Elemental Design

Musical Instruments for Children's Museums

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 from rust, etc.). Standard finish (pictured) on the larger instruments is Rustoleum-like 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

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

HEAR an AMADINDA (regular mallets)

Log Amadinda

Made from well seasoned logs of your choice of hardwood.Still a clear resonant tone, though not quite as sweet as the Amadinda above. The visual impact and indestructible quality make up for any loss of sound quality, however. The hardiest version is strung with stainless steel cable and mounted from fixed posts.
Approximately 3.5' x 7'.

8 note strung with Stainless cable - $500
Other sizes possible.
Stand not included. I recommend installing posts.

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: purple heartwood, plastic wood ("trex"), poplar, ash, oak, aluminum, steel, bronze. The keys are around 1 1/2" wide.

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

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 $775

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

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 Whale Drum

A heavy duty version (3/16" steel) of my whale drum made from old propane tanks.
The sound is deep and very resonant and "gongy".

30" HD Whale Drum (10 notes)- $495
24" HD Whale Drum (8 notes) - $395

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.

Heavy Duty Powder-coated Whale Drum

Usually these are painted with a rustoleum-like paint. For a much more durable finish I can have these powder-coated in a single color (two colors would shoot the price up a bit and wouldn't "blend" like the colors above). Powder-coating adds about $90 to the cost of the 30" Whale Drum.

Super Heavy Duty Whale Drum

Made from old 500 gallon steel "hot dog" style propane tanks. Metal is 1/4"- 3/8" thick. These are for extra heavy use as in playgrounds or very busy children's museums. Availability depends on my being able to get a hold of tanks.

36" SHD Whale Drum (10 notes)- $900

Horizontal Whale Drum
with Cosmiphone

Just a different style whale drum with an added appendage. Each end has four tongues.
Availability depends on having the right tank available.
~3' long.

Dragon Gong

This was made for a playground in California. It stands about 5' high (but is hung) and can be played about anywhere. There are four tuned "tongues" on the front. There are eyes, but they seem to have gotten lost in the background or the photo.

Aluminum Gong

Much louder and more sustaining sound than the steel gong above. The "dimpled" center helps clarify the tone. Made from 1/4" aluminum sheet.

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

Chime/Gong

Made for a playground in Austin, TX, this set hangs close to 5' overall. The chimes to the left are 2" aluminum pipe tuned pentatonicaly. To the right are: steel pipe, square aluminum extrusion, stainless steel pipe, heavy brass pipe, and aluminum flat bar. Underneath hangs a 17" aluminum gong.

A similar instrument would go for ~ $350

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
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 this one has a larger, more full sounding gong.

One similar to this would cost around $1900.

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, following a scale in concert pitch.

Chime Wall (by Playmore Design)

Playmore Design creates innovative playgrounds made of recycled plastic "lumber". The Chime Wall is just one of their many products.
I supply the Chimes to them and they build the frames. Check out their website for their full range of fun stuff.