KVR Audio

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 8:31 pm

I want to make gourd instruments, but I can't find any info on the web for building them.

Has anyone here ever made a guiro or any gourd insrument? Any suggestions on what gourds to use and how to prepare them?

Thanks,

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 8:36 pm

I think traditional Peruvian guiros are made of the same gourd used to drink yerba maté from. But I don't know what variety that is, or how you'd get seeds in the USA.

[edit] It's a plain-looking, smooth gourd; you dry them until very hard, then cut grooves in one side to rub the stick against. Maybe the grooves can be incised before drying -- I don't know whether you'd end up with a usable instrument if it were done that way.

[edit edit] Don't neglect to make a caxixi or three!

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 8:55 pm

How do you dry them though? I tried drying a squash once and it just got stinky and rotted.

CC4 · Post by **CC4** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 10:05 pm

http://djembelfaq.drums.org/v8b.htm

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 10:43 pm

CC4 wrote:http://djembelfaq.drums.org/v8b.htm

Cool, thanks!

Soniccat · Post by **Soniccat** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 10:45 pm

I made some gourd shakers many years ago, I was able to scrape the inside pretty cleanly and let them dry in the sun. They came out pretty good, used beads on theinside and they are still usable today.

I decided to make wooden instruments and made this as a haicu-haicu,

It's called fishu-fishu

haydxn · Post by **haydxn** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 12:05 am

that's neat, soniccat, real neat

i'm impressed.

i think i might combine my art/music instrument design stuff summore..
last thing i made was my aerialin!

Stupid American Pig · Sun Jun 12, 2005 12:40 am

I plan on building a Clavichord pretty soon, but I get a headache just thinking about making the keyboard.

especially one that looks like this :

Soniccat · Post by **Soniccat** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 1:24 am

Not to hijack this thread. Thanks haydxn, I haven't been doing percussion instruments in wood for awhile. I have advance to some more usefull projects.

That looks like a pretty cool art/music piece, what does it do?

S_A_P, that clavichord looks like it would be a fun, but headbangin project.

I once turned a bus stop into a pipe marimba, unfortunately it got trashed pretty quickly.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 1:31 am

Soniccat wrote:
I decided to make wooden instruments and made this as a haicu-haicu,

It's called fishu-fishu

wow

haydxn · Post by **haydxn** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 1:34 am

well, it did this for the september 2004 kvr contest (although i recorded the sounds into my computer from my minidisc player at a really low level for some stupid reason, so i've got to redo it all

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 2:50 am

Soniccat wrote:Not to hijack this thread. Thanks haydxn, I haven't been doing percussion instruments in wood for awhile. I have advance to some more usefull projects.

Wow! thats cool!

I was thinking about building a fender P Bass clone with a Zebrawood body but then I found bass necks are really expensive!!

I don't know how hard It would be to build a neck?

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:07 am

I started another thread for DIY/home made instruments

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=91257

Soniccat · Post by **Soniccat** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:09 am

haydxn wrote

well, it did this for the september 2004 kvr contest (although i recorded the sounds into my computer from my minidisc player at a really low level for some stupid reason, so i've got to redo it all

Wow that's a pretty good tune, I assume it is the Kalimba type sounds I am hearing. Yes could be higher in volume but still fairly audible, nice job, and good instrument.

o'malley wrote

Wow! thats cool!

I was thinking about building a fender P Bass clone with a Zebrawood body but then I found bass necks are really expensive!! I don't know how hard It would be to build a neck?

Thanks, it sounds pretty good too, just a humbucker at the bridge but it sings real nice, the body is made from Padauk on the top and walnut for the back. I also made a strat from the same wood. The neck on the tele is one I got from http://www.stewmac.com/ back when they were selling fender replacement necks, they don't anymore. I think it was made by Godin and it cost about 130$. The strat has a carvin neck, very unfender like but has a nice shape and plays fast, I got that one for abot 140$. I would say t6hat building necks are a long process especially if you don't have the experience and you need alot of special tools. Carvin makes a bass kit that is decently priced http://www.carvin.com/products/single.p ... K4&CID=BKT and you could probably make it more fender like with the same type of picups. I have two more guitars in the works and found it alot more fun than trying to scrape together the money for a new one.

o'malley · Post by **o'malley** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:16 am

Soniccat wrote: Carvin makes a bass kit that is decently priced http://www.carvin.com/products/single.p ... K4&CID=BKT and you could probably make it more fender like with the same type of picups. I have two more guitars in the works and found it alot more fun than trying to scrape together the money for a new one.

I might just buy a crappy Squire P Bass, with stickers all over it and such at the flea market, and use it for parts. As long as the neck is straight. I'd be making a new body anyway, I could use the old one as a template too.

Making guiros, shekeres, gourd instruments?