Instrument building questions

Some qustions for those of you who build your own instruments:

Sometimes I play with making stupid string instruments from various household items in my house... but they all lack loudness. Recording and playing back the sound amplified shows that the sounds are interesting and satisfying in all other respects however. Are there any strategies for making accoustic instruments louder? Do you need steel strings? Do you need to tense the strings really hard? Do you need a bridge to transfer sound into a resonator to get it loud enough? Must the resonator be made of something hard?

Thanks,
Magnus Jonsson

>
>
>
> Magnus Jonsson wrote: <http://profiles.yahoo.com/zealmange>
>
> Are there any strategies for
> making accoustic instruments louder?

There are some simple strategies. One is to borrow a resonator -- set your instrument on a table or cabinet or any other resonant object with a cavity. Ceramic vases can make great Helmholz resonators (the Javanese gong komodong uses a ceramic pot, often reinforced with cement; Alvin Lucier does amazing things with microphones place in sympathetically resonating vases). But other resonators can be made very quickly and cheaply. Balloons work well. (Prent Rodgers is the local expert on balloons).

Personally, I like using paper fans, both alone and as an additional sound radiator/propagator. Just fold a fan from a sheet of copy/printer paper and attach the closed end to the body of your instrument. Fans were used in the Lasry/Baschet instruments.

(For an amazing, quick instrument, attach a couple fans to a suspended kitchen oven grill. Strike the grill. (Or for a private concert, suspend the grill by two pieces of string or cord, wrapping the loose ends around a finger on each hand. Place the fingertips in your ears and then strike the grill.)

DJW

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Magnus Jonsson <magnus@...>
wrote:
>
> Some qustions for those of you who build your own instruments:
>
> Sometimes I play with making stupid string instruments from various
> household items in my house... but they all lack loudness. Recording
and
> playing back the sound amplified shows that the sounds are
interesting and
> satisfying in all other respects however. Are there any strategies
for
> making accoustic instruments louder? Do you need steel strings? Do
> you need to tense the strings really hard? Do you need a bridge to
> transfer sound into a resonator to get it loud enough? Must the
resonator
> be made of something hard?
>
> Thanks,
> Magnus Jonsson

Usually it's a balance, where one improvement affects other things.

The delightful instruments at this page show many materials and
household items used for sounding boards,
http://inersouster.blogspot.com/

and this one promises to grow, http://www.junkdojo.com/

Clark

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006, Daniel Wolf wrote:

> There are some simple strategies. One is to borrow a resonator -- set
> your instrument on a table or cabinet or any other resonant object with
> a cavity. Ceramic vases can make great Helmholz resonators (the
> Javanese gong komodong uses a ceramic pot, often reinforced with cement;
> Alvin Lucier does amazing things with microphones place in
> sympathetically resonating vases). But other resonators can be made
> very quickly and cheaply. Balloons work well. (Prent Rodgers is the
> local expert on balloons).

Interesting.

> Personally, I like using paper fans, both alone and as an additional
> sound radiator/propagator. Just fold a fan from a sheet of copy/printer
> paper and attach the closed end to the body of your instrument. Fans
> were used in the Lasry/Baschet instruments.

This sounds easy enough! Actually I'm trying it out right now...

It doesn't seem to make my instrument louder. But I'm still having difficulty visualizing exactly what you mean. Do you have any picture perhaps?

> (For an amazing, quick instrument, attach a couple fans to a suspended
> kitchen oven grill. Strike the grill. (Or for a private concert,
> suspend the grill by two pieces of string or cord, wrapping the loose
> ends around a finger on each hand. Place the fingertips in your ears and
> then strike the grill.)
>
>
>
> DJW
>

Bart Hopkins likes to use Styrofoam underneath which i have seen used well.
i would prefer i didn't' have to look at it though on stage so a box that hides it might be the finishing touch.

Magnus Jonsson wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Dec 2006, Daniel Wolf wrote:
>
> >> There are some simple strategies. One is to borrow a resonator -- set
>> your instrument on a table or cabinet or any other resonant object with
>> a cavity. Ceramic vases can make great Helmholz resonators (the
>> Javanese gong komodong uses a ceramic pot, often reinforced with cement;
>> Alvin Lucier does amazing things with microphones place in
>> sympathetically resonating vases). But other resonators can be made
>> very quickly and cheaply. Balloons work well. (Prent Rodgers is the
>> local expert on balloons).
>> >
> Interesting.
>
> >> Personally, I like using paper fans, both alone and as an additional
>> sound radiator/propagator. Just fold a fan from a sheet of copy/printer
>> paper and attach the closed end to the body of your instrument. Fans
>> were used in the Lasry/Baschet instruments.
>> >
> This sounds easy enough! Actually I'm trying it out right now...
>
> It doesn't seem to make my instrument louder. But I'm still having > difficulty visualizing exactly what you mean. Do you have any picture > perhaps?
>
> >> (For an amazing, quick instrument, attach a couple fans to a suspended
>> kitchen oven grill. Strike the grill. (Or for a private concert,
>> suspend the grill by two pieces of string or cord, wrapping the loose
>> ends around a finger on each hand. Place the fingertips in your ears and
>> then strike the grill.)
>>
>>
>>
>> DJW
>>
>> >
>
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> -- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/index.html>
The Wandering Medicine Show
KXLU <http://www.kxlu.com/main/index.asp> 88.9 FM Wed 8-9 pm Los Angeles

Thanks for those links clark!
That second link is awesome with the videos.

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006, threesixesinarow wrote:

> Usually it's a balance, where one improvement affects other things.
>
> The delightful instruments at this page show many materials and
> household items used for sounding boards,
> http://inersouster.blogspot.com/
>
> and this one promises to grow, http://www.junkdojo.com/
>
> Clark
>
>
>