Make Your Own Instruments (Part 1)!!

I decided to try making my own PVC pipe didgeridoo just a few days back. It's probably one of the simplest instruments to make, being just a simple cylinder. But if you're more adventurous, the possibilities are almost limitless! Here are some things I found on the web about making your own instruments:

Let's start with some inspiration:



Here are some interesting sites:

• http://www.philtulga.com/Didgeridoo.html - Didgeritubes?? Where did they get that from? A cross between a panpipe and several didgeridoos!
• http://www.philtulga.com/Panpipes.html - Panpipes - something more conventional
• http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~dl1s-ymgc/tsukur-e.htm - Yokobue - Some kind of Japanese flute
• And a whole load of other odd homemade instruments at http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/. This is the guy behind the video above. Hard to read cos it's all in Courier font, but with detailed instructions.
  

Didge Your Way To A Good Night's Sleep - Why I want to learn to play the Didgeridoo

Sounds weird? Well, maybe not! A medical journal published a paper several years ago documenting the benefits of didgeridoo playing in managing certain sleep disorders!

I have a family history of sleep apnoea (American: apnea). People with this condition tend to snore, and their airways get blocked when they are in deep sleep. When the airway gets blocked, the body wakes itself up. Usually the sleeper isn't aware of this. Nevertheless it results in interrupted sleep and tiredness throughout the day. Treatment for sleep apnoea can range from operations (which may provide only temporary relief, and are very expensive) or some other expensive sleep equipment, none of which I can afford.

Welcome to Didgeridoo playing! Here's an excerpt from an article in ABC News Online dated 23 Dec 2005:

Researchers in Switzerland have examined 25 patients who suffered from snoring and moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, both common sleep disorders.

Half the group were given daily lessons in playing the didgeridoo.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal's online edition, found those who played the wind instrument over a four-month trial period saw a significant improvement in their daytime sleepiness and apnoea.

Their partners also reported less disturbance from snoring.

The researchers said training the upper airways through the breathing techniques required to play the didgeridoo was behind the improvement.

Here's the link to the article: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1537218.htm

An operation or one of those sleep machines could cost thousands of dollars. Didgeridoo lessons are about $30 and hour. Learn for a month (at $120) and you can practice circular breathing on your own after that. You do the math.

And oh, did I mention you get to learn a new musical instrument along the way?

The Shofar

This is an instrument that has deep religious significance. The Shofar, or Ram's Horn, is used by the Jews in their worship. In the past it was also used in battle. One such usage was in the famed battle of Jericho where God ordered the blast of the shofar prior to leveling the walls of the fortified city.

Info on the Shofar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shofar

When It's All Been Said and Done with Irish Whistle and Uilleann Pipes

We've been singing this song When It's All Been Said and Done at my church for a while now. I did a search on Youtube for the song and found this one performed by Don Moen and another musician. The other musician played the Irish Whistle and Uilleann Pipes (Irish bagpipes).

The clip starts off a little soft though.

Lamb of God on the Tin Whistle

I found this wonderful recording of Twila Paris' Lamb of God played with the Irish tin whistle. Enjoy!

Irish Whistles (my new toys!)

My new toys just arrived in the mail 2 days ago. I ordered several Irish whistles (otherwise known as tin whistles or pennywhistles), 3 nose flutes and an American fife from a US-based online store - the Whistle Shop.

Irish whistles are one of the cheapest, sweetest sounding and easiest to learn instruments. Unlike other instruments where expensive usually means better, some of the best whistles are relatively cheap. You probably have heard its rustic and sometimes haunting sound in Titanic's My Heart Will Go On, and in Lord of the Ring's Concerning Hobbits.

The whistles in the photo are (top to bottom) a Walton's D, a Clarke's Original D with natural finish, and a Clarke's Original C. The Walton's D was a gift from my cousin who visited Ireland. It cost around $30, but that's probably because of the GBP to SGD conversion. The Clarke's were just below 10 USD excluding shipping. Clarke's is a widely recommended brand. Walton's, however, doesn't seem as popular.

My Dizi and I

Here's a photo of me playing my Chinese flute (dizi 笛子) while dressed in traditional Chinese garb.

Pai Xiao (排箫) - Chinese Bamboo Panpipes

I was given this set of Chinese Panpipes by a friend who visited Tianjin, China. She bought it for a good $30 SGD. I visited a Chinese instrument store in Singapore and was told it would sell here for about $120 SGD.

The Chinese name for panpipes is "Pai Xiao" (排箫). Pai means row, and Xiao refers to a vertical edge-blown flute. Put together, it simply means a row of vertical edge-blown flutes - in other words, a panpipe.

Panpipes have been found in various cultures ranging from Greece to the China, Europe to the Andes. They are made from various materials such as reeds, bamboo, different varieties of wood and even - more recently - plastic. They operate on the same principle. Each pipe is sealed at the bottom and is tuned by setting the length of the pipe and the column of air inside it. Blowing across the top produces the tone. A pipe with a wider bore and longer column will produce a lower note.

My set of panpipes sound quite nice. They're made of purple bamboo, which if I'm not wrong is of a more expensive variety than white bamboo that is more commonly used for horizontal Chinese flutes. The lowest note is E, but it's tuned to C major. It consists of 15 pipes starting with a low E and ending with a high E - a total of 2 octaves. They were broken just below mid C due to mishandling, but fortunately the shop I sent them to managed to repair them and they sound just as nice. It has a carving of a Chinese poem by the renown Chinese poet Li Bai (李白). I can't really read it though. I'm not too good with the panpipes yet, but hopefully I can post a video sometime soon.

How Odd Can Musical Instruments Get?

Sound (and hence music) is basically created by vibrating air. Different musical instruments create sounds differently, and thus have different playing methods. Most if not all instruments fall in the following categories:

1. Plucked Strings (eg. guitar, harp, zither)
2. Bow Strings (essentially friction, eg. violin, cello)
3. Struck Strings (eg. dulcimer, piano)
4. Edge-blown (eg. flutes, ocarinas, pipe organ)
5. Buzzing Lips (eg. trumpet, horns, didgeridu)
6. Single Reed (eg. clarinet, saxophone)
7. Double Reed (eg. oboe, bagpipes)
8. Percussion

Of course, these playing methods can be applied in many ways, for example, plucked string instruments can take the form of the Indian sitar, the Chinese zither, harps, lutes, guitars, banjos, etc. As a result, some inventive people have created their own unusual musical instruments.

Welcome to the Odd Music Gallery: http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/index.html

Here you will find anything from ancient musical instruments to experimental pieces. Here are some interesting finds:

Aeolian Wind Harp - an ancient Greek instrument. I want one of those!
Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall Organ - world's largest organ - and loudest too!
Glass Armonica - invented by Ben Franklin himself! With Mozart joining the fun!
Hang - what the hang?? No hang ups on this percussion instrument. Wonderful invention!
Sea Organ - an organ played by the sea?? Partly architecture, partly musical instrument.

Erhu Solo by Zhan Li Jun from 12 Girls Band

Didgeridu Clip

2 Ethnic Instruments

Here are 2 of my ethnic instruments. The one on the left is a didgeridu, and the one on the right is an erhu (二胡).

The Didgeridu, or 'Didge' as it is sometimes called (also known by its native name 'yidaki'), is a simple cylinder of wood (often eucalyptus, sometimes bamboo) hollowed out by termites (or artificially, for the hand made variety). It's a native Australian aborigine instrument that uses buzzing lips to play. It's traditionally a man's instrument and women are not allowed to play it. It's often decorated with aborigine art and the mouthpiece is usually made of beeswax. The piece I have was given by my brother and is beautifully decorated. I'm not sure about the sound quality as I'm not very familiar with this instrument. Some didges are made of other materials like metal or PVC tubing, but the wooden ones sound the best.

The Erhu is a bow-string instrument, the Chinese equivalent of the western violin. It has a natural melancholic timbre and can sound very heart-wrenching when played well. This is attributed to its construction, part of which consists of a piece of python skin stretched over the soundbox. A saddle or bridge is placed between the skin and the 2 metal strings to transfer the vibrations. The horsehair bow is strung between the 2 strings (unlike the violin where the bow is a separate piece) and played by pulling it against the strings. Unlike the violin which has a fingerboard, the erhu's strings are floating. I bought my piece at a good $250. The original price was somewhere around $520.

Welcome to My Music Blog!

I'm not really much of a musician. More of a dabbler actually, and a collector of instruments here and there. I play several instruments including keyboards, flutes and the erhu (二胡), but I prefer to spend more of my time in my primary area of giftedness, which is drawing and illustration.

To date, I have quite a collection of musical instruments that were either acquired by myself or given by others:

1. Dizi (笛子) or horizontal Chinese bamboo flute in keys of C, D and G
2. Erhu (二胡) or Chinese violin]
3. Paixiao (排箫) or Chinese bamboo panpipes
4. Xun or Chinese egg-shaped ocarina
5. Taodi or Chinese fipple ocarina
6. Other ocarinas (one plastic, one from Eastern Europe)
   
7. Didgeridu
8. Irish Whistle - Walton's D, Clarke original C and D
   
9. Fife (Yamaha, plastic, 8 hole)
10. American Fife (6 hole, nickel)
    
11. Ukulele
12. Circular Panpipes (2 pcs)
13. Recorders (Alto and Sopranino)
14. Harmonica
15. Kazoo
16. Nose Flute
    
17. Some other ethnic tribal looking flutes and a reed instrument
18. A set of ornamental bagpipes

I'll be posting photos of them from time to time, and hopefully videos of me playing them - if I can get a handy cam, that is.