Glenn Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) I ran across this video and wondered why we as blacksmiths could not also build musical instruments. Sounds (pun intended) like a fun project. Edited May 9, 2015 by Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Glenn: Ask Pete Fels about "Moby Harp" sometime.I've given thought to making a wind chime for a particularly annoying neighbor just down the hill from us using R R rail and a wind driven clapper. The downside is it'd be less than 100' from our house so I let better sense decide. Well Deb had SOME say in it. <wink>Clyde Wynia has a major display of really cool sculpture and much of it is loud, fun and loud. "Jurrustic Park" will Google you there.Might be fun to have a contest. Hmmmm, how about a gong? We can decide the winner by how many miles away it can be heard. Police reports can be the meter!Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel S Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Since I'm not a musician, I've never given any thought to making an instrument. A guy that I know has an mbira that has forged keys. He said that his marimba teacher had made it before he moved to the US. It looks very easy to make, but without knowing how it should be tuned I would be lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawnJockey Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Way cool. I doubt he buys plans on the Internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 The idea of the post was to show musical instruments that could be made from metal by a blacksmith.Outside the box would certainly apply to many of these instruments. I was looking for a musical instrument that is heavy with the WOW and WHAT"S THAT factor, followed by it actually being able to create musical notes. Examples from the above video, playing a spring under tension, or a woodwind instrument made from square metal tubing. We are surrounded by metal, may as well put it to use. (grin) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) There are a lot of hand drums being made from propane tanks, and there is always the classic steel drum from a 55 gallon drum, and the triangle. Edited May 9, 2015 by BIGGUNDOCTOR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 That is what I had in mind when I posted. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Very popular around here; bells made from old oxy tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I've been making "tuned" Cow Bells for several years now, ... using a variety of materials and designs.Perhaps the most interesting aspect of that, is in how Heat Treating can alter the frequency of a fairly "mild" steel bell."All Instrument" clip-on electronic tuners, ... for under $20, ... make it possible for the "musically challenged" to create bells suitable for a wide variety of uses.The neighbors Goats are currently testing my latest designs, ... and they're not complaining ..... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Have seen tuned steem wistles (on compressed air) set up like a pipe organ. Nothing like train wistles and old factory wistles to wake the dead. Their is an artistic comunity up by Black Canyon Arizona that casts bells. Around here heavy meatal wind chimes might not be so bad, if the clacker is heavy enugh, it could serve as a storm warning, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) Locally, there's an "Amish Outlet" that carries everything from backyard sheds, ... to Shoo-Fly Pie.On the gallery of their building, they have displayed 100's of Wind Chimes, ... made of everything from "Glass Bottle Bells" to 4' lengths of 2" Box Tube. The big "Box Tube" Bells sound very good, ... but in this area, we rarely have enough wind to really make them sing.As the Amish and Mennonite's are partial to Windmills, ... and all sorts of "Whirly-gig" type lawn ornaments, ... it seems like a good fit, to incorporate a wind driven mechanical "Clapper" into one of the big Tubular Bell Wind Chimes.Thus solving the light wind / heavy bell dilemma. Just sayin' ..... Edited May 9, 2015 by Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I was thinking a good clapper for a RR rail wind chime would be bowling balls but a large birch tree might be the superior striker eh?Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Smoth bore, the reason to have a realy big wind chime is to know That If it is ringing your in trouble! Lol. Then again I prefer a weather rock over the evening newsworked on one hard head I know if, Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I'd be inclined to strike a RR Rail, ... with another RR Rail. Just Sayin' ..... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 When I first went to work on the drill crew we did a job on the Million Dollar Bridge on the Copper River Highway. The bridge at 26mile is in a blow hole. Winds coming down the river hit a ridge and turn left. The bridge crosses the river right at the end of a vertical bluff and the winds right there have been known to blow heavy equipment off the bridge. The wind "socks" were lengths of rail hanging from the super structure. If they were closer to horizontal than vertical it was too windy. I'd guess they were around 5' long and a rap with a hammer made for a loud chiming. Well, more a loud clank and yelling from the other guys on the bridge.Maybe different clappers for different sounds, I know a wooden striker makes a triangle sound different.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Here is some Spanish footage of making and brassing animal bellswww.youtube.com/watch?v=VIcbTyTPnoE&index=172&list=PL2FF16F0A5EF5A17B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Great video. As an ex drummer I've often thought about making percussion gadgets.Death metal drummer Derek Roddy (ex Hate Eternal, Nile etc) used to hit some stacks of thin flat bar with an aux bass drum pedal to create a "nice" grinding crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) Lots of compressed gas cylinder bells around here too. There is a sleigh bell thread on here. Cowbells. But as to forged items it is slim pickings so far.....most are cut and weld projects. Frosty, I may end up with a bunch of I-beam, and channel , and I was thinking of a BIG wind chime. We have been having plenty of big wind the last week, so I may try it out.I have a drawn steel weld on pipe cap that is around 12" in diameter that I have balanced on a spike in the ground. It has a very nice ring when you toss small rocks at it. I was considering using a windmill to run a screw that would convey ball bearings up, and then drop them onto the bell randomly. I have seen these in several graduated sizes. It would be fun to make something using a whole series of them.I have a few heads that were cut out of 55 gallon drums, and I was thinking of making a gong. Hmmm, forged whistles.....Mouth harps.... Edited May 9, 2015 by BIGGUNDOCTOR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 The pipe cap on a stake sounds like yard art to me! How about this for a striker, a BIG mosquito on a spring and pivot so it faces into the wind and pecks the pipe cap? Of course a wood pecker or road runner would look cool too. Ooh OOOOH! You've seen the little windmill wings on birds, bicycles, etc. Yes? How about a little windmill blacksmith banging on the cap?Oh my brain cells are really cooking now. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo7 Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Windchimes from Fredericks cross's, worked thin and wide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 The blacksmith would get me shot with the recent incessant winds we have been experiencing . No mosquitoes here, but we do have roadrunnes, and lots of quail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan P. Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Jew's harps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I've always wanted an appliance chromed dobro guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 John Little a blacksmith in Nova Scotia has been making large scale musical instruments that have been played with the Halifax Philharmonic for about 15years or more. At Caniron that was held in Nova Scotia a well known jazz percussionist played one of John's instruments at the opening. http://johnlittleironwork.tripod.com/sound.html Here is a link to Some of John's musical instruments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Great ideas!The Beatles used an anvil for the song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.