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Infinity Flat wrote:

Ricks I wrote:More more question... we just had our regional this past Saturday.... I noticed
quite a few "tube-ulums". ( PVC tubes you play with flip-flops.)

One of the rules states you have to be able to hold a note for at least 3 seconds.
Pretty sure a tube-ulum can't do that.

Should these be allowed? We thought about building one, but thought the 3 second rule
would be a big problem.

Any thoughts?

Technically if you are dexterous enough you could do a 3 second roll without too much difficulty.

My partner and I made two of these for our competitions. We were worried about the note being held, but the judges told us that it was ok because the sound registered right away.

mrburrito wrote:There isn't a point deduction, but they'll probably count off for lack of creativity.

That is what we thought. We already made two tube drums, so we just are doing harder more creative songs on them.

My partner composed a simple melody she calls Harvest Dance. It got us fourth at regionals, and now we have some time before states. Should we pick a new song, or just focus on having it perfect?

MistyBlob wrote:My partner composed a simple melody she calls Harvest Dance. It got us fourth at regionals, and now we have some time before states. Should we pick a new song, or just focus on having it perfect?

I like the idea of a original song. Don't hesitate to tell the judge, "I wrote this piece after visiting Grandma Jones on her orchard. It was a cool, breezy day..." You get the picture. A song has words but a piece does not. If you have words for Harvest Dance, write them in on the score that you hand the judge -- you don't have to sing them.

Judges like that stuff.

ENJOY yourselves at states -- it does come across as confidence...

I plan to do Sounds next year.
I know the rules came out yet, but I want to find out the best instruments to make.
The candidates are
Dulcimer
Marimba
Bass marimba
Glockenspiel
Tube thing you play with flip flops
Guitar
Pan pipes
Flute
Which one is creative? Which one is the easiest to make.

ScienceOlympian wrote:I plan to do Sounds next year.
I know the rules came out yet, but I want to find out the best instruments to make.
The candidates are
Dulcimer
Marimba
Bass marimba
Glockenspiel
Tube thing you play with flip flops
Guitar
Pan pipes
Flute
Which one is creative? Which one is the easiest to make.

I'm going to kinda ignore your question and tell you instead that the glockenspiel is probably the hardest to make properly of those you have listed. Working with and tuning aluminum =/= fun.

Whatever you make, be sure that you practice hard. The playing and tuning is really what you need to focus on, not the creativity. For the reccord, flutes are very common, but difficult to play well in this event unless you're very used to playing one.

Infinity Flat wrote:

ScienceOlympian wrote:I plan to do Sounds next year.
I know the rules came out yet, but I want to find out the best instruments to make.
The candidates are
Dulcimer
Marimba
Bass marimba
Glockenspiel
Tube thing you play with flip flops
Guitar
Pan pipes
Flute
Which one is creative? Which one is the easiest to make.

I'm going to kinda ignore your question and tell you instead that the glockenspiel is probably the hardest to make properly of those you have listed. Working with and tuning aluminum =/= fun.

To answer your question, here is an approximate list from easiest to hardest to build.
flute
guitar
tube thing
pan pipes
dulcimer
marimba/bass marimba
glockenspiel
Now, as for which ones are the most creative? It really depends more on how well you can play it at competition. Creativity is not your biggest worry unless you have 100+ hours to kill. Then, I would say one of the last 3.

The tube thing, if I understand you correctly, could actually be considered a marimba. Flutes you can build in an hour, but a glockenspiel could take months. I do feel the need to point out that guitars are HARDLY simple, since you need to be able to attach strings, and then keep them tuned properly.

Sorry about that, I've never built a guitar. However, I believe it is a resonator box with strings over it. Tuning the strings with pegs should be simple enough. Finding the right fingerings is something completely different.