Making your own musical instruments is the perfect family activity! It’s a great way to spend time together learning new skills, having fun with creativity, and engaging with music. Plus, the instruments you make can be used for hours of entertainment! In this article, we’ll discuss the basics of DIY musical instruments—including which items to use, how to make them, and the best designs for each. So if you’re looking for a unique and enjoyable activity to do with your family, why not try making some interesting musical instruments? Let’s get started!
1. What Are the Benefits of Making Musical Instruments at Home?
Making musical instruments on your own is an exciting and fun way for families to come together and create a unique sound! DIY musical instruments provide numerous advantages to those with the time and resources to create and play with them, and they also offer an affordable way for aspiring musicians to jumpstart their music career. Here are some of the many benefits that come with creating your own musical instruments:
- A Gateway to Music Careers: Making your own instruments can take your understanding of music and sound waves to the next level, helping it widen your knowledge and give you a much-needed edge if you’re planning to pursue a music career.
- Stimulate Creativity: Creating musical instruments can stimulate creativity in both adults and children, and it can also help develop fine motor skills and coordination.
- Save Money: Making your own musical instrument can save you hundreds of dollars depending on the type of instrument you are making. It’s also a great way for those starting music to acquire an instrument without breaking the bank.
- Share Quality Time Together: Working on a music project as a family can be a great way to bond, strengthen relationships, and generate more memories together.
Making musical instruments is a wonderful opportunity for the whole family to get creative and have a little fun. Whether it’s a simple voice recorder, a wooden xylophone or a tricked-out electric guitar, you can’t go wrong with a great DIY project!
2. Get Creative: Ideas for DIY Musical Instruments
1. Homemade Drums
For families looking to make their own musical instruments, a drum is an easy and immensely entertaining starting point. All you need is an empty bucket or container for the body of the drum, kitchen sponges for tension, and a few screws, nuts, and bolts. The sponges can be ripened to create tension throughout the bucket, and the screws, nuts, and bolts provide a customizable way to play the drum. If you don’t have any screws, nuts, and bolts around the household, try other objects like cups, rocks, keys, coins, and other small trinkets to use as drumsticks.
2. Bottle Trumpets
Making a trumpet is another fun family activity. All you need is some empty bottles, hot glue gun and glue sticks, card stock paper, and for extra decoration, construction paper, paint, stickers, ribbons, and more. Start by cutting open the bottles in a fun way and connecting the two sides using the hot glue gun. Cut out a megaphone-shaped piece out of the card stock paper and glue it over the open end of the bottle. You and your family can have a blast decorating the finished product with whatever construction paper, stickers, ribbons, and more you have at home.
3. Crafting Together: A Fun Family Activity
Making your own musical instruments is a fun and creative activity that the whole family can enjoy. Crafting everything from a tambourine and shakers to a simple drum, it’s the perfect way to liven up your home. Here’s how you can get started:
- Gather the supplies. You’ll need materials like cardboard or wood, sticks, glue, rubber bands, and recycled containers like a can or plastic bottle.
- Get creative. Spend some time with your family brainstorming what instruments you want to make and how you’ll craft them.
- Build it up. Start with the basic shape of the instrument and then add details like decorations or paint. Place containers over the end of your sticks and secure with elastic.
- Let the music play. Give the instrument a test and if you’re all happy with the sound, grab some friends and family to form a band!
Making your own instruments is a great way to explore music in a fun and unique way. Not only will you be able to put your skills to the test, but you’ll also have a creative and exciting end result. With just a few supplies and a whole lot of imagination, you and your family will have hours of musical fun ahead.
4. Gather the Materials You Need to Create Musical Instruments
Gather the Right Supplies
Making musical instruments with your family can be an enjoyable and rewarding activity, but it starts with gathering the right supplies. To get the most out of the project, you’ll need an array of materials that range from common household objects to more standards pieces of equipment. Here’s what you’ll need to accomplish your crafty musical mission:
- Various empty containers in different sizes and materials, like bottles, glasses, and jars.
- Guitar strings, rubber bands, or fishing line.
- PVC pipes, wood, and cardboard tubes.
- Screws, small nails, washers, and dowels.
- Air pumps, like straws, balloons, and squeezers.
- Bells, chimes, and small switches.
- Drums and drumsticks.
Having the right tools and equipment allows you to explore creativity and craft impressive musical instruments. When you have all these items ready, you and your family can have a blast creating the perfect rhythm.
5. Step-by-Step Guide to DIY Musical Instruments
- 1. Gather Materials:
Collect household items and craft supplies for constructing DIY musical instruments. It’s best to use materials which can be recycled like empty boxes, jars, sticks and rubber bands. - 2. Design Your Instrument:
Let creativity and imagination come alive when imagining the structure of your instrument. It’s helpful to draw out a detailed plan of what the instrument should look like. This figure gives a better visual of the steps to take to construct the instrument. - 3. Construct the Instrument:
This is the part where the instrument is physically constructed. With help from the plans, begin to build the instrument with the chosen materials. Cutting, crafting and problem solving will come in handy during the construction phase. - 4. Try Out Your Instrument:
Once the structure of the instrument is well put together, try it out. Create a few sounds and experiment with the instrument. Feel free to change the design or add additional features if necessary. - 5. Put Your Musical Instrument in Action:
Now that it’s complete, let everyone take part in the action. This can be a great way for parents and kids to spend time together. Enjoy and explore the musical possibilities with your newly created instrument.
6. Tips for Making Musical Instruments at Home
Making your own musical instruments is a fun and creative activity that the whole family can enjoy! Here are six tips for making your own instruments at home:
1. Reuse materials for instruments. Have a look around your home and explore what materials can be recycled into instruments.
2. Look up online resources for instructions on how to make instruments. There are lots of instructions and video tutorials available on the internet. Check for age-appropriate projects that fit your family’s interests and abilities.
3. Choose an instrument to focus on and find enough materials for everyone in the family to make it. This will give everyone a chance to practice and have fun with the same instrument.
4. Get creative and use things like spoons, wooden boxes, coat hangers, and bottles to make your own unique instruments. You can include items like springs, bolts, or beads to provide some extra sounds for your creation.
5. Have fun and experiment with different materials and sounds. Try making drums, flutes, or even a guitar!
6. In the end, come together to play the different musical instruments you have made – it will be a great chance to appreciate the fun family activity and music making experience you have all had.
7. Unlocking a Whole New World of Music Making
Do you dread the prospect of another boring family activity? Inspire everyone in the house and try something entirely new. Make music with DIY musical instruments! Get creative and explore the wonderful world of crafting and music together.
This activity has something for everyone:
- Those with an adventurous spirit can try their hand at building impressive instruments.
- Those with a more mellow interest will enjoy decorating basic instruments in interesting ways.
- No matter which approach you choose, the end result will be a unique and customized instrument made with love and used over and over again.
This activity is a great way to bond, burn off energy, and explore music in different ways. It can be done alone or with a group of people and is a great way to spend free time. What better way to get into the rhythm than by making your own drums, guitars, or wind chimes? Get creative, and come up with ideas that will help create a song all your own.
Let the music-making begin!
Making instruments at home with your family is not only a fun way to express your creative side, but it is also a great way to bond with your loved ones. Furthermore, this activity is also educational, with children learning how sound is created and how to construct a musical instrument from the materials available. With all these advantages, start experimenting with sound and enjoy a family activity that will produce fantastic results.