How to Create Boomwhacker-like Instruments out of Cylinders

I've had a lot of interest in my home-made Boomwhacker and boom pipe instruments, so I think readers might be happy to have these basic guidelines for making Boomwhacker-type instruments out of almost any cylindrical material.



Some of my home-made pitched cylinders created with double-walled drain pipe,

shipping tubes, PVC pipe, fluorescent light protectors, hollow table legs, & electrical conduit

 



Illustration depicting Pythagoras demon-
strating harmonics from Franchino Gafori,
Theorica Musice (Milan, 1492)

Pythagoras (Greek mathematician, musician and philosopher, circa 570 - 495 BCE) figured out the theory of music harmonics about 2500 years ago (amazing!), and his formula remains our basic guide when constructing instruments from common or junk materials. Although we have access to technical information about tempered and just tuning, (and I note differences below), Pythagoras' formula is adequate for homemade instruments, and it's easier to teach/explain to students. 






I always cut my material slightly long and then trim it to fine tune, using reference pitches or an electronic tuner (available as a phone app). Be warned that if you cut a cylinder too short, it will be impossible to correct, and you will have to simply cut the piece shorter for a different, higher pitch.   

Depending on the material you're using, you will need an X-acto knife, small saw, or paring/pocket knife to cut and trim. I used a paring knife to fine tune my boom pipes (large white example above) because the plastic is surprisingly soft.  Warning: PVC dust is harmful to your health, so take your measurements to the hardware store and have them do most of the cutting; then wear a mask if you need to fine tune. 

If you have a limited amount/length of material, simply create a limited tone set such as a pentatonic scale or only the tonic and dominant of a key for use as a bordun.

OK, here's how to figure out the lengths you need:
(1) Find or create your fundamental note (prime, tonic, 'do') by comparing a long but musical-sounding length of your material to a reference pitch or use an electronic tuner (or phone app). Determine what note it is. It will likely be flat or sharp and need trimming. (Remember: longer = lower; shorter = higher.) The note you identify can be the fundamental pitch of your set, or you can trim the cylinder to be the tonic of the key you want. (Hint: middle C is often about 25" long, and the C below is usually around 51".) Note: as with Boomwhackers, if you cap one end, the pitch will drop one octave.

(2) Once your fundamental note is in tune, measure its length carefully (centimeters is best). Divide this measurement by the decimals below to determine the lengths of additional notes.

  Scale   Interval            Ratio      Divide by      Tempered
                                                                                                                      (for comparison)
  do        Prime                1:1        1.0             (1, 1)

   re         Major second     8:9       1.125          (1.22, 1.125)  

   mi        Major third         4:5       1.266          (1.260, 1.250)

   fa         Perfect fourth     3:4       1.333          (1.335, 1.333)

   so         Perfect fifth       2:3       1.5             (1.498, 1.5)

   la          Major sixth        3:5       1.688          (1.682, 1.667)

   ti           Major seventh   8:15     1.898           (1.888, 1.875)

   do'         Octave              2:1        2.0            (2, 2)
BTW, I'll be posting instructions for making a variety of instruments this summer (while I and other teachers have a little more time to explore).

 

Music Enhances Problem Solving and Creativity

It's been a while since I've added a poster or posted some music and arts advocacy quotes, but end-of-year assessments and reflections have me thinking about the benefits of music education as it relates to creative thinking and problem solving. So here's a new poster and some favorite quotes I've collected:

“Too often students are given answers to remember, rather than problems to solve.”       
      – Roger Lewin

“When faced with a problem to solve, students in music and the arts produce more possible solutions, and their solutions are more creative, according to a nationwide study.”        

        – N. M. Weinberger, Arts Education Enhances ‘Real Life’ Personal Skills, 
            MuSICA Research Notes, Spring 2000.

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”     

         – William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)          (I've adopted this one as my mantra.)

“The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done - men who are creative, inventive and discoverers.”          – Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

“The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.”

            – Elliot Eisner in The Arts and the Creation of Mind –  
            What the Arts Teach and How it Shows

                        (Absolutlely love this. So true!)

“…the ability to be creative – a key 21st Century Skill – is native to the arts and is one of the primary processes learned through arts education...  arts promote work habits that cultivate curiosity, imagination, creativity, and evaluation skills. Students who possess these skills are better able to tolerate ambiguity, explore new realms of possibility, express their own thoughts and feelings and understand the perspectives of others… Students’ capacity to create and express themselves through the arts is one of the central qualities that make them human, as well as a basis for success in the 21st century.

      –  21^st Century Skills Map – The Arts, 2010,
            Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, www.p21.org

Make a Bop-o-phone for Boomwhackers

This little invention has been a hit with kids as well as teachers. I first created a Bop-o-phone out of desperation for additional xylos. The frame/box costs basically nothing, and it adds some versatility to a set of Boomwhackers. Here are easy instructions and pictures. Please post additional ideas or feedback. Enjoy!

 

 

Materials needed: an empty, sturdy box that contained a case of 8.5" x 11" copy paper (usually easy to find in the faculty workroom), wide tape, a meter stick, a marker, sturdy scissors, and a about six feet of yarn or soft string. For each mallet, you will need a pencil or 10" length of 1/4" diameter  dowel, a small rubber ball (party favor or from 25 cent vending machine), and glue. 

  



Step #1

(1) Begin 2 cm from the left side of the box and mark along the top edge 4 cm wide by 1 cm deep arcs, 1 cm apart. Repeat markings on opposite edge.
Cut out the arcs. (Cutting from each side and meeting in the middle will give cleaner results.)              





Step 2


(2) Gently pull the glued seams on one side of the box apart and lay the end flap flat. Mark a line through the center of the bottom of the box from the open edge to 7" from the opposite side. Then mark a "V", extending from the center line to each corner of the box. Cut along these lines.


Step #3

(3) Fold the bottom sections over each other with the "V" on top (inside), narrowing the width of the open end of the box to about 8". Then fold the end flaps up, trim/square them up, and tape your seams.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4) Place Boomwhackers in the 'cradles' in diatonic order. (You can leave some off for pentatonic activities). Tie two lengths of yarn around the box and tubes lengthwise as shown in the top picture. Tape yarn in place on bottom of box to keep it from sliding around. The yarn will keep tubes in place, and it doesn't really inhibit tone.

 

   
(5) Make a mallet by carving/drilling a hole in a rubber ball, applying glue to in the hole and on the end of the dowel or pencil, and inserting the stick into the ball. (Soft rubber balls actually sound better than hard ones.)









You can use the Bop-o-phone as an Orff-type instrument for ostinatos or as a melody instrument. It's very easy to convert Boomwhackers to and from this mallet format.

Here's a link to my digital song collection of color-coded melodies (with ostinato suggestions), which you might find very useful and versatile: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-BIG-BOOK-of-FOLK-SONG-FUN-for-Bells-or-Boomwhackers-466033

Boom Pipes Recipe

Boom Pipes

Instructions for Boom Pipes 
                                                                            by Jeri Crosby

Boom pipes are a novel yet musical addition to my Orff instruments (substituting for bass bars) as well as to my Boomwhackers and home-made instrumentarium. Students (of all ages) LOVE these!

Use four-inch, double-walled drain pipe (white plastic with black inner lining, which usually comes in ten-foot lengths). Buy a four-inch end cap for each pipe and some adhesive. (Three ten-foot lengths will make a full set. You can make a basic ‘bass bar’ set from two lengths.)

These measurements are approximate. (It is best to cut a tiny bit long because a pipe that’s too short will be sharp and difficult if not impossible to correct.) After initial cuts, check pitch with a tuner or match to a piano. Sand or carefully shave with a paring or pocket knife to fine tune.

C       50 ½ “          128.3 cm       (Cut from piece #1.) D       45 “              114.3 cm      (Cut from piece #2.) E       40 ½“           102.9 cm       (Cut from piece #1.)

F       37 ¾ “            95.9 cm       (Cut from piece #2.)

F#        35 ½ “            90.2 cm        (Cut from piece #3.)

G       33 ½ “            85.1 cm        (Cut from piece #2.)
A       29 ½“             74.9 cm         (Cut from piece #3.)
Bb        28 “                71.1 cm          (Cut from piece #3.)
B       26 ¼“              66.7 cm         (Cut from piece #1.)
C       24 ¾“              62.9 cm         (Cut from piece #3.)

‘Boom’ on carpeting or other soft surface. If you’ll be using these on cement or tile, glue a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet to the bottom (cap) of each tube. The range of these instruments is from two octaves below middle C to one octave below middle C. (This is the same as bass Boomwwhackers with Octavator caps applied, but the volume and timbre are bolder.) A printable version of instructions and picture is available here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Boom-Pipes-Recipe-Instructions-for-Making-Home-made-Bass-Set  For color-coded music and activities, please check out my TeachersPayTeachers store: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Musical-Magic I'll be posting more home-made instrument ideas soon : )

Multicultural Scales Activity

Like many adults and children, I am intrigued with multicultural music, and I find the theory that underlies ethnic scales, rhythms, ragas, etc. fascinating. Tonality seems to pull on the soul like an invisible tide. Children are capable of exploring much more than major, minor, and pentatonic scales if we set them up to succeed. One of my favorite activites to engage upper elementary through college students in exploring ethnic tonalities involves, believe it or not, Boomwhackers (or bells). Here's a basic outline:



 

You may click on this FREE poster to save and print it.

Lay a chromatic set of Boomwhackers (or bells) out along the front of your classroom in order from left to right (as in my chart). Invite 13 students, one for each instrument, to come and take their places. Have them sit on the floor or chairs.

Call out note names belonging to a particular scale and have students who have these notes stand. Then direct students in playing the scale ascending and descending as the rest of the class listens carefully. Challenge students to guess the country or culture that uses the scale. Explore half-steps, whole-steps, and wider intervals by looking at the visual spacing created when student players stand.

Here are a few scale examples to try:
C     D     E  F     G      A     B  C     (Major to establish familiar tonality)
C C#           F      G  Ab           C      (Japan, diminished pentatonic)
C     D  Eb      F# G  Ab       B  C      (Russia and Hungary, 'gypsy' minor)
C          Eb  F  F# G          Bb   C      (U.S.A., blues scale, Afro-American)

Try it out with your kiddos and enjoy some FUN music theory! If you'd like more in-depth materials, check out my Music and Scales Around the World package on TPT:




Color-coded Labels - Freebie 4 U

If you have older, plain, or home-made pitched instruments, you can include them in your Boomwhacker or bell activities by applying these colored labels. Simply print, cut out, and apply them with a piece of tape slightly larger than the label. If you have access to sticky-backed printing paper, this will save you the hassle of cutting and applying tape. However, tape gives protection to the label, so it may last longer. When using tape for label application, I have found that Scotch Magic Transparent tape (specifically this brand) is less likely to get gummy.

Pomp and Whack-'em-stance Freebie

Make graduation fun and extra memorable this year! Here's another FREEBIE: the melody for Pomp and Circumstance arranged for Boomwhackers or bells. (This is a JPEG file. Click it to download or print.)

If you're interested in doing a larger-scale performance, I've created an arrangement with full harmony and materials & suggestions for adding recorder, flute, violin, xylophone, guitar and/or ukulele. It's avaiable from my TPT store. (You can click the picture below to check it out.)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pomp-Circumstance-Arranged-for-Bells-or-Boomwhackers

Boomwhacker Pentatonic Chart - Freebie

Here's another FREE Boomwhacker Chart for my visitors. This is a downloadable/printable JPEG file, or you can download a free (higher resolution) PDF from: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Color-coded-C-Pentatonic-Scale-Poster-or-Resource-Page-for-Bells-or-Boomwhackers 

If you use Boomwhackers with your students or family, I invite you to check out some of my Color-Chord-inated Song Collections. Teachers tell me these materials save them a lot of time (and knowing how much time I put into them, I must agree!). They are great for end-of-school-year activities, summer programs, and easy-to-put-together performances. I am delighted to know that students and teachers are having great success with these materials!




http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-HOEDOWN-COLLECTION-of-Color-Chord-inated-Songs-for-Bells-or-Boomwhackers



http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-PATRIOTIC-COLLECTION-of-Color-Chord-inated-Songs-for-Bells-or-Boomwhackers




http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/50-Partner-Tunes-to-Sing-Bing-Boom

Boom-whacka-wow!

When I first encountered a set of Boomwhackers years ago, I would have never guessed the phenomenal success they would have. I've always enjoyed making homemade instruments, so these 'boom tubes' fit into my novelty category, and that seemed good enough. I didn't think Boomwhackers were especially musical, the intonation was often poor, and the name conjured up visions of students smacking everything in sight! So yes, I resisted them for a while...

But then I began working with dozens of schools with very limited budgets. Orff instruments weren't an option; handbells or ukuleles - not a chance. Yet, I still needed to train teachers and their students how to play melodies and create ostinatos and chord accompaniments in a hands-on, enjoyable way. Happily, I discovered the Octavator Caps, which (1) greatly enhance the BW tone, (2) drop the pitch an octave, and (3) enable tapping the capped end on a soft surface such as the heel of the hand or carpeted floor. And I found that kneading the tubes into a round, smooth shape (and avoiding squishing them in storage) helped improve intonation.

I started experimenting with techniques I've used with resonator bells and handbells. (I'd used a color-coded system of my own for 20 years, so I simply tweaked it to match BWs.) Another 'booming' surprise has been how well my Color-Chord-inated song collections have been received by many teachers. (See my TPT listings at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Musical-Magic.)

Anyway, after seeing these cRaZy TuBeS work well in so many situations, I must admit I'm a fan! They have enabled thousands of students in my district to engage in, explore and create music, and I've discovered some useful integrations too. (I mentor elementary classroom teachers as well as music teachers.)



 

Here's a FREEBIE chart with the color-coded chromatic scale and common chords on the treble staff, which you can project or print. (Click on the image above to open and save/print a high-resolution file.) If desired, you can scale/enlarge when you print and then cut out note or chord cards. Simply click on it to download. You'll find another Boomwhacker FREEBIE in my Partner Song Freebie post (3/7/2013). In coming days, I will post additional ideas for using Boomwhackers to engage students in enjoyable learning experiences. Thanks for visiting!

Cultural Connections - Music & Social Studies

My latest poster and a few of my favorite quotes about music and culture:

“We know an age more vividly through its music than through its historians.”                                                                              - Rosanne Ambrose-Brown

“The history of a people is found in its songs.”    - George Jellinek

“The truest expression of a people is in its dance and music.”   
                                                                             - Agnes de Mile (1905-93)
 

"The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.”    - Elliot Eisner in The Arts and the Creation of Mind
   
I've been working with several sixth grade social studies classes (at different schools) to explore how environment has affected the development of ethnic music and art (a core objective). I play about 40 seconds of various multicultural selections (from a list I've compiled in Spotify) and have students fill in a listening chart, commenting on timbre, repeating melody or rhythm patterns, tempo, dynamics, and style, and then guessing what country or culture the music is from.

Next, as I review and replay about ten seconds of each piece, I show pictures of the ethnic instruments (which I've gathered from the Internet) and discuss the environmental and cultural influences that affected their development. Finally, I reveal the country or culture. Students really enjoy the 'big reveal.' This is a true integration (if you take time for it), as we are able to explore both curricula (music and social studies) and use music vocab in context. 

I've compiled a multicultural listening list in Spotify, and you are welcome to access/follow it. Here's a link: Multicultural . (You can also search for and download these pieces using iTunes, Amazon, etc.) I'm listing some of my favorites selections below.

Information appears in this order: Culture, Track/Title, Artist, Name of Album

India: Indian Summer, The Tigers of Bengal, Indian Raga

China: Chinese Wuhan Erhu, (Chinese Traditional), Chinese Traditional ErhuMusic

Russia: Gari Gari(Brule Brule), Jan Boutouk, Gypsy & Folk Music – Russia

Japan: Yamaji Yamato Ensemble, The Art of the Traditional Japanese Flute & Koto

Africa: African Meditation Music, African Drums, African Tribal Music

Germany: Rosamunde, Die Oberkariner Volksmusikanten, German Polka Party

Egypt/Arabia: Ayoub, Mohamed Maksoud, Oriental Sax – Turkish & Arabic Music

Spain: Punta del Faro, Paco de Lucia, El Flamenco Es…

Tahiti: Bora Bora (Tahitian Drums), The Polynesians, Luau Songs of Hawaii

Ireland: Irish Jigs, Irish and Celtic Music, Irish & Celtic – The Lord of the Dance

Mexico: Ay Jalisco no Te Rajes, Mariachi Mexico, Plaza Garibaldi

America: Shufflin’Blues, Paul Lenart, Acoustic Blues

Do you have any favorite multicultural songs or activities? Please share in the comment box : )