I started this project by gathering a range of waste objects that interested me and I thought had good potential for a musical instrument. I was intrigued by both string and percussion elements of existing instruments therefore I wanted to explore both in my instrument. 

For my first draft instrument I placed a tin can in the styrofoam and wrapped string around. Due to the soft nature of the styrofoam it made it difficult for me to keep the strings tight and achieve the sound I wanted. I added the gold pins to try keep the string in place. While they did help to an extent, It was not entirely successful.

Sonic research

I like the sound of the metal objects and experimented with the different sounds they could produced. I decided to focus on the gold object for my instrument since it could create a wide range of sounds. I thought it would be better to create a simpler instrument and not try combine the string and percussion elements. 

Construction of instrument

I explored different ways to prop up the gold object and decided it would be most beneficial to the user if there was a stick to hold on to therefore I incorporated the knitting stick into the design. First I used a block of styrafoam but once again I found it too unstable and flimsy. I ended up using the other metal lid as the stand at the bottom and attached the knitting needle to both metal objects with a drill. I thought the stand at the bottom worked well in this instrument as it means you can not only play it to produce a different sound but also use it as a stand to easily display or store it.

My plan was the have the middle part of the instrument suspended with string however, when I tested this out I did not like the sound it produced and it made the instrument difficult to play therefore I decided to keep it stationery instead.

Experimenting with how the instrument can be played

I tried to see what alternative ways this instrument could be played and created this musical score where the objects are the score and you physically play the score to product the music.

Although this was a fun and unique way to use this instrument I chose to keep it as a handheld instrument played with a beater since this was more functional and practical for users in my opinion. I also attached a tab from a can to act as a bell function to make this instrument even more versatile. 

Bespoke musical score

Promotional video of instrument

Final photos of instrument

Reflection

Overall, this was a very interesting but challenging assignment. Since we had a lot of creative freedom with our instrument it took me a while to figure out what type of instrument I wanted to create since I had quite a few ideas to start out with. Something that was challenging was creating a unique instrument that isn’t too similar to one that already exists.