moonmilk

instrument-a-day 3: foldable squawkers

February 4th, 2009

Noisemakers that can be cut and folded from a thin sheet of stiff plastic. This is a variation on the drinking straw double reed. They sound like this.

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The plastic I used is Avery 11900 Insertable Dividers (this also works great in a Craft-Robo!) To make your own: cut a rectangle about 1.5 by 3 inches. Fold in thirds the long way to make a little burrito, and crease the folds. Cut one end to a blunt-ended triangle as in the photo. Unroll the burrito, cut off the outermost triangle, and re-fold. Squish it between your fingers a bit so that it bulges a little, put the pointy end inside your lips and blow. With some practice you can get a horrible squawk out of it.

During February 2009 I'm making a new handmade instrument each day. photoblog