The jumbo sax tootophone is a reed instrument. The mouthpiece is the basic tootophone made of an insulin syringe. (See my instructable http://www.instructables.com/id/Tiny-Tootophone to make the mouthpiece.) This instructable deals with making the x-ray film body.
I wanted to make a long horn, which involved bending itself up and down a few times to make it more compact and playable. The areas where the pipe doubles back upon itself use an interesting solution for making the necessary bends. There is undoubtedly more turbulence in the bends of this instrument than there is in the smooth bends of professional instruments. It only costs a couple dollars to make, though, and it is so much fun to play that I'm willing to cut it a little slack in my critique.
The use of rubber bands in combination with clothespins is also an interesting technique for holding the rolled up plastic while gluing it all together with silicone rubber. They make adjustable, elastic clamps. They would undoubtedly come in handy for other projects, and maybe deserve an instructable of their own -- simple but effective holding devices.
Silicone rubber makes an excellent glue for this material. I use hypodermic syringes with plastic tips for precise application of the silicone.
Be sure to hear the audio sample of the jumbo sax tootophone in the last step.
I wanted to make a long horn, which involved bending itself up and down a few times to make it more compact and playable. The areas where the pipe doubles back upon itself use an interesting solution for making the necessary bends. There is undoubtedly more turbulence in the bends of this instrument than there is in the smooth bends of professional instruments. It only costs a couple dollars to make, though, and it is so much fun to play that I'm willing to cut it a little slack in my critique.
The use of rubber bands in combination with clothespins is also an interesting technique for holding the rolled up plastic while gluing it all together with silicone rubber. They make adjustable, elastic clamps. They would undoubtedly come in handy for other projects, and maybe deserve an instructable of their own -- simple but effective holding devices.
Silicone rubber makes an excellent glue for this material. I use hypodermic syringes with plastic tips for precise application of the silicone.
Be sure to hear the audio sample of the jumbo sax tootophone in the last step.
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Signing UpStep 1: Cleaning the x-ray film
I got free rejected x-ray films from our local hospital. You can get the image emulsion off of the film right away with a little water, a metal scouring pad and some elbow grease. The scouring pad leaves scratches in the plastic, which may or may not be a problem.
You can save yourself a lot of work by just letting them soak in water for a few weeks until the emulsion lets go of the plastic. You can then wipe it off with a sponge, and the plastic is free from scratches.
Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from whatever chemicals may be in the emulsion. I saved the wash water, in hopes of someday reclaiming the silver in it, but have gotten nowhere with that idea yet.
You can save yourself a lot of work by just letting them soak in water for a few weeks until the emulsion lets go of the plastic. You can then wipe it off with a sponge, and the plastic is free from scratches.
Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from whatever chemicals may be in the emulsion. I saved the wash water, in hopes of someday reclaiming the silver in it, but have gotten nowhere with that idea yet.
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I like it! this is more my style!
The film is what makes the sax tinny, I am thinking that a PVC sax might develop the deepness that the x-film one lacks.
I know the tinny quality you are talking about. Personally, I find the Jumbo Sax to be the least tinny of the varieties I have made. I have made some with PVC bodies, and they are still tinny. So, I would say the film is not what makes the tinniness, although the body material does affect the sound.
Changing the reed material from x-ray film to silicone rubber, for example, cuts down on the tinniness, but has side effects, like limiting the range of high notes. It creates some incredible base notes, too. I guess, for one thing, that the silicone reeds are heavier and
The Jumbo Sax, with all the length of body didn't really perform as I would have expected -- with deeper, more resonant base notes. Compared to my smaller sax tootophone, the jumbo sax's maximum volume is lower, while the note range is similar. Perhaps the muting affects certain frequencies more than others, because I find it less tinny, also.
The orchestra idea is a great one, especially given the diversity of designs possible--one person producing a low note instrument, another mid-range, another high, etc.. Like Karaoke, no musical ability really needed other than the ability to follow a tune with others. It would make for a fascinating concert!
It all probably has to do with denseness, springiness, and perhaps the impact of the reed material on the mouthpiece, as sort of a percussive overtone to the "pure" note vibration. Maybe the mouthpiece material has something to do with it, too, if there is a percussive overtone.
Why not combine the stiffness of the plastic with the mellow-ness of the rubber? I am thinking of that silicone stuff (name escapes me for the moment) that is popular here. Maybe use the plastic as the shaper and stiffener and the rubber as the dampener, which is what is needed as "tinny" is high frequency.
I have only tried laminating to one side of the film. It would be a worthwhile experiment to try laminating both sides.
I don't think that "tinny" is just high frequency. Like most instrumental sounds, there is the dominant frequency and also overtones. A flute can create high frequencies without sounding tinny, so I would suspect the tinniness is in the overtones.
Sometimes I toot while wearing ear protectors while working. The volume is muted, but the notes are cleaner in a way, too. Perhaps, the higher overtones tend to be deleted by the ear protectors more than the lower ones.
I wish I had more different materials to experiment with.
By the way, bamboo has been around probably as long as humans have been, but plastics and synthetic rubber are new materials, so length of use is no measure of which is best. As far as bamboo goes, I don't like it that you have to moisten it and keep it moist, that it splits, and that you have to keep replacing it. The sound is nice, but I usually prefer to think along the line of "different but not necessarily any better or worse".
I played around reshaping a regular sax reed to fit my tooters without a great deal of success. Anyway, even if seen as a family of tinny instruments, tooters are so cheap, fun, and I think easy to play that they should definitely have a place in music. If they are more compatible with other tooters than with standard instruments then one can adapt to that. Let there be tootophone bands.
I played the piece for my 80 year old mother to see if she knew it.
She said it sounds familiar. Is it Bennie James? I said I don't know, sounds like two women talking to me. :)
Nice Job!
An uncle of mine did exactly that for a living near 20years ago, the process involved lots of hazardous chemical and heat wich eventualy brings ultratoxic fumes, sum all this with a poor ventilated room and you can imagine what you get.
My uncle whas diagnosticated with some sort of very rare disease known as Castelman Disease that i think is very related to those years of sylver hunting.
If you wan't to do it for fun and just for knowledge and personal satisfacition i think a well ventilated area is a must. Just dont get greed in the process (the sylver fever)