I have been jealous of bass clarinet players and contrabass flute players who are able to perform standing. It adds to the stage presence for certain pieces and is more visually interesting to watch.
The parts that I used to make this standing peg cost under $10 and I bought it all at Home Depot.
For the Contraforte, the peg used is 3/8 inch so it was easy to find a match. I used an aluminum rod since it aluminum is easier to cut. I have my cordless reciprocating saw,Peg stock, black Duct Tape, a Rubber stopper. After cutting the peg to length based on my height, I wrapped the tape around an end to fit the rubber stop.
With the price for new musical instruments skyrocketing, it’s not surprising that some people have actually gone into building their own instrument! Most of the people I have found who built their own horns don’t actually play but are master carpenters or handymen who are curious. Others are musicians who are testing out different possibilities of their instrument families.
This man made a wooden trumpet out of a home workshop. Although he isn’t a trumpet player, this is a functional piston trumpet.
The Bamboo Sax has been around for a while, I saw one on vacation in 2006
The least embarrassing bassoon related video I could find was of Robin Howell making a bassoon bocal, which would be interesting to try but I don’t think I would trust it!
MY favorite video on youtube right now is of this guy who built his own CONTRABASSOON! It actually sounds nice, has a recognizable scale, and doesn’t look like garbage. I was really amazed when I saw this.
I made myself a reed case last week! I remembered seeing a post from David Wells about making a reed case a few months ago. I wasn’t looking for something cheap, because I kind of like the fancy reed cases. There are currently no reed case that fit contaforte reeds and most players have just been using jewelry boxes.
So I was happy to find this little tupperware in the container store for a few dollars. And then I picked up some foam at Michaels (like the kind for kindergarden crafts)
I used two layer glued together with Duco cement for the reed holders, glued that to the base and glued it into the acrylic container. I also poked holes in the lid so that the reeds can dry out between uses.
Kristopher King 