Customer Reviews

Cool Cardboard Instruments to Make & Play

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4 star:		(3)
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There is no option for me to give it 3.5 stars. I would really give it about 3.75 out of 5.

Waring has put out other books on making folk instruments, but they all seem to be updates of the same book. This one is different and has some really fun stuff in it.

Some of the projects are better suited to kindergarten activities than to a book on making musical instruments. I don't think a lot of the rubber band and shoebox zither, for example. On the other hand, there are plenty of fun ideas in here, too.

I like the section on complex instruments. The Irish harp is a really good design for a beginner's harp if your kids (or you) just want to play with the concepts of a harp. The cardboard fiddle is just plain fun. The spike fiddle (Chinese erhu) is also a cool thing to include.

I have only two major complaints about this book. First, there is almost no information about the guages of strings or tuning that Waring used on his. He says things like "experiment with different gauges of fishing line to find the sound you like best." This frustrates me a lot. How am I supposed to finish the instrument and play it if I have to spend all weekend stringing, unstringing, restringing and messing with it?

The second complaint is that there is next to no information on playing. This is the failing of most books on making simple musical instruments, but it still bugs me. I don't know how to play an erhu, so why would I bother making one with no clue what to do with it? Same for a lot of the other instruments in this book.

Okay, I really sound like I'm ripping the book, but I just want other folks to be warned about the failings. Overall, it is full of fun ideas. A friend who does daycare work thought it would be a great addition to the library at her workplace. I'm having fun with some of the ideas just for my personal goofing around. And if my kids thrash them, so what? Cardboard is cheap or even free.

Fun is what the book is about and Dennis Waring accomplished that and more in this easy to read attractive book. I thought some of the earlier instruments in the book lacked some in guidelines for fret placement and neck length, but later projects which are more advanced are more clear and concise. I had to reseach what a pentatonic scale was for instance. That's not such a bad thing when I think about. I also had trouble understanding his description of the southern Indian instrument called a veena. My research showed the instrument to have fixed frets not moveable frets like it's northern cousin the sitar. These are minor issues, the book is not intended to be a thesis on world instruments. For parents, educators, and just people who enjoy building things with easy to find materials, with a minimum of tools, this book will keep you busy for quite some time. Innovative usage of materials and a friendly appoarch to the subject matter will give the reader hours, if not more, of enjoyment. Why am I typing when I could be off to the local lumber yard finding just the right piece of wood for that Chinese moon guitar?

Like the book very much. Am in the process of making instruments from this book. However, price for this book is much to high for the value of information. Price in twenty to thirty dollar range is okay, any higher, save your money.

My son had to make a musical instrument for school but couldn't decide what to make. Cool Cardboard Instruments to Make and Play arrived within 3 working days and he was able to choose something different and easy to make. He got an A+ from his teacher and a big hug from me.