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I copied this from the children's museum that we take my daughter to. It consists of 3 2x4x8' kiln dried (don't use pressure treated... bad for kids), about 15' of rope, some staples and a wooden dowel. The total cost is under $10 and it can be made start to finish, including clean up, in about an hour. I made this for free from scraps I had on hand.
I never took measurements of the museum xylophone and built this on memory and guesstimation, so please feel free to do so on yours as well.
I never took measurements of the museum xylophone and built this on memory and guesstimation, so please feel free to do so on yours as well.
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Signing UpStep 1Measuring, cutting and sanding
I made 9 "notes" on this xylophone, so all of my measurements will be based on that. The "notes" were cut starting at 36" and the next one was 2" shorter and so on (36, 34, 32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 22, and 20 inches). After all of these pieces were cut I ran the belt sander over each piece smoothing them out and rounding over the edges.
I cut the 2x4x8' as follows
-- 36", 34" and 26"
--30", 24", 22" and 20"
--28" and 32"
the first 2 equal 96" exact, so when cutting split the line to get it close... you could break them up differently to get better measurements, but come on.
I cut the 2x4x8' as follows
-- 36", 34" and 26"
--30", 24", 22" and 20"
--28" and 32"
the first 2 equal 96" exact, so when cutting split the line to get it close... you could break them up differently to get better measurements, but come on.
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Great Idea!
A couple of suggestions:
If you place the ropes a the 2/9'ths position from the ends of keys, it should
ring slightly better. This is where the natural anti-node dead spot is. For example
if the board is 20" put the rope 4 7/16" from each end.( 20" X 2 ) divide by 9 )
It is really a good idea to tune these. It gets the children used to hearing
correct notes. Fortunately its not too difficult to do. You don't have to have
perfect pitch or be a musician.
All you need is a microphone, freeware tuning software(Tartini from sourceforge looks
good), your computer of course,
and something to remove some wood. A disk sander works pretty well, but you
could use a chisel or plane too. To lower the note remove wood from the back of the middle
between the anti-nodes. To raise the note you have to shorten it a little.
Here is a site that list the frequencies: http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html
I have no idea where this xylophone would land on the scale. Ideal would starting middle
C where many melodies are located. Start with the low note of the high note and tune it to
the closest note. Then tune the others
in relation to it.
I really don't want to scare anyone away from the project, just add some suggestions if
you want to take it to the next level. If its not fun don't. Some peoples's fun level ais different
Uhh, I guess I exceeded a"couple of suggestions" :-)
Now to make it harder!
The best spot to put the ropes is supposed to be 2/9ths from each end with
the 20" for example its 4 7/16 from each end (20" times 2 then divide by 9)
If you want to tune these so they can play real tunes it shouldn't be too hard.
You need some freeware tuner software for your computer, a microphone, and a way
to remove some wood. Take it off the back of the middle to lower the note and off the ends
to raise it.
Tartini from sourceforge looks like good software to get.
http://www.tidewater.net/~xylojim/xylocons.html
like the xylophone! nice job.