where rainforests are. We all decided it would be fun to visit a rainforest one day.

The supervisor at the daycare has said that I will be allowed to lead a craft activity next semester. I am very excited about this prospect as I now have plenty of ideas in mind!

Nov 21 - Monster Castanets

I made castanets today! Again, as when I made the guitar, I decided not to proceed with my initial cultural theme and decided instead to make a little castanet that looks like a monster! I used the instruction sheet I had made previously on making Latin American Castanets:

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Monster Castanets

Materials: plastic or metal bottle caps, sturdy cardboard cut into small rectangles, superglue, string

Instructions:
• Fold cardboard rectangles in half
• Attach 2 bottle caps to each end of rectangular cardboard with superglue so they line up when folded onto each other
• Attach loose string loops to act as finger loop holders

Difficulty: Easy
Timeframe: Short
To play: Insert index finger and thumb through top and bottom string loops. Clap bottle caps together to make a tapping or clicking noise.

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I altered my original instructions slightly by using cardboard for the finger loop holders. I initially used tape to hold the bottle caps in place, but it wasn't secure enough so I used a hot glue gun instead. I also painted one of them to look like a little friendly monster with pipe cleaners for antennaes.

My castinets make a nice metal snappy sound that would be great to keep a rhythm or beat.

I like the idea of making them monster castinets to appeal to younger grades. With kindergartens or grade ones I would use monster castinets during a theme week on monsters. I could include the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak as it uses "cute" rather than "scary" monsters, which I feel would interest both girls and boys.

Nov 19 - Rock Star Guitar

I made a rock star guitar today!! When I started this whole project I wanted every instrument be correlated with a specific culture, but I found that this was a bit harder than I had anticipated. Originally I had planned to make my guitar a Spanish themed guitar, but instead decided that a rock star guitar would be just as interesting and exciting (for both myself, and for youngsters).

I made my Rock Star Guitar using the Spanish Guitar instruction sheet I had made previously:

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Rock Star Guitar

Materials: shoebox, 3-5 elastic bands, pencil, long cardboard tube, ribbon, paints

Instructions:
• Paint shoebox and cardboard tube as desired
• Cut oval shaped hole in lid of shoebox
• Wrap elastic bands around shoebox length ways
• Stick unsharpened pencil under elastic bands between oval and edge of shoebox
• Attach cardboard tube to top end of shoebox to act as neck of guitar
• Attach ribbon loosely from top of neck to bottom of guitar to act as strap

Difficulty: Medium
Timeframe: Medium
To play: Strum or pick elastic bands (strings of guitar) to create twanging sound. If desired, adjust elastic bands’ tautness to create different pitches.

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I altered the instructions slightly, using a smaller rectangular box which I cut an oval shape out of, since the kleenex box I was going to use was too big for the elastics I had. Instead of painting the box, I instead painted a piece of construction paper which I glued to the box. The acrylic paint I was using didn't cover well on the glossier material that the box was coated with. I used the coardboard box that toothpaste came in for the neck of the guitar. I also had some solid styrofoam which I cut to fit in the toothpaste box so that it would be more sturdy, and again I painted construction paper to wrap around the toothpaste box because of the glossier finish. Finally, instead of a pencil, I used the end of a wooden spoon which I cut off and painted to place under the strings (elastic bands). I had bought a pack of wooden spoons when making my Chinese Gong so I already had one on hand. I secured the boxes with glue and coloured electrician's tape. If I have time later on, I might add a ribbon to act as a guitar strap.

This project was very fun, and I am very surprised at how nice of a sound the cardboard guitar makes. It was very inexpensive, as most of the items used I found around my house. I would definitely use this project in the classroom with grades 2 and up and incorporate a music class which allowed them to come up with their own songs on their guitars (I've already been playing around with a few of my own, it's quite fun!). It would be easy to alter the guitar making for younger grades as well by simply wrapping larger elastics around a kleenex box and playing with the different sounds.

Nov 7 - Hang Drum

When researching instruments, my friend told me to check out a relatively new instrument: It's called a hang drum and it was first made in Switzerland in 2000. It has a very unique shape like a UFO. Although I wouldn't be able to make something like this myself, I thought it was very unique and the sound that comes from it is amazing, so I thought it would be fun to share. Because they are so unique and still quite new they are apparently very hard to track down to purchase.

:)

Oct 27 - Making a Tambourine

In gathering materials to make a Marching Band Tambourine, I bought the plates from the dollar store, I used the leftover beans from the Mexican Maracas project, and I used the yarn and leftover aluminum tin from the Chinese Gong project.

I stapled 2 plastic plates together 3/4 way around, inserted beans, then stapled the remaining open area together. I punched holes on the edges around the plates. I then cut out small circles of varying sizes from the remaining aluminum pie tin. I poked holes in each of the aluminum circles, and in groups of 4 or 5, I tied them together and then attached them to one of the holes on the plates with yarn.

This project would have been a lot easier had I had a proper hole punch. I also wanted to use bells or a metal that could produce a nicer clanging-jangling sound, but didn't have any available to me at the time.

I was not happy with the outcome of my tambourine, and for this reason chose not to decorate it. I felt the noise was too harsh because of the plastic plates I had chosen to use, and the hard beans I chose. The jangling sound was barely audible over the loudness of the beans. If doing this again, I would choose to use paper plates, beans, and bells. I think this would create a much nicer sound.

Tambourines would be fun to use as part of the marching band activity we did as a class. The conductor could have a big hat and the marching stick, and perhaps the student at the end of the marching line could have a tambourine to keep the pace/beat as well as the accompanying music.

Oct 20 - Making a Chinese Gong

I got the materials for making my Chinese Gong at the dollar store, and the total came to around $8. This cost could easily be cut down by having students bring in their own pie tins, their own yarn, and their own old used picture frames from home. The mallets could easily be made from old kitchen utensils and old rags, also brought from home. This would also make each gong unique because no one would have the exact same size/shape of gong and mallet, and therefore the sound would be different as well.

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Chinese Gong (Chau Gong)

Materials: circular pie tin, string, square picture frame wider than pie tin, wooden spoon, cloth, paints or markers

Instructions:
• Pierce a hole at 10 and 2 on pie tin
• Tie strings from hole to top corners of picture frame
• Wrap cloth around wooden spoon to form mallet & tie with string
• Decorate picture frame & pie tin with Chinese symbols and art

Difficulty: Medium
Timeframe: Short
To play: Softly strike gong with mallet to produce a resonating percussion sound.


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This project was fun for me. I used red yarn, a black photo frame, and an aluminum malleable pie tin that i cut into a circular shape and rounded the edges as to not cut myself. I punched holes at "10" and "2" position on the round pie tin, and attached the red yarn to these holes. I then attached the yarn to the corners of the photoframe so the pie tin hangs nicely between the photoframe without touching the edges. For a decorative touch, I wove red yarn around the edges of each corner of the photoframe.

The mallet was made from a wooden spoon covered in cloth, and tied on securely with the same red yarn in a bow. On the spoon I painted chinese symbols that I felt were meaninful to me: I chose truth, happiness, and forgiveness down one half of my mallet, and moon, love, and stars down the other half. If doing this with a class, I would let students choose which symbols carried meaning for them and they could draw these on their gongs or mallets as well.

To further integrate this project into other disciplines, the class could do a study of Chinese culture. We could have a chinese guest speaker come in and help to teach us about how to write Chinese symbols and to teach us about chinese culture. We might even have a student in the class of chinese heritage that could help present their culture. The class could also reseach uses for gongs, Chinese New Year, and could listen to different Chinese music. Alternatively, Japanese culture could be studied, as Japanese also use gongs in their culture. Further researches on Samurai warriors and kimonos could also be done.

Oct 16 - Ideas for Themed Lessons & Further Curriculum Integration

I brainstormed lesson ideas and themes that could be incorporated with the different instruments I wrote about previously.

• Give class a choice of 3 instruments to make, and once finished, form mini-bands of 3 different instruments and create a 16-32 count song using quarter notes and eighth notes. Rehearse. Show to class.

• Bell anklets/bracelets/belts: wearing bells in groups of 4-6, make up 16-32 count dance using East Indian “Bollywood” movements learned (wrist twist, hip shake, leg twist, wavy arms). Research East Indian dances online.

• Bell anklet/bracelets/belts: make dance to Christmas song and sing at school assembly.

• Gongs: research use of gongs in Chinese culture. Use internet search tools. Make one page report on history, usual material used to make gong, Chinese ceremonies, and use of gong. Branch off lesson plans could include Samurai warriors, Chinese architecture, Chinese holidays, Chinese calendar…

• Brainstorm what class thinks “Canadian instruments” are? “Canadian music”? Is there a specific genre that’s more “Canadian”? What about differed region’s music, is it easier to break down? Listen to wide variety of Canadian artists including maritime music, music from the prairies, country western, native music. Bring class to a native drum song and dance presentation. Have students create their own song & dance with native apparel and drums made in class.

• Have children name which category the instruments we’ve made/researched fall under (wind, percussion, string).

• Rainstick: make other nature sounding instruments to go along with i.e. cricket, waves crashing noise, wind noise… record a soothing “nature music” soundtrack and play during morning stretching/yoga.

• Maracas: make sombreros and ponchos, cook tacos and burritos or bring in tortilla chips and salsa, show Mexico on a map, play Mexican music (mariachi band?) along with the maracas made in class, and have a Mexican party!

• Bongo drums: Caribbean/beach inspired theme. Learn about different shells, crustaceans, listen to Caribbean music with drums, and try to imitate drums in music with drums made in class.

Oct 6 - Making Mexican Maracas & Bumblebee Shakers

I had some classmates over to my place to make papier maché maracas. I prepped by cutting newspaper into strips of different widths and lengths and shapes so we could experiment with what worked best. I covered the kitchen table with newspaper sheets, and had balloons, tape, toilet paper rolls, flour, and beans ready. When the others arrived, they brought rice and popcorn kernels to use in experimentation of sound differences.

We began the base structure of our maracas by inserting beans, rice, or popcorn kernels into our balloons, blowing them up, and securing the balloons to toilet paper rolls with tape. In hindsight, we may have over-secured the balloons to the toilet paper rolls. We forgot that balloons have a tendency to deflate over time, and that we’d have to remove the balloon skin from the inside of the maracas at some point.

Once the structures for the maracas were ready, we started making the papier maché mixture. We decided to make two separate batches to experiment with each method. For the first, we boiled water on the stove, and added the boiling water to a premixed half and half mixture of flour and water, then added more flour and beat the mixture with a fork. For the second, we simply added hot tap water to flour until a desired consistency was reached. We also experimented by adding a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of salt to each mixture as I’d read that the cinnamon takes away the not-so-great smell, and the salt helps prevent mould from occurring once the pieces are dry. The smell was not completely eliminated, but the cinnamon definitely helped a small bit.

We then began dipping pieces of newspaper into the mixtures and applying them to our maraca structures. We found that the newspaper strips cut into arcs worked best as they fit the roundness of the balloons better than the rectangular strips. Thinner strips had a smoother finish, but took more time, where thicker strips covered everything more quickly, but left a bumpier finish. If doing this with students, I would have all different sizes and shapes of newspaper strips pre-cut for them so both the perfectionists and those with short attention spans could find enjoyment in the completion of the papier maché-ing.

The boiled water mixture was meant to yield a clear finish, which it did. The simpler mixture with tap water yielded a whitewashed finish, as expected. I actually preferred the simpler hot tap water mixture. The whiter finish left the maracas easier to paint without the dark ink from the newspaper showing through. This mixture also seemed to yield a stronger finish, although less smooth than the boiled mixture. If however I wasn’t planning on painting my maracas, I might have used the boiling water mixture, and for the last layer used coloured construction paper instead of newspaper to have a coloured finish.

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Days later I painted my Mexican Maracas using the colours of the Mexican flag (although I had to replace the flag white with yellow as I didn't have white paint). They turned out wonderful!! I like the different sounds they make based on the contents.

I also made a small shaker filled with rice without a handle while we were making maracas, and I painted it to resemble a bumblebee. It would be fun to incorporate this art activity into a unit on Insects, perhaps making other instruments that sound like insects, like cricket sounds from rhythm sticks!

Oct 1 & 2 - Instructions on Making Instruments

I researched and brainstormed materials needed to make kid-friendly versions of instruments previously studied. I tried to find/think of instructions with cheap/free materials, varying timeframes, and varying degrees of difficulty. I categorized levels of difficulty as Easy, Medium, or Difficult. I categorized the approximate time it should take to make an instrument as Short (10-30mins), Medium (30-60mins), or Long (60+mins).

Australian Didgeridoo

Materials: PVC Pipe or Long Cardboard Tube, Glue, Scissors, Beeswax for Mouthpiece (optional), Acrylic Paints (optional)

Instructions:
• Make pipe or tube length between 3 to 6ft, width 1.2 inches
• Decorate pipe or tube with Australian Aboriginal Art
• If desired, use strips of beeswax to mold mouthpiece to one end of tube

Difficulty: Easy
Timeframe: Short
To play: Blow into tube with short breaths. Inhale through nose, and long exhale out of mouth; experiment with differed lip pursing. Once initial sound mastered, try different animal noises and clucking


Mexican Maracas

Materials: 2 balloons, 2 toilet paper rolls, beans or rice or popcorn kernels, flour, hot water, large mixing bowl, newspaper strips, tape, scissors, acrylic paints

Instructions:
• Insert desired amount of beans/rice/kernels into balloons, blow up balloons and tie; careful to avoid swallowing beans/rice/kernels
• Attach toilet paper roll to end of balloon with tape
• Paper Maché: Slowly mix 4 hot water to 1 part flour in large mixing bowl; beat until mixture is smooth; let cool 10 minutes
• Dip newspaper strips into paper maché; remove excess mixture; wrap newspaper strips around balloon + toilet paper roll until covered
• Let maracas thoroughly dry overnight
• Once dry, paint with acrylic paints and once again set aside to dry

Difficulty: Medium – Difficult
Timeframe: Long
To play: Shake maracas to create rhythm; short, quick shakes better. Often 2 maracas are held in one hand, crisscrossed over one another.



Chinese Gong

Materials: circular pie tin, string, square picture frame wider than pie tin, wooden spoon, cloth, paints or markers

Instructions:
• Pierce a hole at 10 and 2 on pie tin
• Tie strings from hole to top corners of picture frame
• Wrap cloth around wooden spoon to form mallet & tie with string
• Decorate picture frame & pie tin with Chinese symbols and art

Difficulty: Medium
Timeframe: Short
To play: Softly strike gong with mallet to produce a resonating percussion sound.

Spanish Guitar

Materials: shoebox, 3-5 elastic bands, pencil, long cardboard tube, ribbon, paints

Instructions:
• Paint shoebox and cardboard tube as desired
• Cut oval shaped hole in lid of shoebox
• Wrap elastic bands around shoebox length ways
• Stick unsharpened pencil under elastic bands between oval and edge of shoebox
• Attach cardboard tube to top end of shoebox to act as neck of guitar
• Attach ribbon loosely from top of neck to bottom of guitar to act as strap

Difficulty: Medium
Timeframe: Medium
To play: Strum or pick elastic bands (strings of guitar) to create twanging sound. If desired, adjust elastic bands’ tautness to create different notes/pitches.

Chilean Rainstick

Materials: long cardboard tube, tape, beans or popcorn kernels or rice, aluminum foil or push pins, paints or decorated paper

Instructions: (2 versions)
Version 1:
• Cover one end of tube with cardboard and tape
• Fill tube with beans or kernels or rice
• Cover open end of tube with cardboard and tape
• Carefully insert push pins into tube at random intervals
• Decorate as desired

Difficulty: Medium
Timeframe: Short – Medium

Version 2:
• Cover one end of tube with cardboard and tape
• Twist aluminum foil into one long thick piece, then spiral and place in tube
• Fill tube with beans or kernels or rice
• Cover open end of tube with cardboard and tape
• Decorate as desired

Difficulty: Easy
Timeframe: Short

To play: Slowly tip over rainstick to create the sound of rain.

Latin American Castanets

Materials: plastic or metal bottle caps, sturdy cardboard cut into small rectangles, superglue, string

Instructions:
• Fold cardboard rectangles in half
• Attach 2 bottle caps to each end of rectangular cardboard with superglue so they line up when folded onto each other
• Attach loose string loops to act as finger loop holders

Difficulty: Easy
Timeframe: Short
To play: Insert index finger and thumb through top and bottom string loops. Clap bottle caps together to make a tapping or clicking noise.

Native American Drum

Materials: large metal coffee tin, leather piece, hole punch, string, paints

Instructions:
• Tautly attach leather to open end of empty coffee tin
• Punch holes into ends of leather
• Loop string through holes and under tin continuously until secure
• Paint Native American hieroglyphics or other Native art onto leather

Difficulty: Difficult
Timeframe: Long
To play: Using tips of all 4 fingers, tap hand on top of drum with flat hand to create a resonant beat sound.

Tambourine

Materials: 2 paper plates, popcorn kernels, stapler, hole punch, string, 10 metal bottle caps or 10 small circles cut from aluminum pie tin

Instructions:
• Staple paper plates together ¾ of the way around
• Insert popcorn kernels into opening, then staple opening shut
Optional:
• On ridges of paper plates, punch 5 holes equal distance apart
• Punch holes into middle of bottle caps or aluminum circles
• Using string, attach 2 bottle caps/aluminum circles to each hole on ridge of paper plates

Difficulty: Easy - Medium
Timeframe: Short - Medium
To play: Holding tambourine in one hand, tap against other hand or thigh to the beat.

Bracelet, Anklet, or Belt with Bells

Materials: string, bells, beads.

Instructions:
• Cut 2.5 x desired length of string for bracelet/anklet/belt.
• Fold string in half; at fold secure a loop by tying granny knot.
• Alternate tying on beads and bells onto both pieces of string, being sure to secure each one with a knot
• At end, ensure desired length, and end with a bead small enough to fit through loop in order to secure.

Difficulty: Easy
Timeframe: Short
To play: Put on bracelet, belt, or anklet, and shift wrists, shake hips, or tap foot to beat or rhythm for a jingling sound.

Sept 28 - Researching Wordly Instruments

Researched different musical instruments I'm interested in making, and their origins:

• Didgeridoo:

originates from Australian Aboriginals; long wooden pipe; blown into to create deep reverberated hum; wind instrument

• Maracas:

originates from South America and/or Mexico; percussion instrument; shake to make sound; usually in pairs

• Gong:

originates from China/Asia in general; orchestral percussion instrument; circular bronze (or other metal) plate struck with mallet; resonant sound

• Guitar:

originates from Spain/Italy/other, used today worldwide; string instrument; usually 6 strings

• Rainstick:

origins unsure Aztecs/Chilean/Peruvian; hollow tube filled with pins and pebbles; upend to make sound of rain; percussion instrument

• Castanets:

origins unknown; used in many different cultures’ music to show rhythm; 2 small handheld pieces of wood/shell/plastic joined at top and clapped together; clicking sound; percussion instrument

• Bongo Drums:

originates from Africa/Cuba, often used in Caribbean music and reggae music in Jamaica; set of 2 small drums held between knees; beaten with fingers; percussion instrument

• Bells:

originates from China/Asia/other; used today in many cultures’ dances as bracelets/anklets/belts with numerous bells attached; bronze or other metal; percussion instrument; struck or shaken to produce ringing sound

After trying to find origins for these instruments, I found it difficult to pinpoint exact beginnings, especially since the definitions and structures of the instruments have changed and developed over time, therefore making their origins subjective and speculative. Different websites sometimes came up with different origins for the same instrument, and some websites felt bias in their portrayal of the origin of the instrument. So instead of focusing my lesson plans around the origin of instruments, I will just have the use of certain instruments in cultures, and not necessarily the culture of origin.