Waste Material Instrument.
Create an instrument out of waste materials.
For me it meant to create an instrument that would be able to be used commercially and if possible create an instrument that can replicate the same sounds as the original however was created through a more sustainable process.
The project initially started with a tunable box guitar that functioned like a standard guitar but had added features that allowed for a one-man band. For instance, a piece of aluminium to replicate the sound of a drum hi-hat or a piece of wood that allows for a kick.
However, as I continued to research and gather resources, I found that the tuners and guitar strings were not something I was able to find. I tried to find alternatives, such as using large rubber bands; however, it could not be tuned, causing the fall of the design.
With the one man band box guitar being unreachable in the time frame, I opted for a more straightforward instrument that I was able to build using the resources that I had gathered while making the box guitar. The instrument is a drumset. Using the resources I had at hand, I planned out a very simple design consisting of what each material is going to be used as and how it's going to be placed.
After planning out the design of the drums, I looked into how the tunings of each drum piece were going to be managed. Using the materials I had collected, I filled each object with different materials to see how it affected the sound. Using that information, I created this little mindmap which shows each attribute's effects. For instance the usage of tape acted as a sort of dampener, or filling a bottle with liquid rather than rocks/paper created a tom drum sound.
These 3 videos not only show the process behind the creation of the drums but also show the information collected earlier coming into play.
On the due date, I walked into class and realized that the lid of my snare drum had been stolen. So I had to improvise by using the bottom of the tin and filling the tin with rocks to replicate the sound of the snare drum. Due to the rattling noise of the rocks, it created a more accurate sound than it did before using the lid.
I tried to record a song purely; however, due to my lack of skill in playing the drums, I made a lot of errors. To fix this I used Garageband. Using Garageband, I could record one part at a time and redo parts that I thought were bad. The app also enabled me to alter the equalizers to make the sounds clearer.
I played We Are Young by Fun. The left image shows the recording of my drums, and the right is the musical score for the song. Each colour represents a different sound Eg; Black represents the tom, yellow being the symbols, and the green represents the vocals. The thickness of the line showing the strength used, and the length of the line represents how long it was played. This resulted in the final product.
Reflection:
The sounds my drum kit created were okay but could have been done more accurately. If I were to do it next time, I would try experimenting with a more diverse range of materials, for instance, iron instead of aluminium or thicker pieces of aluminium. Using different types of materials would allow for other symbols and more accurately sounding drums. This would allow for a drum kit that can be used commercially and to be made in a more sustainable and cheaper way. What I did well in this is the usage of Garageband. Using Garageband allowed me to make up for the flaws of the instrument and my overall skill with the drums. This is because the equalizers allowed for a more accurate sounding drum while also allowing me to redo certain parts without restarting the entire song.
The sounds my drum kit created were okay but could have been done more accurately. If I were to do it next time, I would try experimenting with a more diverse range of materials, for instance, iron instead of aluminium or thicker pieces of aluminium. Using different types of materials would allow for other symbols and more accurately sounding drums. This would allow for a drum kit that can be used commercially and to be made in a more sustainable and cheaper way. What I did well in this is the usage of Garageband. Using Garageband allowed me to make up for the flaws of the instrument and my overall skill with the drums. This is because the equalizers allowed for a more accurate sounding drum while also allowing me to redo certain parts without restarting the entire song.
