Harry Partch, Genesis of a Music, 1974, New York, Da Capo Press. Currently out of print.Ĭlaire Jones, Making Music: Musical Instruments in Zimbabwe Past and Present, 1992, Harare, Zimbabwe: Academic Books (Pvt.) Ltd.ĭescriptions and construction information for about 30 Zimbabwean instruments, written for use in the schools. Press (Aesthetic Research Center of Canada), Vancouver.Ī variety of essays and plans for sound exploration, culled from several builders.

John Grayson, ed., Sound Sculpture, and Environments of Musical Sound Sculpture You Can Build, 1976, A.R.C. Linda Francis and Alan Trussell-Cullen, Hooked on Making Musical Instruments, 1989, Longman Paul, Ltd., Auckland.Ībout 50 simple instruments that can be made by children. Available from the American Gamelan Institute, Box A-36, Hanover, NH 03755.ĭetailed descriptions and drawings of instruments created by Bill Colvig and Lou Harrison.Īpollohuis Het, Echo: the Images of Sound, 1987.Ī collection of essays and photo documentation of sound exploration occurring at the Dutch arts center, Het Apollohuis. Will Ditrich, The Mills College Gamelan: Si Darius and Si Madeleine, 1983. Sara deBeer, ed., Open Ears: Musical Adventures for a New Generation, 1995, Ellipsis Kids Roslyn, NY.Ībout 15 musical instrument-making projects, along with other music-making ideas, from 20 familiar musical personalities ranging from Babatunde Olatunji through Pete Seeger to Tom Keith. The latter is a more abbreviated account of some later work. The former is a colorful and anecdotal description of the Baschet brothers’ sonic explorations during a seminal period – both entertaining and educational. And Francois Baschet, The Art of Musical Fountains (unpublished manuscript, 1989). A very readable text.įrancois & Bernard Baschet, Sound Sculpture: The Baschet Experience- Shapes, Sounds and People, 1945-1965 (Unpublished manuscript, 1965). First published in 1980, this is a classic text of the genre. Reinhold Banek and Jon Scoville, Sound Designs: A Handbook of Musical Instrument Building, 1995, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA.Ībout 50 unconventional designs presented in accessible, readable style. Jay Havighurst, Making Musical Instruments by Hand Paul Berliner, The Soul of the Mbira, University of Chicago Press. Website: World rhythm training manual on African polyrhythms Website: Design craft manuals on flute making: Simple Flutes and Flutecraft

Qin (ch’in) design, history, tuning, recording of Qin music by John Thompson Plans for about 25 instruments, most relating to familiar types but with lots of imaginative twists. Bart Hopkin, Air columns and Toneholes, Musical Instrument Design, Making Simple Musical Instruments, 1995, Lark Books, Asheville, North Carolina.

Bart Hopkin AIR COLUMNS and TONE HOLES