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Thumb Piano

Step 7Final assembly

Final assembly
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Assemble the whole thing as pictured. You don't need to glue the dowels or the nail in place, friction will hold it down when it's fully assembled. Be sure to place both dowels close to the aluminum rod (about 1/2" center to center) or the keys will bounce and buzz when you play it.

Insert one street sweeper bristle and tune it roughly to a C note. Mark it and "cut" it to length, actually I just put it in a vice and broke it. File and sand it carefully to round and smooth the ends, if you don't it will make a sound scraping across your finger prints or worse scraping off your finger prints! Re-insert it under the "clamp" and do the same for each of the notes you want, I added a total of 9. If you want more you'll have to either make the whole thing bigger or space the keys closer than I'm comfortable with. I put in keys for C through G then A through D in this pattern:

====C
======A
========F
==========D
============C
==========E
========G
======B
====D

The pattern was suggested by a friend that had a bit more experience with musical instruments than I have, but other people have since made other suggestions so arrange them in any order you're comfortable with.

When they're all in, tune them carefully and tighten down the screws until you don't hear any buzzing when you play it.
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5 comments
Jun 11, 2009. 5:40 PMdarkdragonv says:
Have that same tuner..lol!
Sep 20, 2010. 12:48 AMstrato2598 says:
hahahha lol SAME!!
Sep 28, 2009. 7:41 AMTehLonelyOne says:
This is great! definitely going to make one, is the steel you used for the keys 1/4 or 1/8 inch wide? It looks 1/8 but I can't decide which to use, since 1/4 seems to wide...
Aug 28, 2007. 9:35 AMSue D. Nymme says:
I was doing fine until I got to the part that says, “...and tune it roughly to a C note.â€
I have no clue how to do that. Can you help? Thanks.
Mar 31, 2007. 2:32 PMmje says:
Very nicely done! This is called a Kalimba, by the way, and traditionally they're tuned to a five-tone, or pentatonic scale- like the black keys on your piano. You'll find that a pentatonic scale allows more freedom of improvisation- no bad notes. The C pentatonic scale is C D E G A- Just alternate back and forth- right/left/right/left- as you go up the scale. When you get to A, just repeat the pattern again.

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