Weekend

Well it was way too nice to be making mallets Saturday night. We had a fire and watched the kids run around in the dark instead. Funny to listen to them try and convince themselves to hide behind the garage in the dark. Sunday night however was wet and cold. Perfect for working in the garage. I not only made the mallets, but put together two pvc xylophones to try out. I was worried about the super balls crumbling or breaking in half when I drilled holes in them, but there was no problem at all. I was using a bench top drill press that made it easier.

Since it is going to be a while before I can start on the wooden xylophone, I decided to try and make one out of pvc (two actually, one for each kid). I got the plans from the dso Kids website. Instead of just putting the pipes on the wooden frame, I borrowed from an old, 1950's era xylophone for kids. I drilled holes through the nodal points of the pvc pipe and suspended them on some strings. The turnbuckle on the end will let me tighten it up as the string stretches. The tubes are definitely in tune with each other, moving up the scale as the pipes get shorter. However, it still sounds like you are beating on some plastic pipes with a wooden mallet.

I am really hoping that the wooden one will end up sounding like a quality musical instrument. I am sure it will take lots of time and care, but if it sounds good it will be worth it.