DIY Life

Many kids pick up a musical instrument or two at some point in their childhood. Sometimes I think that my own childhood could be retold as a chain of instruments adopted and discarded: piano, violin, clarinet, recorder, and a terrifying two-week stint on the French horn, not to mention years of singing lessons.

Once you're an adult, though, it can be difficult to pick up an instrument... particularly if you're doing it for your own amusement, and have no intention of pursuing a serious course of study.

What do you do when you don't want to become a classical virtuoso... when you really just want to play songs for friends at parties, and don't want to have to spend a lot of money, or work lessons into your schedule, to accomplish it?

After our kids are in bed, Jason and I can be found downstairs rocking out to Guitar Hero. While I'm sure we both look like total dorks, and I am admittedly pitiful at any song that is even mildly complicated, we still have a blast. A little spirited competition and some classic rock tunes are just what we need at the end of a long day.

There are lots of instructions out there that will tell you how to customize your guitar, but none that are quite as clear and well documented as these. This instructable walks you through the dis-assembly, painting and reassembly of your Guitar Hero SG controller. You'll be taking out nearly 40 screws, so clear your workspace and get organized before you get started. Once you have it apart, painting can be as simple or as detailed as you want. The metal finish that this instructables author chooses looks great. He suggests using a spray paint, but you'll still need to be careful and take your time. If you want to get really creative, try stenciling on a some flames or even a design of your own.

How many people out there remember Weird Al Yankovic? He was the musical satirist who made a name for himself in the 80's and 90's by taking pop songs and twisting them into his own hilarious interpretations of the original works. In particular, some of the parodies he created from Michael Jackson songs were amazingly inspired works of comedy art.

Because of Weird Al, I myself have tried my hand at the writing of parodies and I found it to be fairly simple. You must have the ability to follow a tune in your head and you need a sense of musical timing and rhyme. A slightly warped sense of humor can come in handy also which makes me a perfect candidate for the job.

If you are interested in seeing a working example of how you can write a song parody yourself, I invite you to take the jump and witness the creation of my song parody: "Internet writer", as based on the Beatles song "Paperback Writer".

Most of you know metronomes from sitting at the piano as a child grinding through your hour long practice. A metronome as defined by wikipedia is "any device that produces a regulated audible and/or visual pulse, usually used to establish a steady beat, or tempo, measured in beats-per-minute (BPM) for the performance of musical compositions. It is an invaluable practice tool for musicians that goes back hundreds of years." These instructions explain how to build your own metronome. All the materials you need can be found at your local electronics store.

Here's what you need:

1. 555 IC
2. 3x 1K Ohm Resistor
3. 2x 22uF 16V Capacitor
4. 9V Battery
5. 8 Ohms Speaker
6. 250K Ohms Potentiometer

Despite this project's perfect simplicity I still struggle to understand the scheme. Thankfully, he includes pictures with all the instructions and finishes off with a couple of videos. This metronome can be adjusted to various speeds by changing the resistance. Grab your guitar and play along.

So you've wanted to be a musician since you were little -- you've practiced hard, and now it's all coming together. You're good, like really, really, good, and you're getting gigs. People love your show when they stumble upon it, but nobody is seeking you out. You're in need of some serious promotion, but you don't have the backing from a label, and you're not ready to pay a promoter. Self-promoting can be hugely successful, but it's also very hard to do correctly. These steps will help you get yourself out there and noticed by all the right people. Check them out in far more detail and you'll be on your way to success.

1. Identify your goals
2. Target the right audience
3. Have a promo package
4. Find your niche
5. Bribe em' - everybody loves free stuff
6. Branding
7. Keep track of your contacts

One important tip is Know when to act small. The easiest place to get publicity is in your own area. Think local and you'll grow. People will start to take notice, and you can branch out from there. If it's the local club scene that gives you your first shows, keep that home-base and the press will start to cover the other places you go.

Who knows, you might learn so much about promoting that when the big labels do approach you, you'll turn them down for a DIY gig.

If you're not stretching rubber bands across a cardboard cigar box, it's not all that easy to make your own guitar-type instruments. You have only to watch a video of someone making a guitar to notice that it involves some advanced and specialized wood-working. The body must be built up and finished, and the whole process can take months. However, if you're talking about a banjo, you don't necessarily need to build up the body: they usually have more in common with the body of a drum than the body of a guitar anyway.

Instructables user TimAnderson has created an awesome tutorial for a cookie tin banjo. You won't get out of wood-working: you'll be making the rest of the banjo out of an old bed-post, and creating your own tuning pegs. But it's still much easier than building the body of a guitar.

You can use Anderson's previous tutorials on the subject, linked from the project page, to build other components of the banjo, like the tuning pegs. And when you've finished creating your own banjo, you can visit the Banjo Hangout. They'll give you some ideas for what to do with it.

If your wallet is overflowing with old membership cards, why not recycle them into plastic guitar picks? So many of those promo cards have cool designs. You could even cut it out around part of your embossed name, this will give some added grip and a personalized look. These instructions from WikiHOW have pictures and more detail on making the unique guitar picks.

Materials

1. Old plastic cards
2. Guitar pick
3. Permanent marker
4. Sharp scissors
5. Nail file

Making your guitar picks

1. Use your marker to trace a guitar pick onto the plastic card
2. Cut out the guitar pick shape
3. Smooth the edges with a nail file.

I have more random cards kicking around than I need guitar picks. I'll recycle a few of them this way. Do you have any other ideas for recycling old cards? Share them in the comments.

My boys love music. Josh, at 4, fancies himself both a rock star and a master and the soothing lullaby. I found this homemade harmonica project, through our local Science World. The supplies and instructions from their website walk you through this fun project. Little ones might need help tying the elastics and getting the popsicle sticks in position, but they'll enjoy their homemade instrument.

Supplies

2 thin elastic bands
1 thick elastic band
3 popsicle sticks

Making your harmonica

1. Stretch the thick elastic along the edge of one popsicle stick
2. Wet the middle of two popsicle sticks so that they are easily bent into a slight arc
3. Place the elastic wrapped stick in between the other two popsicle sticks with the arcs facing out
4. Tie the ends together with the thin elastics
5. Press your lips along the edge and blow, experimenting with different sounds

This PDF on the Science World website goes on to explain how the sound is created. They also suggest different ways to experiment with the sound, encouraging us to notice why things are happening the way they do.

When your one note wonder is starting to wear on your nerves and you can hear that single note in your sleep, it might be time to try some other DIY instruments for kids. After the break we'll look at a couple more simple music projects for kids.