There is a long tradition of turning recycled items into homemade instruments. But creating new instruments is much more than an art form. It take science, technology, engineering, and math to build an instrument that sounds good, looks good, works well, and is enjoyable to play. And it takes a couple other things—a love of music, and a sense of fun.
Figure P-1: Bluegrass musician, math teacher, and musical inventor Mac Petrequin makes banjos out of cookie tins in his basement workshop.
I wrote Musical Inventions because I’m a Maker who loves to explore ways to turn everyday stuff into fun and useful objects. I get excited when I start to understand why things like musical instruments behave the way they do. Of course, I also like to play music: I studied the violin in school and later learned how to play the piano and the mandolin. But like most people, I’m not an expert at playing or making musical instruments, so the projects in this book are all aimed at beginners. All the projects are kid-friendly as well, although some will require adult help and supervision.
Even though the projects are simple, many produce playable instruments that are good enough to let you pick out a tune. Others create interesting sounds that you can build upon to design your own kind of musical invention. The last chapter will explain how technology like the phonograph and the radio actually changed the kind of music people listened to and will show you how to make some simple versions of your own. All the projects will teach you about science and technology, as well as how new inventions make their way into popular culture.
As you read through Musical Inventions, keep an eye out for short profiles of other inspirational musical inventors from the past and present. One thing you will notice from their stories is that creating something new isn’t always easy. As new media artist Balam Soto says in Chapter 4, the invention process often involves testing your design, making mistakes, and starting over. But if you stick with it, being a Maker—especially a musical Maker—can be very rewarding.
I hope you enjoy learning about how instruments work and how to create your own. I always love seeing what readers have created, so feel free to send me photos of your own musical inventions and I will share them with my audience. You can reach me through my website, craftsforlearning.com, where you will also find videos of project prototypes.
