My go at the Tongue Drum

Hi to all,
Well I was inspired by brdad with his tongue drum and picked up the plans from Steve Roberts and went for it.
I had a sq’ of 8/4 African Padauk for the end grain cuts, and some Queensland Walnut for the ends, the sides with the (African Big5 Game) carvings are in some Oregon Maple and I had to pick up a 5/4 piece of African Padauk for the top, Wipe on a coat of tongue oil. Still have some work to do with it but it is pretty close to being done.
I have to say this was a very relaxing and rewarding project, Thanks brdad.
Cheers ~ Ray

Ray not only is your project beautiful, but the choice of wood, which sets this project apart from anything else, makes it so outstanding.

You are welcome, though I provided nothing but the idea!
That looks great, the carving adds a nice touch. That is a great piece of maple.

Seems like most every day someone walks by and plays mine for a few minutes. As I said before I am not remotely musical, but it's still fun to play it.

If you have not yet tuned it and would like to know the software I used I can look it up in the morning.

Ray

Awesome looking project.

Thanks Eddie and brdad. It was a fun project working with natures beauty really is a joy for me.
If it is not too much trouble I would love to know the program you used to tune it.
Good day ~ Ray
Thanks Dan
Cheers!

Beautifully Done Ray,

It looks Absolutely Gorgeous! :grin:

Thats awesome! If you get some free time, i'd love to hear a sound bite of it.

Thanks,

Doug Fletcher

Ray,

Great job. Nice selection of wood!!

Ray really nice job,,..now im ginna haave to make 1 of those drums an hope it comes out half as good,,..p.s.i followed your lead an made a couple lite switch covers
thanks for the inspiration
denny

This is the program I used to tune the drum: Enable Guitar Tuner. It is shareware but you have 60 days to try it. You do not really need to mess with the buttons, just hook up a microphone and tune until it gets to the right frequencies. There are many others out there, but for me I needed something which showed the frequency - A, C, D, G ... mean nothing to me.

These are the frequencies I used to obtain the A pentatonic scale described in the plans. The numbers refer to the numbers Roberts assigned to the keys:

1 - A - 110.0 Hz
2 - C - 261.6 Hz
3 - D - 146.8 Hz
4 - E - 164.8 Hz
5 - G - 196.0 Hz
6 - A - 220 Hz
7 - C - 261.6 Hz
8 - D - 293.6 Hz
9 - E - 329.6 Hz
10 - G - 392.0 Hz
11 - A - 440.0 Hz
12 - C - 523.2 Hz

You can double check those at here or at other sites that list frequencies of music notes.

Be careful tuning to get the correct tongue and not take too much off. Several of mine I had to chisel more than 1/4" off. But one took only about 1/16"! On some of the tongues (especially the shorter ones), a little shave made a big difference.

Thanks every one for your comments, I would like to give some credit to Mother Nature’s beauty and the CW in their part.
Brdad thanks heaps for taking the time with your explanation, I am running Windows 7 and am getting a run time c++ error and may not be able to use the program will have to look into to it. Last week the phone was a ringing and I have about a months worth of work with the electrical trade that is good for the bank account but cuts into the wood working time.
Cheers to all and Thanks
Ray

Ray..

NICE work. I made one for my grandaughter some time ago. Plan from Wood mag? or other. I forget what Mag. She drives her parents nuts with it. She just loves the sound. I could never figure out how to 'tune' it.

I did mine with a router by hand (OK so I used some wood strip guides for the straight cuts).

I SURE wish I had my CarveWright then! I'm pretty good with my routers, BUT, it was more of a job than I expected it to be.

I will make another using the CW! I think I still have the pattern someplace.

Mine was like yours but I used Rock Maple for the 'sound board' (Top) and Jaoba for the rest of it. No other carvings except her name hand routed in the side in script.

How does the Padauk work as to sound? I had no idea it would resonate because it is so soft (My opinion as to a sound board). I have some Padauk but I rarely use it because I am allergic to it.
Anyway, Lovely work.

Ray,

That is a great project and a spectacular piece of well finished wood.

Hi Will,
The Padauk has a wonderful sound, look back a page in the gallery and listen to brdad’s recording of his, I was wowed by the sound it produced when I finished the mallets yesterday and hit some keys, I have played string Instruments since I was 7, and precaution is a little new in the learning curve But Fun.
Ray

PS Thank you Ken, yes I was covered in orange and black dust yesterday, I saw a insect try to land on it and it flipped over on its back so quick it broke its neck:D now that is smooth.

Excellent work!
I just got my plans from Steve last week and haven't yet built mine...I did go ahead and buy a chromatic tuner (You can tune a tongue drum, but you can't tuna fish).

I have a friend who has asked if one of these would work with a pickup mounted inside (for amplification)...May try that.

My only question about the plans was in regards to the use of MDF and whether or not it would hurt to use wood instead...Steve hasn't answered yet, but he's probably busy sending out plans to all of us!

Also, did you use the CarveWright for anything other than the sides? I have been trying to figure out if I should try to use it on the top (or the underside of the top). This would require changing some of the steps in the plans....

I have played string interments since I was 7, and precaution is a little new in the learning curve But Fun.
Ray

And I with a 'TIN EAR'... I will look for the recording. I guess I missed it!

My Son-In-Law plays a grand Piano and he is very good (At least to my ears). I have a digital freqency meter, studio Microphone, speakers, and Amp to work with. I never used for music. I just did NOT know WHERE to remove the wood! I used these tools to detect differences in machine gear sounds. As in good/bad mesh.. Never worked out!

I made a 'sound board' (top) that was reasonable but much different in frequencies when mounted to its box members.

Here they are, from the brdad's original Post

Tongue Drum Solo
Tongue Drum With Guitar

http://forum.carvewright.com/showpos...44&postcount=1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RayTrek

Hi to all,
Well I was inspired by brdad with his tongue drum and picked up the plans from Steve Roberts and went for it.
I had a sq’ of 8/4 African Padauk for the end grain cuts, and some Queensland Walnut for the ends, the sides with the (African Big5 Game) carvings are in some Oregon Maple and I had to pick up a 5/4 piece of African Padauk for the top, Wipe on a coat of tongue oil. Still have some work to do with it but it is pretty close to being done.
I have to say this was a very relaxing and rewarding project, Thanks brdad.
Cheers ~ Ray

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Ray, that is absolutely gorgeous! (of course, everything I've seen you do, always is!) I love the carved sides, your choice of fine woods, and the beautiful finish too. A fine project you can be very proud of!

Hello,
Dhaffner,
I was wondering the same thing about the MDF; A few years back I had the opportunity to build some Altaic Lancing Voice of the Theater speakers the ones with the folding horns, and to get the right Bass reflex and folded sound particle board was used, So that is what I used on the drum.
The Keys where cut with a jig saw and I am glad I did it that way, there was a little stress in the Padack and some of the keys lowered from the flat surface also would require a lot of prep to keep the keys compressing together on the glue up. Hope this helps and can’t wait to see yours.
Thanks Ken, for posting the sound bit and your comments
Thank you Michael, and every one, it is a joy for me to hear from you, but mostly I enjoy seeing all of your creations and I hope to give back a little inspiration.
Good day to all.
Ray

I think with most audio items like speakers and possibly this drum, MDF and particle board provide a solid block, voids in regular plywood can rattle. Probably us no-musicians would not hear the difference, but someone with a good ear might.

I know playing this drum you can find all your loose windows and rattly nick-nacks by hitting the right tongues!

Do you have the address to the links shown? I tried the two here and the original post. They appear to be broken? Maybe my computer but I do not think so.

Here ya Go Will,

tonguedrum.com http://tonguedrum.com/construction.html

Looks like the same top pattern I’ve used. I’m trying to cut it out using my carvewright and and importing the scanned pattern. It works, but instead of cutting a path, it is cutting the thickness of the lines. Where you able to cut the top on your Carvewright?

This is a very old thread. Post the mpc you want to cut and see if we can help.