Making Musical Instruments by Hand [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Jay Havighurst (Author, Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A step-by-step guide to designing and making musical instruments with a showcase of instruments by artists from around the world. This unique guide provides details on every step of the project. Percussion, wind, and string instruments, all are here - each illustrated with clear, instructional photographs. Alternative techniques use simple tools to offer inexpensive ways to make instruments. Tips on choosing materials, tool selection, cutting and finishing techniques, measuring, joining, and more. Includes special hints for tuning and playing the instruments you have made.

About the Author
Jay Havighurst has explored building musical instruments since graduating from the Studio for Interrelated Media and Sculpture at Massachusetts College of Art in 1980. A resident of the North Shore of Massachusetts, he designed interactive, kinetic sound art, including large-scale sculptures that combine abstract visual elements with themes of rhythm and cycles inspired by nature. His work has been exhibited in the New Directions in Sound Environments show at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and at numerous galleries and festivals. Havighurst composes music that is layered and multi-timbral, and has accompanied several modern dance and performance pieces. With an unusual collection of instruments from around the world, he has a passion to share their sounds in group music-making, drumming, and celebrations, making music participatory and open to everyone

Product Details

• Paperback: 107 pages
• Publisher: Rockport Publishers; illustrated edition edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564963527
• ISBN-13: 978-1564963529
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 9.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,308,001 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deliful book packed with easy to make insturments, December 12, 1999

By	Angel Lee "Liocorno Amethyst Moonstone" (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is a delightful book for anyone who enjoys traditional musical instruments or building small projects. Using basic materials and techniques, this book will lead you to build some truly impressive and entertaining instruments.

There are 9 categories of instruments here including a shaker, thumb piano, drum, lyre, spike fiddle and zither. Most use simple materials such as a didgeridoo made from PVC pipe and a whistle or flute from maple dowels.

There are detailed step-by-step instructions illustrated with color photos for each instrument. There are also complete tool and material lists for each one and even tips on decorating and playing the instruments.

A wonderful feature is the gallery for each instrument, showing variations in style and materials by several artisans. Contact information for them is included along with a detailed resource guide.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good range of projects, without a lot of power tools, May 9, 2003

By	Patrick Woolery (Fairbanks, AK United States) - See all my reviews

I have several other books on making simple musical instruments, and all of them seem to repeat some of what other authors do. Havighurst made a real effort to avoid that with his book, I think. This, if nothing else, makes the book worth a look. The level of detail in the step-by-step instructions is very good, with only two exceptions. The design for the bow for the spike fiddle was covered inadequately, with only two pictures. Also, the layout sometimes is less than intuitive, though that is an editorial thing, not a problem with the content.

I felt that the method of hollowing a dowel with a hand drill instead of a lathe was worth the cover price of the book. It was a method I had never thought of, though it really is pretty simple. Other good stuff includes a lyre (don't see those very often in other books!), a very nice kalimba design, a tall drum, and a Chinese zither. There are no bleach bottle banjos or rubber band zithers in this book, which I often think are put into other books just to pad out the number of instruments shown, without adding any real substance.

I also like the gallery of other instruments of similar types included with each project. It is fun to see what other makers are doing along these lines. It also serves to draw some similarities between different cultures when you see that they have instruments that function in a similar manner.

The one failing that this book (and every other book of its type) had was a very cursory amount of information on how to play the instruments. When you make an obscure or unusual instrument, how are you supposed to learn to make music if there is no available information on playing the thing?

Other than that, it is a very good book for the home hobby builder. The very simple shop setup makes all of the projects approachable for even the most casual of woodworkers. I am a daddy with very limited time and monetary resources, so that is important to me.