Posted by Don Shirer on January 29, 2004 at 09:00:02:
In Reply to: I Need to Build a Bass Instrument ASAP! posted by Allison on January 28, 2004 at 22:48:25:
Several years ago a local chorus scheduled "The Seasonings" by P.D.Q. Bach, and I constructed and performed on a "Windbreaker" and a "Slide Windbreaker" made out of plastic sewer pipe and cement. The slide windbreaker is probably better for an a.s.a.p. project. Just visit your local building supply store and buy two pieces of tubing in the 1 to 1.5 inch size which fit together fairly tightly. You'll probably have to buy an 8-10 ft length of each which will nicely provide you with two instruments, a tenor about 3 ft long and a bass about 5 ft long. I cut off a short 1 inch length of the bigger tubing and glued it on the end of the smaller tube to act as a mouthpiece and slide stop. Mine blew fine with at least a two octave range (I could get three harmonics easily), but if you need a mouthpiece, glue in a wood dowel and drill it out for a trombone or tuba mouthpiece. The tubes I bought fit together tightly enough that I didn't even need slide grease on them to seal it. I thought of making a bell on the end, but decided against it.
To cheat a bit, I made a small pencil mark on the slide to clue me in on where the proper position was for the opening note.
Enjoy.
(also made some other PDQ instruments, but that's another story.)