Sounds of Music C

[Mr. Cool]

how are people cutting the arches of the bars? (if any)

The only thing we had was a router. It got the job done but we could have done better with a better tool, so I wouldn't recommend it.

[AlphaTauri]

I did all my sanding by hand with a rasp, since I have no access to power tools (and because I'm not trusted with any power tools other than a electric drill)...definitely not the most efficient/safe way to do it.

[Mr. Cool]

I recommend not making a xylophone. Ours is an epic failure lol.

[doctor]

its alittle too late to make a whole new instrument
i've added all the wood i can to the ends to make it as low as possible so now i'm exploring other ways to make it even lower such as cutting the arch more
but since i lack power tools well i'm just gonna have to be creative

[robyn]

Me and my team made a bamboo flute that sounds like the real thing (I get to play it ^_^) and we also built a marimba that is perfectly in tune. For our first tournament we didn't have the pipe resonators on it, but we are adding them on for our regional tournament. Getting instruments made by hand to be in tune definitely takes time and practice....

[zyzzyva980]

I recommend not making a xylophone. Ours is an epic failure lol.

There's not much else you can make. There's so many materials that even if, say, wood doesn't work out for you (it didn't for us), you can switch to metal or something. But hurry, time is running out.

[doctor]

I recommend not making a xylophone. Ours is an epic failure lol.

There's not much else you can make. There's so many materials that even if, say, wood doesn't work out for you (it didn't for us), you can switch to metal or something. But hurry, time is running out.

get some copper plumbing or something and make some chimes
this year the whole thing about wind and percussion was so teams didn't make guitars but now everyone is building marimbas and flutes so that kinda defeated the purpose

[kalithepianist]

Yep, I'm using bouncy balls as mallets (the ones that I mentioned had in that post were wooden and didn't work very well). Bouncy balls work pretty well, although in the lower register, you might get some "boing" noises along with the actual note.

This works depending on the type of marimba/xylophone/bells you are creating. (And I would know, as I am a percussionist )
The judges probably won't care as long as your mallets don't create any weird noises when striking the keys.

[Mr. Cool]

It doesnt matter anymore. We didn't make it to State.

[Starapollo1]

Just want some feedback on something, my partner and I have some relatively nice instruments we made and have consistently done well at our invitationals and regionals. My partner knows the physics really well and I composed and arranged all of our music. Normally during interviews we rock it out and get first. This past weekend we were giving a written exam (which is completely allowable in the rules). It was 8 pages over music theory and somewhat complex physics principles. We didn't do so well... lol I'm just wondering if the exam is the norm or the interview we were used to is? Either way my partner and I are going to work harder so we're prepared for anything but I would like to know what people are thinking