The "Bullroarer"....

- sound makers -

Howdy! ^_^

Today we are going to make something extremely simple, but fun nonetheless. Many people call this the "Bullroarer".

This type of instrument isn't often used in music, but sometimes it is - as a background instrument, it makes a cool sound. Usually however, it is a communication device, used to send out a call. This is used by many "natural peoples", such as Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians, and African tribal peoples as well.

You may have seen one of these in action, if you ever saw the movie, "Crocodile Dundee" - he called it his "telephone", and used it to call some of his aboriginal friends.

Take a piece of wood (or plastic, etc.) that is thin - like about 1/4" or less - it needs to be stiff, and not bendable. Dimensions don't need to fall into anything specific here, it could be around 1-2" wide, and about 10-15" long.

About 3/4" in from one end, make a hole through it. Now, taking a strong piece of string, leather cord, or twine that is around one to two yards long, put one end through the hole and tie it up.

How you make this sound out is fairly simple - you spin it around in circles, and it makes a sound.... but first, there's a little trick to it.

Before you start spinning it around in a wide circle, hold the string and let the wooden piece hang on it - now give that piece a good spin on the string, and then quickly start to whip the whole thing around in circles.

You see, this will only make a sound while you whip this around in circles, IF the main piece is spinning on the string itself at the same time.

Now that you have completed the whole mechanism, go ahead and decorate it with drawing, woodburning, paint, or whatever your heart desires.

This is a wonderful little piece of music making curiosity that children and adults can have fun with. Try it out!

That's it for today's post - have a nice night! ^_^

- sound makers -

A Simple Stringed Instrument....

- strings -

Hello, all - today, I'd like to share a bit of my Native American culture with you.

Let's make an interesting, and easy-to-put-together musical instrument, used by many tribes in America.... the mouth bow.

Take any kind of wood branch - not too green, as you don't want it to be too easily bent, and not too dead, as you don't want it to be too easily broken - and make it about the length of your arm. If you've got any whittling skills, that helps - smooth out all the rough spots, until you get a good, straight (within reason) stick. Willow is particularly very good for this.

Now, take some string - some like nylon because it makes a nice sound - I like to use natural fibers.... sinew, or artificial sinew (made from natural fibers) is best, in my humble opinion. Some people like to use hemp cord - I like that stuff too - but give it a good rub-down with some bee's wax.

Tie one end tightly around one end of your stick, and then, carefully bending the stick, tie the other end of the string around the other end of the stick - it should look like a bow when you're done.

That is pretty much all there is to this instrument's construction, besides decoration - but how to play it?

Well, you place one end of the stick in your mouth, firmly grasping it on the stick's end with your teeth. See to it that the string is untouched by any part of your mouth (biting onto the part that's wrapped around the stick is fine), so that you do not interfere with the string's vibration. Hold the other end of the bow with one hand, and with the other hand, pluck the string - you might even use a guitar pick, a smoothed down piece of bone, or a flat chip of rock, or whatever.

Now, this here operates along the same lines as a jaw harp - you know, those twangy ol' thangs that we often hear cowboys play with on those old western shows? The shape of your mouth, and changing the shape, changes the sound this makes, much in the same way as the good-old jaw harp. Also, opening and closing the throat changes the volume and depth. Finally, with the hand that holds the other end of the bow, by increasing or decreasing the bend in the bow, you change the pitch and tone of this wonderfully versatile little stringed instrument.

To decorate and personalize your mouth bow, wrap with leather string, tie on some colourful feathers and/or claws, bone hairpipe beads, beads of other types, painting, woodburning, or even whittling - but see to it that you do not cut too far into the body of the instrument, or it will snap to pieces.... any whittling should well be done before you bend the bow for tying on the string - you may also decide to keep any whittling to just the bark layer, creating patterns and designs in that way.

A well made mouth bow can be a beauteous piece of artwork indeed - and a functional one to boot - it makes music. A good one is one you'll keep for a very, very long time. Great at pow-wows or camping trips, and around a campfire. Have fun with it.

That's it for today's post, everyone - have a good night! ^_^

- strings -

A Very Interesting Instrument....

- flute -

Salutations! ^_^

Okay, today let's take what we've learned in the past few posts, and make something really cool. This flute has it's origins in ancient China, and India. We'll make this flute in the key of D. This flute has a special added feature that I think you will enjoy.

Taking some more 3/4" inside diameter PVC plastic pipe, about 24" long, plug up one end with cork, a piece of wood dowel, or a PVC end cap, making sure that it is air tight.

Keep in mind that you should now measure this flute's bore length from the wall face of the plug on the interior of the flute.

Now, measuring from this, go ahead and cut it down to about 22 & 1/2", and from that same place, the plug's inner face, make a mark at 3/4" from it, on the flute's body - this will be the centerpoint of the hole to drill for the embouchure, the hole you blow across to make the sound.

Remembering that such a hole should be drilled to half the bore diameter's measurement, go ahead and drill a hole there to be 3/8" wide. Now bevel the airstream splitting edge the same way you did for your last flutes in the previous posts.

Using the minituner program you downloaded before, or some pitch pipes, or electronic tuner that you may have on hand, sound your flute and check it - it may be lower than D, so take off a little bit of the pipe's length at a time until you get a good, crisp D.

Once you have done that, measure from the foot of the flute (the open end) about 4", and mark this as the centerpoint of the first hole to be drilled - this fingerhole should end up at about 1/4" wide - this will be an E. Remember to drill smaller, and use a file to bring it to tune, before you drill the next hole.

The next hole towards the head (the plugged end), should be at about 5 & 13/16" from the foot - mark that centerpoint.... this hole should end up to be about 3/8" wide, and it will be an F#.

The next hole should be about 6 & 13/16" from the foot - ending up a little less than 3/8" wide, this will be a G.

Next is 9" from the foot, 5/16" wide, and an A.

Next is 10 & 1/2" from the foot, 3/8" wide, and a B.

Finally, the last hole is 12" from the foot, a tiny bit more than 3/8" wide, and a C#.

Now, once you get this all to tune, play around with it for a bit before we add the special feature. Get used to it, and see that it is all adjusted to your liking.

Okay, ready? Great....

Now, look at the distance between the embouchure, and the fingerhole that's closest to it - find the center of this distance, then measure about 1/2" from that point, towards the embouchure - mark this as the centerpoint for a very special hole.

This hole should be around 3/8"-1/2", depending on the flute - this seems to depend on how all the other holes are formed and shaped, so all flutes are different.... you're going to have to experiment a little with this one. Start with the smaller hole, and if this works out well with it, then fine - if not, slowly make it larger.

Here is where we need a bit of rice paper - the kind for roll-your-own-cigarettes. Again, if you can't find these, you might get by with a little plastic wrap.

Moisten the outer surface of the flute around this last special hole (not too much!), and place the rice paper over it, covering the hole, sticking it into place. The part of the paper that sits above the hole, covering it, shouldn't be overly tightly covering it - there should be a little looseness. Again, experiment.

Now try playing it - you should hear a buzzing sound added to the note, giving the flute a sound somewhere between a clarinette and a violin.

Pretty cool, huh? Now, if you wish to play this as a regular flute, simply cover the buzzer with tape, or wrap a panel of leather around it, tied into place - this last way alows you to do both, switching back and forth between each mode of play, by turning the wrap back and forth over it.

I hope you like your new Chinese flute! enjoy!

Until next post, have a nice night! ^_^

- flute -

Now that you have made your first flute....

- flute -

Greetings! ^_^

Okay, now let's go over the fingering of your new flute.

Play your flute, and make the first note - the fundamental - with all holes closed. Open the next hole, and make a sound. Keep opening in succession, playing each note, until all holes are opened. Now, finally, to play the last note to complete the octave, have all holes closed except for the one closest to the embouchure - to make this note, you may have to blow more strongly. Depending on the flute you made (all are different), you may have to try this with all holes closed again, but again, blow more strongly.

This is called "overblowing" - go back and start again, all holes closed, and overblow into the next octave.... continue this sharp overblowing as you open each hole in succession to play the notes of the next octave.

Okay, there is your diatonic (8 note) scale (the "do-re-mi.... " scale).

Now, for the chromatic scale, we will use half-fingerings and cross-fingerings.

Sound the fundamental note - next, HALF-OPEN the first hole and play.... this is half-fingering, and may take practice.... next, open it fully and sound the note - then, fully close that hole again, and fully open the next hole - this is cross-fingering. Next, play with both of those first holes open - next, with the first hole open, the second one closed, and the third hole open - next, with the first three fully open - next, the first two open, the third closed, and the fourth hole open - next, with the first four fully open - and so on, until you run out of holes, then start again, overblowing into the next octave.

That is the chromatic (12 note) scale.

Now, you may or may not notice a little trouble once you get to the F hole.

For our next experiment, make another flute, same as before, but this time make the F an F#.... the placement of the centerpoint of this hole would be at about 9 & 1/16".

INSTEAD of making another flute, you may think you want to simply expand the F hole to become an F#... but this will result in a larger hole, and may create problems in your cross-fingering. If you want my opinion, just make another one - you will need these both to refer to in future experiments, anyhow.

Try everything in this post with that flute now. Experiment with mixing half-fingerings and cross-fingerings, especially around this new hole placement.

Which flute do you prefer?

Take notes on these experiments, and write down your experiences.

Alright, that's all for today - the next post will go over a new and better quality flute, with a much clearer, crisper sound, and a much better octave range.... and with an added plus that I think you will enjoy very much - for this nifty little addition, you will need some rice paper, the kind used for roll-your-own cigarettes.

If you cannot get your hands on any, you might just be able to squeeze by with a bit of plastic wrap. Think you know what we're going to do? You might, but I wouldn't be so sure! This comes from a flute of very ancient design, originating from China and India. I hope you will enjoy it.

Until then, have a nice night! ^_^

- flute -

One of the Most Basic Formulas.... (conclusion)

- math -

Hi, all! Did you do your homework yet?

Okay, let's see.... the answers to yesterday's quiz....

B - this would be 13.69", or roughly, about 13 & 5/8" from the open end of the flute - mark the centerpoint for this fingerhole to be drilled out.

C - this would be 12.92", or roughly, about 12 & 15/16" from the open end - mark the centerpoint.

D - this would be 11.51", or roughly, about 11 & 1/2" from the open end - mark the centerpoint.

E - this would be 10.25".... that's 10 & 1/4" - mark the centerpoint.

F - this would be 9.68", or roughly, about 9 & 5/8" - mark.

G - this would be 8.625".... that's 8 & 1/8" - mark.

Now we want to drill these holes, and slowly enlarge them to tune, *ONE AT A TIME*. Don't go and drill 'em all out at once, or you may have some problems getting them all to tune, and end up with a complete mess. And start from the open end, going on to the next hole, and the next, until you get to the last hole, the one closest to the embouchure.

Use a 1/8" drill bit, and using small round files, slowly (be patient, now) open them wider and wider until you get the note you need. As you widen them, do so more towards the closed end of the flute, having the hole creep up in that direction until it's to the proper note, keeping the hole uniform in shape, until you get pretty close. Use your minituner that you downloaded (from a post or two ago) to bring your holes to tune.

Once you have brought one hole to tune, then you can start to drill the next one out, widening it to tune, then the next one, and so on until you have your complete flute!

Alright, that's it for today - short post, yeah, I know - but next post we will go over how to play this flute, as far as fingering goes, to play the chromatic and diatonic scales.

Until then, keep having fun with your project! ^_^

- math –

One of the most basic formulas.... (cont.2)

- math -

Greetings!! ^_^

Okay, picking up from where we left off in the previous post, today we'll be finding where the fingerhole placements should be, using the mathematical formula from two posts ago. Ready? Cool.

You might have noticed, that once you cut your flute to match the note of A, that the length is actually less than 15 & 3/8" from the plug's inner wall surface to the open end. This is due to another little bit of math - it's a little complicated to explain why right now, but we will go over that information soon enough - so, for the time being, to make a long story short;

The flute's body is ONE HALF the wavelength of the fundamental note, MINUS ABOUT 1/3rd IT'S BORE DIAMETER (in this particular case, that would be about 1/4", or .25 inches).

A good point to remember.

Okay, since this will be a flute tuned to A (A will be the fundamental note - the lowest note that this flute can play, with all fingerholes closed), and as this will have six fingerholes, the consecutive notes this experimental flute should have, starting with the fundamental note, and progressing upwards as each fingerhole is opened in succession, will be A, B, C, D, E, F, and G - very basic, as this is a learning exercise with this first experimental flute.

Now, keep in mind that this flute is *experimental* - don't expect your first flute to be a concert masterpiece - you *will* make mistakes on your first try, but it will still be playable, and any deviations in tuning can be rectified by how you play this flute, and at which angle of attack you direct your airstream across the blowing edge, bending notes to accommodate, where needed.

Here is where a quiz is called for - today, using the frequency number for each note (see previous post for the link to the site to find this information on), and dividing the speed of sound in inches (as mentioned two posts ago, this number is 13526.5) by the frequency number, then dividing that answer by two (halving it), you will get the number in inches as to where to put the centerpoints for each of the six fingerholes, measuring from the plug's interior wall face. These answers will be displayed in the next post.

Alright, that's all for now.... until next post, have a fun! ^_^

- math –
-

One of the most basic formulas.... (cont.)

- math -

Howdy all!

Okay, let's continue from where we left off yesterday....

Making the sound mechanism for our flute, we need to know a couple of things. Number one, the placement of the embouchure (the hole you blow into, or across) - that is to say, the *centerpoint* of the hole to be drilled for it - should be one flute diameter's width distance from the wall face of the plug in the flute's interior.

So, in this case, our PVC flute's inside diameter being 3/4", we measure 3/4" from the face of the closed end (it's *interior* face), and mark this point on the outer wall of the flute's body.

Number two, the embouchure's hole size should be HALF that of the flute's inside diameter.

Once we drill that hole in, we then need to bevel one of it's edges - which edge to bevel would be depending on whether you're left-handed or right-handed. We want the outer surface of the flute untouched - we will be beveling the airstream splitting edge from the inside. Take a small file (needle files often work best for me), either a full round or a half round, and file this to a sharp edge.

Okay, now try blowing across it. No sound? Well, this takes a bit of practice.... first of all, you don't want the shape you make with your lips to be as though you're whistling - forming a round hole - you instead want to form a slot-like opening. Some flute teachers say, "pucker and smile". You may also try configuring your top and bottom lips in a certain way - while blowing, try moving your bottom lip more forward than your top one, then move your lips to the opposite of this. This focuses your blowing to direct the airstream to flow up and down, until you find the best direction to split the airstream across the blowing edge and make a sound. Keep practicing this way until you hear sound being created.

Got any sound coming out of it yet? Great!

Now we need to properly tune this flute. To figure out other notes' frequencies, using the mathematical formula in the previous post to find the flute length needed for future flutes, or to find (again, using the math) where the fingerholes of this, and other flutes need to be, click here for a good site with this information.

Next, we'll need to have something to use to tune our flute with - a nifty bit of freeware to use as a tuning tool - this is called "minituner", and though it is promoted as a tuner for guitars, it can actually tune any instrument using your computer and a microphone - simply click on "view", then choose "chromatic tuning", and you're all set! To go to the page for the free download, please click here.

Okay, to bring this experimental A flute's body length to the proper note's half-wavelength size, we will remove bits of the PVC's open end a little at a time, until we achieve the right sound. Remembering to measure from the wall face of the plug from the *inside* of the flute, go ahead and chop it down to 16" or so. Remember to remove any burrs and particles from the edge of the cut so as to not allow any of it to interfere with the airflow and affect the sound.

Try it out with the minituner program (or tuning pipes, or electronic tuner, if you have any handy), and see what note it registers at - is it lower than A? It needs to be shorter then. Take off just a little more, and try it again. Keep at it until you have reached A.

You may notice that, depending on the angle from which you are blowing into the flute, that you can sharp of flat the note - make it sound higher or lower. Keep this in mind while you are tuning your flute.

Okay, that's it for today's post - next, we'll find the fingerhole placements, and put them in, finishing our first flute together - more in the next post!

Have a nice night! ^_^

- math -

One of the most basic formulas....

- math -

Shekkon!
(Mohawk language; greeting)

Okay, today let's discuss what needs to be done in order to figure out how to decide the length of woodwind instruments, and where to place the holes.... now, this here formula can also be applied to other instruments besides woodwinds, such as the chromatic drum set we will be making in future posts, so keep that well in mind.

I'll try to make this as simple and illustrative (even if a mite wordy) to understand with as much ease as possible. Here we go....

Basically, we need to remember that sound travels in waves - the difference from one wave to another is a result of it's frequency - for instance, let's imagine a rain barrel, full of water.... if we give it a couple of gentle, rocking nudges, we can see that waves, or ripples, appear on the surface. These waves, due to the gentle push on the barrel's body, are somewhat large, a little smooth, and a bit slow, moving from the barrel's rim towards the center and back again.

Now, after the waves subside, and all is calm at the surface, if we then take a rock and sharply whack it against the barrel's body, we then see something different - the waves, or ripples, are much smaller, speedier, and more numerous.

This is an example of FREQUENCY - how frequently are the waves passing through a given space in a given time?

In the above analogous illustration, the ripples and waves representing sound, the larger, softer, slower (and fewer), lower frequency waves would be a low, bass sound. The smaller, sharper, speedier (and more numerous), higher frequency ripples would be a higher tone.

So, in order to find our woodwind instrument's length - let's make this a basic flute - we need to know what note we would like to base this on. We need to know the FUNDAMENTAL NOTE.... this is the note played with all holes closed, the lowest note that this flute can play. Once we decide on a note, we need to know it's frequency.

Let's say we want to make this an A flute - A will be the fundamental note. The frequency of A (measured in "Hertz", which is the root-word in terms I'm sure you've heard of, such as 'megahertz' and 'gigahertz' and so on), is 440 hertz.

Now, we need a referrence frame from which to do our deductive math - we need to know the speed of sound.

Now, at sea level, at about 70-73 degrees F or so, the speed of sound, in inches, is 13526.5 inches per second. Within this distance, the note A makes 440 ripples through the air - this is A's frequency.

Now, we need to find out the WAVELENGTH of A - the distance between the tops, or crests, of each ripple, or wave, within said distance. If we want to find out how far it is from one wavecrest to another, we can understand that since, within the space of 13526.5 inches, there are 440 of these waves, we can know that a wavelength is 1/440th of 13526.5 - in other words, we DIVIDE the distance by the frequency.

Now, 13526.5 divided by 440 equals 30.742 - or, 30 and about 3/4 inches.

Now we know that the wavelength of A is roughly 30 & 3/4", so we can make our flute to that length, right? Wrong.

An open ended flute's body, is actually HALF the length of it's fundamental note's wavelength.... so, that means that our A flute needs to be roughly about 15 & 3/8" long.

Let's also assume for now, that the *inside* diameter of this particular flute's barrel, or body, is 3/4" wide. There are important reasons for this, but we'll discuss that later. In the meantime, if you want to try making one out of 3/4" PVC pipe, grab some now, and follow along - but don't cut it to any precise length yet.... maybe start it at about 20" long first - why?

Well, in order to properly tune this flute, we should first make the sounding mechanism. This first flute will be a transverse (sideblown) flute. Plug up one end of the pipe with cork, wood, or a PVC end piece, and now you will measure your flute body's length from the face of the plug on the flute's interior, to the open end. THIS is the flute length dimension you will be using in your math to find it's length, and where to put the holes.

There is a certain mathematical way to find what size to make the embouchure (the hole you blow into), and where to put it. Once we do that, and it makes a sound, then we can cut our flute to length, and check it's tuning as we do.

We will go over this in the next post. See y'all next post! ^_^

Nia:wen!
(Mohawk language; Thank you)

- math –

More on tools and supplies....

- tools and supplies -

OKAY! Now, let's first get into what we'll be needing for supplies and such today - we'll go over what few tools we will need in these modest beginnings, as well.

For supplies, as we are in these beginning stages, let's use PVC pipe, of a 3/4" inside diameter - very inexpensive stuff, that can be gotten at some hardware stores, and most, if not all, home centers, such as Home Depot or Lowe's.

As mentioned earlier, we'll start with woodwind instruments. One thing we need for making woodwinds, is a good hand saw - something simple, and maybe compact - a good "best choice" would be a pull saw... you know, like those Japanese pull saws? We see a lot of these types in the tool section of home centers like Home Depot, or Lowes.

Another thing we need is a good hand drill - a drill press might sound ideal, but we really don't need anything big, clunky or expensive. You also really don't need to worry about making perfectly straight finger holes anyways, because you don't want to make them at full size at first.... you need to make them to be smaller, and then to shape them to tune until they reach the perfect size and shape. Which brings us to our final need, as far as tools go; some files and rasps. Round files (or, "rat-tail" files), half-rounds and flat ones, large and small.

One other thing to consider here - there is a basic math to finding where precisely to place all the fingerholes, and indeed, how long to make your flute. This will be touched upon in the next post, which should be up in a few small hours here. Until then, seeya later! ^_^

- tools and supplies –

Tools and supplies....

- tools and supplies -

Just a quick pre-post before the next posting... there is an excellent resource of tools, supplies, and reading material. The company's name is Stewart MacDonald - to view their website, click here - you may want to bookmark that page, while you're at it. Okay, see y'all next post! ^_^

- tools and supplies –

Welcome!!

- welcome -

Howdy, all! And welcome! I hope you all enjoy this site!! ^_^

On this site, which will build up with time, we will approach the learning of what makes a musical instrument play, and play well - we don't want to make dime store toys here, but rather fine, quality instruments that will be functional works of art... however, we will be making toy-like prototype experimental pieces in order to go over the basics of what precisely makes these wondrous things tick.

I'm also hoping the information found here may also be helpful to teachers and home schoolers out there. Good for music and math.

Keep in mind, as this is a blog (web log), and that posts appear in reverse chronological order (most recent posts at top of page), you might want to take a peek at the archives, or "previous posts".

We will first begin with woodwind types for the first number of posts here, using readily available supplies such as PVC for practice prototypes, then we will move on to strings, percussion, and so on. I hope you enjoy this site, and that it brings you to a deeper understanding of music, and the instruments that play music. See you next post! ^_^

- welcome –