Posted by Art H on January 29, 2004 at 00:06:28:
In Reply to: I Need to Build a Bass Instrument ASAP! posted by Allison on January 28, 2004 at 22:48:25:
What a great idea for an Olympiad! I love it! Where is this happening?
Building a playable tuba from scratch would be quite a job, and unless you are already a good tubist you would not be able to learn to play it in time. There are some ideas about that kind of project in Benade's book, "Horns, Strings, and Harmony".
But I would suggest a bass Kalimba. Small ones are called thumb pianos, but they can be scaled up. Strips of steel or wood are mounted on a wooden box (it would have to be as big as a large suitcase) with a resonator hole like in a guitar. You play it by plucking on the free ends of the bars. In Jamaica guys play them while sitting on the box.
Another idea that works is to get a set of plastic pipes about 3 to 4 inches in diameter and whack them on the end with foam rubber sandals. You tune them with a hacksaw.