Instruments of Exotica and beyond

Anyone else collect and play interesting Exotica instruments for fun?

[ Edited by Agent X.c. Incognito on 2022-09-28 08:25:31 ]

THAT is cool!

Looks like the pie pans we used to bang on when we were kids all strung up.

Would love to hear somebody who could play them, play them.

Once did lighting for a talent contest at a punk bar and one of the bands well the drum set was all made of boxes and trash can lids pickle buckets, everything and everything BUT a real musical instrument.

They were great! And the band did not get worried when the drummer smashed the "drum set" as there was a new one to be had outside by the dumpster.

Also lit Mitch rider and the Detroit wheels at that same bar Crazy Mamas.

They said he could be a real a$$ to people that did his sound and lighting, he was cool to me.

Absolutely! I'm always on the lookout for weird instruments and especially traditional Latin & African percussion, to the point that others know to keep theirs peeled as well for me! As I write this my trunk is filled to bursting with hand drums and other bits from summer yard sales. I even built a 6-cluster set of pentatonic boo-bams, after the kind used by Arthur Lyman.

So Tikiskip, these are Beijing opera Gongs and Kulintang. DO look like pie tins though. I too enjoy playing punk drums on trash and cardboard back in the day.

And Bambam, I too have excess instrumentation, but am no longer in acquisition mode, would love to see your Boobams one day. I have just found your music thread and really enjoyed the work. The vids are fun. Here is my more boo than boo bam set. Tuned chromatically.

Bam Bam WOW you made boobams?!! That is one sampled ethnic instrument that is just not found. I certainly don't have the wherewithall to build a set.

The boobams are currently in storage, but I'll try to snap some pics this weekend. They are surprisingly straightforward to construct, provided you follow the math. I've got a history of building organ pipes, and the same concept applies to boobams as applies to a stopped flue pipe, like a bourdon. Calculate the quarter-wavelegnth of a given pitch, and cut your tube a hair longer to account for error and tuneability.

I decided to go old school with my heads and sourced some "all natural boars hide" dog chews produced in Australia of all places. Surprisingly cheap compared to buying "instrument grade" hide, and just wide enough when soaked and unrolled to cover the end of a 4" pvc pipe. Upholstery tacks to hold it in place, let it dry, and you have a boobam!

Truly amazing construction...and imagination!

Stopped by my storage unit and got some shots of the boobams. Still plan to fill them out to a chromatic octave, F-f.

Vid of them in action

Fantastic! And the membranes are the dog-chews you mention above? They sound so good!

[ Edited by TIKIGIKI on 2022-11-05 21:54:51 ]

Yep! Straight up rawhide, about 1/8 inch thick (in most places).

When I get around to finishing some more I'll try to get some process pics. Again, pretty straight forward. Fitting the heads is a 2 person job, however!

[ Edited by Bam Bam on 2022-11-07 04:51:47 ]

Bam Bam, the hat is off to you sir. That is seriously impressive!! I'm seriously starting to get the itch to built a set myself!

This is a great post, bringing it back up to see if anyone has updates. Great stuff!