Use a very small drillbit to drill the holes through. When plucked, the prongs produce a sound as they vibrate. The process is actually pretty easy, all you need to do is move a tine in or out and pluck it, and then make adjustments until that tine is in tune. I am very interested in recycling and I want to know if there is a way to make a recycled one. The thumb piano is an African tool recognized by several names. Great instructable! 2 replies 0. mistic Whales. This great! That's it though, you're done! Question I would definitely not try it though, I'm nowhere near that kind of skill in the lathe. on Introduction. I have marked the dimensions I used in the first picture, but you may use any dimensions you like. I might make this sometime, voted! Definitely possible, if you can find a piece of wood that size with the grain running lengthwise which hasn't cracked. 2. Playing the Thumb Piano. - A drill (I used a dremel with drill-bit) - A small drill-bit of about 1~1.5 mm diameter - Something to cut a hole into the front wooden face with. There's no reason why you can't go a bit more detailed though, and a scroll or coping saw could be used to make a nice figurative hole. kirti singh asked "can you make a thumb piano?" Also, only one of the slats was resteamed, for reasons which will be apparent later. This was something I made for my girlfriend, to be used as an earring or necklace piece, but is also a playable musical instrument. This is way beyond my skills and I don't have many of the materials, but I would love to make this! This makes the instrument easier to play. I wouldn't be able to record me playing now anyway, since I gave them to my girlfriend who is on another continent. Take note of the placement of the tines in the other steps. Make a Thumb Piano. This little step will hold the side in place during the glue up later. Did you make this project? A mbira is a “thumb piano” of African origin. Question It still has too big of a diameter, but right now that's perfect. Maybe you would like to play an instrument which has a history that dates back thousands of years? Do NOT glue the front face on yet! In this case I used a table saw to roughly remove most of the excess material, and then a disc sander to slow by slow sneak up on the final measurement. I'll try to get the process posted as "Bandsaw Box" soon, G Pa Rich. - 2 Nails/ pieces of wire of about 2~4 mm diameter. To make this hole, I drilled 8 holes in a circular pattern into the wood, then broke out the wood in the middle. Drill through the faceplate and the wooden front face at the same time, so that the holes match up well. I have to admit that this is the first time I've ever heard of a thumb piano. A very innovative, and ingenious idea. This neat little thumb piano was perfect. Two holes were drilled through the grounding bar to allow for two screws to pass through when mounting the bar to the body. Without a hole the kalimba will sound quite muffled. Make a Thumb Piano (Mbira): This is a basic guide for building a Thumb Piano, or Mbira. Well, you're in luck, I can provide all of some of those in this instructable. This instructable is on the first picture in the Introduction, it is the easiest to make and was my first Mbira ever.The materials you will need are: - Spring steel strip (I found mine in a scrapyard a few months before I made the instrument) I used a windscreen-wiper spring from a car and it worked perfectly. Instead of having to wire the entire plate down, why not use industrial contact cement? And depending on the notes I need, I can cut 2 or 3 from one tine. This is an example of a simple, homemade musical instrument which can be used in lively, melodious musical performance as in the case of many an accomplished jug band. I have a couple of issues though. Once this first set of gluing has dried we can move onto reinforcing our kalimba. I DEFINITELY recommend you PRACTICE on a spare piece of wood before you do this on your own Mbira. If you have access to a laser cutter, why not cut the top and bottom circles with said laser cutter? According to ALINA’S ADVENTURES, where you'll find the tutorial, the thumb piano has it's background in indigenous African music. Make one big enough to play with mallets! Take any old tin, mug, or saucepan you have in the cupboard, a deflated balloon, and an elastic band. Then drill out the body for holes to fit threaded inserts, which will allow us to use mechanical screws rather than wood screws to mount the grounding bar. (I also used a nut and bolt to secure the bar before assembly). Easiest way to get rid of that is simply to fit a flush trim bit in a router and just route it away. Only ONE of the 2 faces must had a hole in it. lol I wonder...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMOGlNTZCS0, Spring steel strip, like from a metal rake or drain cleaning strip, Miscellaneous boards, tube, mounting hardware, glue, etc, Belt and disc sander, or files and sand paper, Guitar tuner, or tuning app for smartphone. At the back of the face, twist the two ends of the wire together like you did before, and make sure that the tube is against the tines as TIGHTLY as possible. Make sure you mount the wood in a way that works with your lathe, and which doesn't damage the wood. Do you mean holding it, tuning it(I tune mine by ear, so its intuitive, which I prefer over concert scale tuning) or simply holding it? One thing which ended up working equally great was a drain cleaning strip, used for unclogging drains. And I wish I could find an old metal rake, but I only have access to plastic ones hahaha ^^, awesome! Next what we need to do is turn down a stepped shoulder on the ends of the top and the bottom. I flattened some pins for tines and used balsa wood for the frame. This hole should be placed just below halfway down on the face, as shown in the first picture. I really wish it was my shop, it belongs to the Umeå Institute of Design in Umeå, Sweden. She made a new one and it is perfect! While we wait for the glue to dry, let's make the tines... Mbiras use tines to generate sound vibrations, in the same way a guitar uses strings. There has to be any easier way to make this ancient instrument without all the modern machinery. To make it look a little more interesting, I decided to burn the back face with a magnifying glass. wire/ nail - a small metal tube (mine was 5 cm long with a diameter of 5 mm) - Lots of thin binding wire (mine was 1mm diameter) To begin, cut two rectangular pieces of sheet metal to the correct size so that they fit onto your mbira as shown on mine. Mine were about 4,5 cm long each.bend them into a "U" shape and drop them into the holes as shown in picture 2, with the second nail/piece of wire in place. I used a better wood than ply, I think it make have been cherry but I am not sure. Twist the two ends of each piece of wire together, to make an "X" shape behind the face, then twist them more to tighten them. Build a thumb piano and carry music in your pocket. I find … You may also bend the ends if you use a thinner nail, to achieve the same. It come in 1/8" and 1/4" widths and also available in stainless steel. The video link, in case it doesn't show up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMOGlNTZCS0Hi there! The tines are spring steel and their width is perfect for a thumb piano. I clamped it in the drill press and … on Introduction, this is really great! Also, at this point it may be a good idea to cut down the tines to length, unless you like to have them protruding from the back of the kalimba. Now we can move on to other parts of the kalimba. Glad to hear that. Tuning a kalimba is actually a lot easier than it sounds, but if you don't have perfect hearing and can identify notes on the fly you may need some help with the tuning. Now have fun for the next few days playing with your new creation! That way the only part needed to be wired are the tangs and bars. Next you will need to drill another set of holes, this time to hold the tensioning tube over the tines. Saved by eHow. Thanks! Cut an opening into the balloon at its widest point making a semicircle-shaped incision. For many years, I have used steel leaf rake tines. So if you liked this DIY musical instrument … (Mine was about 18 cm long) bend the two ends of this wire down and push it through the two outer-most holes in the faceplate. Hello, what did you use as a bar (Z looking bar) for the heart shaped mbira? For shits and giggles look up the "array mbira" which can have hundreds of tines, and the people who are crazy enough dextrious to play them. Once they are loose on top of the faceplate, thread a long piece of wire through the tube. Aug 14, 2012 - How to Make an African Thumb Piano thumbnail. Usually though, I look at a boring o…, This is a basic guide for building a Thumb Piano, or, Space Saving Expandable Table for Tabletop and Board Games, Easy-Build Handwashing Station, With Videos. The time has come, finally time to close up the body of your kalimba. The box in this simple Mbira is rectangular and easy to get right. Don't bother tuning the kalimba right now, as you need to disassemble it again for the next step. This can be a bit tricky, since if you don't take off enough you won't be able to glue the kalimba together properly, and if you take off too much you will end up with a gap in your kalimba. If a key is loose, twist the wire closest to is a bit more at the back, this will pull the tube closer to it. Thanks for watching and following along this video and instructable. I started to make new one. You can also use what they call steel electricians "fish tape" for making the tines. If we left the wood untreated it would in no time start absorbing dirt and grease from our fingers, and from the environment around us. I usually get them free from neighbors, free or very cheap at garage sales, or find them driving around on trash pick-up day. Now that we have all the parts we can test that they fit together properly. If you use a nail for the top tine holder, like I did, then clip the head of the nail off with a hammer and some pliers. How to Make a Homemade Thumb Piano. 2 … 5 years ago :D. Thank you for the feedback, it means a lot to me! I also added in a larger stainless steel frontplate to make it look more uniform, as well as making the 7 tines form a heart shape and shaping the resonator box vaguely like a heart too. To make tuning a thumb piano manageable, I start by putting all of the keys in place with the rod and screws just loose. You can even leave them mostly round at the top end - just with a bit of flat so they don't roll around. Twist them behind the back of the face, and make sure once again that the tube is pressed TIGHTLY against the tines. We could simply resteam them and wrap them around a smaller cylinder, but because they're now largely cylindrical already they won't fit back into the steamer. For the body, which is a resonance chamber, to actually help to make the kalimba sound nice it needs a hole to let out the sound. The only thing we need to take care of is the bit of extra material from the top and the bottom. Cut a piece of U-shaped aluminum to span the width of your thumb piano's body. This should make it more difficult to break if the Mbira is dropped. Therefore it was made from a harder wood, like walnut, so it can stand up to the extra pressure. We're going to make a kalimba, which is an instrument which has existed for at least a few thousand years. Dowels and Rods. This tension is what allows the instrument to function. 5) Thumb Piano (or Kalimba) The kalimba is an African instrument that’s best made with pieces of spring steel and a wooden box. There are plenty of guides online for how to tune kalimbas though, so it may be a good idea to do some googling. When you cut it out, just roughly cut out the circle, do not cut all the way up to the line. Place your frontplate in the desired position on the Mbira. We now need a way to mount the grounding bar to the kalimba. Two smaller grooves were also milled on each side of the broader one to fit two metal rods on which the tines will rest. Next we will fit the tines, then the tube goes on top of them to create tension in them. I do have a coping saw, miter box and saw, files and a chisel or two. Here are a few of my Mbiras, each is unique. I did not take pictures of the flattening process because it requires two hands, but the basic idea is to put a piece of wire or a spring-steel strip onto an anvil or another solid metal object, and strike it with a hammer so that it flattens between the hammer and the metal. Thanks for posting such a great 'ible. First lightly draw a pencil outline of what you want to burn into the wood, then follow it to burn the shapes into the outer layer of wood.PRACTICE on a scrap piece of wood first if you decide to do this! 756. To make it easier to insert you can insert a screw into the threaded insert and tap directly on the screw, rather than on the threaded insert, as it may damage the wood once you get it down far enough. I keep on trying to think on how to explain it; its really intuitive once you get that 'AHA!' Repeat for all tines, and you're done. 2 #6-32 t-nuts made to be secured with brads. I DO miss that shop! Depending on the type of Mbira you make, the materials and tools needed will vary. I am always on the lookout for projects to do with my middle school shop students. A light sanding afterwards, and slight rounding of the corners for ergonomy's sake, and the body of the kalimba is pretty much done. It can definitely be done, with great care and careful turning. 5 months ago It's better if the diameter of the final bent cylinder is slightly smaller than the top and bottom, than bigger. They need to be made from springy material, as they should flex and return to their original shape when played. Completed, the resonator box measures 3 X 3 cm. - A metal file (again, not entirely necessary if you have sandpaper, but it is easier to use in some places.) Jan 29, 2012 - Homemade thumb piano made out of a cigar box. LARGE!!! I used a piece of double sided sticky tape and held pressure against the wood using the tail stock of the lathe and a piece of scrap wood in between to protect the surface. They belong to a group of instruments called "Lamellophone… Take careful note of the placement of them in the first picture! Some gluing blocks with rounded faces were made not to put any uneven pressure on any point of the kalimba, something which could result in buckling of the wood. what about turning the "Tube" down on the lathe, like making a bowl? but could you please put a video? I am sorry to disappoint you, but I can't really play it myself haha. Materials 1x4s or 2x4s cut into 4" or 5" lengths colored masking tape push pins large bobby pins (straightened and cut to different lengths) craft sticks rubber band. Aug 14, 2012 - How to Make an African Thumb Piano thumbnail. The system for the songs includes striking an item of steel that triggers the body of … It is a member of the idiophone family, meaning that it is an instrument whose sound is produced primarily by the instrument vibrating without the use of strings or membranes. Thanks for sharing this, I plan to make it! If you're interested in seeing more of the shop go to my YouTube channel, I have a video tour of the entire workshop in there. If all you want is a round hole you can use a forstner bit, or a small hole saw, to cut out a hole. Cut the aluminum rod to 4" and file the ends flat. It's not as hard as it sounds, it's basically just a couple of wood pieces which fit over a pot of boiling water. Cigar Box. Put them through the holes as shown in the completed front face above. I wanted to make kalimba for my 5 years old brother for birthday . You’ll need a few wine glasses, some water, and a tune in mind to demonstrate the sounds of science. Follow the link below to see the instructions. This slat will be glued inside the kalimba, so the fact that it's pushing outwards will help a lot with the gluing. The shapes are pretty straightforward and easy to achieve, I used a hacksaw and some sandpaper to get them to the desired shape. This is not at all dissimilar from how the bodies of guitars are made. Last thing we now need to make are the tines. This just makes the front face look a little more intriguing and interesting. I get the idea behind the kalimba, but that shop of yours...wow! Can you make an instructable on how to play it? For this purpose we chose solid wood which was cut down, jointed and planed down to a thickness of about 5mm. Glue the walls onto the BOTTOM face (the one without a hole in it) and leave the glue to dry. Will be a challenge:)\. Then you can rewrap it around a smaller cylinder to get it to fit the top and bottom better. . In the absence of aluminum, other metal can be used. 20. Decide how large you want the body of your kalimba to be and draw a circle onto the wood. It looks like you're using a 1/4 inch width but I'm having trouble finding a width smaller than 1/2 inch. The following steps in this instructable show you other ways of making similar Mbiras, and also how to burn wood patterns. Make sure the ends meet up and hold it together with some masking tape. on Step 9. This Mbira requires a thin metal sheet on either side of the wood where the wire will be threaded through, to make it stronger so that the wire does not break the wood when tightened. Very well done instructable! The bar was made from brass rod stock which was turned down to size on a lathe. Great explanations and attention to details. Steam bending that plywood would have driven me nuts. The tuning also plays a role on the atmosphere of how you might think the correct way to play it is. 1/16th inch brass rod. :/, Great idea! If you already have a guitar tuner that's more than enough, but you don't need to rush out to buy one just for this. That round box sure gave you a lot of headache... Nope, no headache what so ever! Once this is done, it should look like pictures 3 and 4. Glue two sticks (dowel rods, natural sticks, trimmed edges from one inch wood stock, whatever you have on hand) parallel to each other about two inches apart across one edge of the board. Something worth noting on this one is the much simpler mounting of the tines, a "U" shaped piece of wire is used for each tine and they are all just pressed directly to the frontplate. One way of doing so would for sure be to just use wood screws, but being concerned with how well they would last over time in such a thin material another solution may be better. If the cylinder you're bending your slats around isn't small enough, the springback in the wood will result in the diameter of your bent slats being too big to fit the top and bottom. Reply If you want some inspiration I would suggest going to YouTube, there are many people who would love to show themselves playing their kalimbas (or mbira as its also often called). This is a guide about how to make a bobby pin thumb piano. I have eight tines, so tuning a simple octave seemed like a straight forward enough deal. Due to several down sizings over the past few years I am presently without power tools except for a cord-less drill and Dremel, but without my old shop space. I drilled 10 holes to fit wire between the tines and another hole at each end of the tube. Indeed, it's not a bad idea. Would you like to know how to make some sweet tunes? I had to redo it a couple times because you need to do everything in a circular motion so as to avoid black dots being burnt in from stopping. May I make a small suggestion? I remembered that she had made a neat little thumb piano years ago at a craft fair. on Step 19. Place the backplate on the back side of the face. It can stick out of the sides like mine to prevent it from falling out of the wires that will hold it. The spring steel was simply cut down to shape and the ends rounded off, to provide some comfort when playing. (Mbira and also kalimba are 2 of the much more prominent names.) then you can go as thin as you dare, Well, "as thin as you can" would probably be a better term... By turning it on a lathe would be a bonus as there wouldn't be any seams except where you'd glue the Bottom on... (or the top, which ever you prefer.). However, there is more than one way to create steam. Would you like to get in touch with the origin of music? I thought your name looked familiar hahahah ^^ I have seen your instructables too, thanks for being a great part of the community dude! Still, adding a bit of epoxy glue to the threaded inserts is not a bad idea, to make sure they're not going to move anywhere. I chose a polyurethane varnish for this, applying several coats and allowing the varnish to dry fully between each coat. Hmm, wonder how that would work. With a little ingenuity, is it possible to pull off this project? This is the Mbira of which I am most proud, it took me over 15 hours to make and it turned out awesome! Congratulations! A tube is mounted to funnel the steam through (this is the steaming chamber) and a plug is fitted at the top with a couple of holes to keep most of the steam inside the tube. What width of drain cleaner did you use to make the tines? on Step 19. Aug 14, 2012 - How to Make an African Thumb Piano thumbnail. Place the thumb piano on the floor or your lap and experiment with all the different sounds you can make with your new instrument! I enjoyed every minute of this project! Remember that steam is hot, so be careful with your fingers! Reply This is much easier than measuring every time. I moved the hole from the front face to the top of the instrument, and made it possible to fit the top of a Coca Cola bottle inside, to amplify the sound made. DIY And Crafts. ;D, Perhaps you can find some other cool ideas in other things I have made here ;). Also, try a better glue, and good exterior wood glue holds much better and will last longer after all that hard work:) I love this and am going to try a larger creation in clay, (the voice box) then add the tangs etc. Add a bead of glue around the shoulder you made on the bottom piece and fit the resteamed wooden slat in there. Once you have trimmed the pieces to all fit together, place them together and make sure that everything looks tidy. They need to sit flush, or slightly below, the surface of the wood. It does not make a big difference,though, and the ideal thickness of the wood for an Mbira of this size is about 2~5 mm. This allows them to vibrate properly. This will make it easier to play for longer without hurting your fingers. They have a large hole drilled through with wire mesh fixed at the bottom. it would be cool to hear what it sounds like ;), I would love to! It makes sounds but I would not call them "music". :D Your Mbira is complete. I built one years ago from a wooden bowl I bought at at thrift store. Now rinse the balloon with water, so that it sticks and stretch it over the top. This one was original intended to be a traditional Zimbabwean Shona Mbira, but I did not have the right equipment to temper the thick wire and make the larger tines, so I used the 9 lightest ones and put them on a resonator box. And could it possibly be made with a square box (I'm thinking cigar box here) or would a box throw off the resonance? This one has a large resonance chamber and is therefore louder than the others. 5 years ago Start by watching the video at the top and start planning for your build! My daughter needed to make a musical instrument for her 7th grade science class that had at least 4 notes. Sort of! If you don't want to go through the trouble of making these pieces from scratch you could also use ready made plywood just cut down to size. By Alfredo D. Barela A homegrown musician can find the thumb piano fun to play and rewarding as it can be tuned to different notes. The larger wire/ nails must not be able to move. I used a fairly intuitive one called insTuner free for the iPhone. Place another piece of wood in the middle space. Now we're finally ready to start gluing up the body. I used a drill to make a few holes, poked the middle part out, then used a rotary dremel with a sandpaper attachment to enlarge the hole once it could fit into the hole made by the drill. Also, giving a light sanding between each coat with a fine grit sandpaper will dramatically improve the end result. Instructions. About: I have always loved the feeling of finishing the construction of an object and if I don't have something I need or want I usually give it a go to build it from what I have. Thanks! Leave the slats to cool and dry, at least over night! Put it into place and weigh it down while the glue dries. Around the heart-shaped hole on the front face are some basic tribal flame swirls, I drew those on lightly in pencil before using a soldering iron to carefully burn the shape into the wood.