{"id":16,"date":"2017-06-19T18:43:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T18:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shockwave-sound.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/19\/the-inspiring-and-musically-powerfu\/"},"modified":"2022-01-03T18:36:02","modified_gmt":"2022-01-03T18:36:02","slug":"the-inspiring-and-musically-powerfu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shockwave-sound.com\/blog\/the-inspiring-and-musically-powerfu\/","title":{"rendered":"The Inspiring and Musically Powerful World of DIY Instruments"},"content":{"rendered":"
What is a musical instrument? It is an object that creates sound for the purpose of creating music. The definition of\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cmusic\u201d is a topic for another post, but for our purposes here let\u2019s assume that we all know what music is, or at least have our own interpretation of what constitutes music. Regardless, musical instruments have been a vital part of human culture that dates back to the dawn of human history. There are reports of flutes made from mammoth ivory found in Germany that are dated to be close to 43,000 years old. These early DIY musicians had a different means for securing instruments than we do today: they made the instruments themselves. In contrast, in today\u2019s world, many of us think of musical instruments as products made by a manufacturer in a factory, or meticulously crafted with the highest quality tools and technology in a professional workshop. They are consumer items that we consider products to purchase from music stores or bought used from other musicians. However, we must remember that for the majority of human history, instruments were
\nhandmade, and most likely by the musician themselves. \u00a0<\/span>Below are three impactful instruments assembled by the musicians themselves that create stunning results, ranging from
\nthe simplistic to the complex.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nDIY Percussion: Power Through Simplicity<\/h3>\n
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Very likely the first instruments created by man were percussion pieces, as they require little effort to produce. Anything, really, can be used to create a drum. Related to this, my personal favorite DIY instruments are percussive as they can be so simple and yet used to create incredible rhythmic performances live and in the studio. One drumming set up that deserves recognition is the construction-bucket drum sets that are used in cities throughout the world by street musicians. They are used on streets throughout Washington DC in the United States and traditionally have been used by street musicians to play DC \u201cGo-go\u201d beats, a rhythmic music that originated in and is special to that particular city. These drums are made from buckets that originally held paint or plaster and have been tossed from construction sites, coupled with the orange cones used for caution during road repair and construction. Ingeniously, a player mounts two buckets atop the cones by simply draping the metal handles over the top, one on each side for balance, and voila, a drum set. Different sized buckets produce different tones, and often the players use pieces of wood instead of traditional drumsticks in the true DIY spirit. In addition to this set-up, I have also seen \u201cbass drum\u201d accompaniment in which a drummer simply uses an upside down massive plastic trashcan. Generally, shopping carts are used to move the set from location to location. This may seem simple to create, but often the beauty of genius is its simplicity. Furthermore, the beats that the players produce can be top-notch.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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