Instrument+essay

Instrument essay by: Weston Alford In science we have been creating instruments. My instrument is a one foot, hollow rod with three small holes in it and two large holes on the ends. Because it is a percussion instrument you have to hit it to make the sounds. I did not have much inspuration to create this. It just randomly popped up in my head. Because of its design and structure I decided to name it Tige avec des trous, which is French for rod with holes.

When I built this I started with a seven and a half foot pole. I found the pole in my backyard in a pile of wood. I asked my dad if I could use it and he approved. I then cut one foot of it off using a jack knife (with my dad's super vision), which I got from my dad's tool box (with his approval). Because it was not electric, it took hours to cut through it. Next I took a drill (also from my dad's tool box) and drilled four small holes into the rod (the two big holes on the ends were already there). Again, it was not electric so it took a while. Thats how "Tige avec des trous" was made.

To play my instrument you take the palm of your hand and strike it against the top of the rod where one of large holes are. Because of the rough cutting of the pole one side of it is sharp, so be sure to strike the end that is not sharp. Because of the sharp end I was forced to put a paper towel on it when I'm not playing it, for saftey purposes. To change the pitch of the instrument you cover the small holes with your fingers. The reason is because when you strike the top with the palm of your hand air goes through the instrument and comes out the holes. The more hole that are covered up than the lower the pitch. Best part is it doesn't need tuning (that I know of).

This project really took me by surprise. But I really had fun with it. It gave me a chance to express myself musically. If I could change anything about my instrument it would be more ways to change the pitch. I hope to do this again some day.