Elemental Design

Musical Instruments for Children's Museums and Playgrounds

It's always a joy to sell to Children's museums and playgrounds. I love the fact that the instruments are explored and played to their full potential. I say with pride, that a few have even been worn out in the bigger children's museums. Below are some of the instruments I've made for either children's museum's or musical playgrounds. Most of them I tune pentatonicaly to concert pitch, but any tuning is possible. I can easily make instruments similar to those shown, but I also delight in custom instruments and new designs, so please share your ideas and wishes.

I'm happy to say that most of my steel instruments are made using old, recycled metals. They are likely to have blemishes of various sorts (ie.scratches, .pockmarks, etc.). Standard finish (pictured) on the larger instruments is enamel paint. Powder coating is a pricier option that would give a more durable finish.

Jim Doble

Amadinda

Made from spruce "2x4s". The Amadinda has a bright clear resonant sound. It's most fun to play and sounds fullest with 2-4 players. Their are no sour notes as the tuning is pentatonic. See "About Amadindas" for more background info.

Finished spruce Amadinda 12 notes (6'x3', ).....$225
Specify Interior or Exterior finish.
Extra heavy duty Stand(shown)......$115
Extra mallets (comes with 6)..... $8 / pr.


For outside use it's recommended you install posts to hang the Amadinda.

 

HEAR an AMADINDA (regular mallets)

 Heavy Duty African Mahogany Amadinda

Made from sustainably harvested African Mahogany, this will last a long time in just about any outdoor environment. It has a bright, resonant tone similar to the regular Amadinda. The one pictured has attached mallets. One like this goes for $950

 

Babydinda

Made from a mix of hardwoods for visual and tonal variety and delight.
Bright , clear resonant tone. The frame, felt, and mounting hardware are all heavier duty than the regular version for extra durability. The keys are approximately 2" wide.

8 note Babydinda - $215 . Other sizes are available

HEAR BABYDINDA
(recorded soft so crank up the volume)

 

Multidinda

The keys are each made from a variety of materials for a variety of tonal and visual texture. This one has the following materials: Slate, granite, plastic wood ("trex"), maple, oak, mahogany, aluminum, steel. The keys are 1 1/2" -2"wide.

8 Note Multidinda - $265
Many other sizes and combinations are possible.

HEAR MULTIDINDA

 Mongo Tongue Drum

This tongue drum was made to be not only played, but also lied upon. This way, the vibrations of the instrument travel directly through the body. Ideal for use with the hearing impaired.
Some small splitting would be expected, but is limited due to heavy cross reinforcing.

This size is approximately 2'x2'x4'
and would cost $975

 

Boltaphone

Made from large hex-head bolts.
It can either be hung on a wall or laid flat.
The tone is surprisingly very bright, clear and resonant.

The bolts average around 10" long.

8 note Boltaphone - $165

 

HEAR BOLTAPHONE

 

Wrenchophone

Made from old wrenches of various shapes and sizes.These have a sturdier and more resonate sounding mounting system than my regular Wrenchophones and can come in a variety of sizes. The wrenches are tuned to concert pitch to the bewilderment of most people and have a surprisingly bright, clear, and resonant tone.

8 note HD Wrenchophone - $175
Many other sizes possible.

HEAR WRENCHAPHONE////PLAY VIRTUAL WRENCHAPHONE

 

Chromatic Wrenchophone

Shown is a 2 1/2 octave, chromatic version of the above; this one with the addition of a couple of "snakes".
~3' long.

2 Octave - $455
2.5 Octave - $515
3 Octave - $585

 

Heavy Duty and SHD Whale Drum

Very popular heavy duty versions of my Whale Drum made from old propane tanks.
The sound is deep and very resonant and "gongy".

These have become so popular, and have evolved so many options, that they now have their own Whale Drum page


30" HD Whale Drum (shown right, 10 notes, powder-coat finish)
24" HD Whale Drum (shown left, 8 notes, enamel finish)
For pricing and more options, see the Whale Drum page.

 

 

HEAR A WHALE DRUM
This recorded very softly, so you'll need to crank your computer volume way up and possibly wear headphones to do the sound justice. I'm working on a re-do

Dedicated Whale Drum page

 

Dragon Gong and Monkey Gong

These stand about 5' high (but is hung) and can be played about anywhere. There are four to six tuned "tongues " on the front. There are eyes on the dragon, but they seem to have gotten lost in the background or the photo.

 

Aluminum Gong

A fairly simple, but resonant gong. The "dimpled" center helps clarify the tone. Made from 3/16 -1/4" aluminum sheet.

36" Gong (pictured) - $295
30" Gong - $220
24" Gong - $145

 Chimasaur

This was made for The Children's Museum of Maine. It's a bit of a mix of all kinds of tonal and visual experience.

The tank is 30"w by 36"l. There are steel, brass, aluminum, stainless steel horizontal pipes; upright steel pipes; welded steel arcs;"floating" steel arcs; steel and aluminum flat bar; a set of steel bolts; two steel "tongues"; and two aluminum gongs for a wide variety of sounds. The steel is finished with paint, other metals have a lacquer finish. It could be Powder coated for better durability of finish.

 Chimasaur 2 & 3
Something like this version would be more likely available than the above, as it's made from an old propane tank (which I have a semi-reliable source for). The attachments are similar, but these have a larger, more full sounding gong. Painting or powder coating to your specified colors.
(Photos on side show instrument on packing crate)

One similar to these would cost around $1900.
With powder coat finish (recommended)- $2,200

 Mama Stonaphone

The keys are made from "Black Galaxy" granite, recycled from 1 1/8" thick counter top leftovers. The tops are polished with bright copper specks scattered brightly throughout. The sound is very surprisingly resonant, bright and clear.

The one pictured is for outside use with attached mallets (played on the ends of the keys). Indoor options and loose, round headed mallets are also available.
Pictured is the most expensive version which goes for $1,400
Approximately 36" wide by 30" long.

 

Hear Mama Stonaphone

Mongo Stonaphone  

This was made for the National Children's Museum of Jordan.
It's made from a variety of stones which were meant to be fairly rough and not tuned. The longest stone is about 42" long, the shortest about 24" long. They vary in thickness from 2"-6".
The sound is surprisingly resonant on some of the stone and more muted on others, but they all have clear pitch.
A similar instrument could be made with more uniform stone (as below), following a scale in concert pitch, and with a variety of possible bases(ie. stone, wood, metal,...).
(photo shows instrument on packing crate base)

 Tuned Mongo Stonaphone

This Lithophone has 3"x5" keys of a very dense, black metamorphic stone. It has a rougher look, bigger physical presence, and a more muted sound than the Mama Stonaphone. The base shown is of 4"x6" Cedar and measures about 36" wide x 44" long.
A Stonaphone similar to this would cost around $3200.

 

Hear the Mongo Stonaphone

 Chime Wall

The Chimes are very resonant, sweet sounding, aluminum pipe tuned to a pentatonic scale. The frame is pressure treated wood. This can be made to plant in the ground, attach to a structure or wall, or be free standing. One like this goes for $600

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xylojim@tidewater.net
 
Jim Doble
Elemental Design
PO Box 565
Union, Maine 04862
USA
 
(207)785-2212