Activity: Instrument making

There are many ways instruments can be created in the woodland, the easiest of which are percussive and non-tuned, so to test the skills learnt in other areas of the camp building and bushcraft we set a basic task to create a woodland xylophone. This instrument has taken the form of the vertical beams of a survival shelter, the horizontal slats of a washing up table, and as a dedicated xylophone. 

 

The main aim is to arrange three or more notes that are either a semi-tone or full tone apart (starting with a selected root note from guitar or tuner) and then to work out some patterns/riffs that can be recorded as stand-alone or over-dubbed over a work in progress track on the Zoom recorder.

Main skills used for this are cutting with saw, listening and performance.

 

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS:

• Communication 

• Awareness of your surroundings

• Understanding of conditions outside

• Making a safe space in your working environment

• Safely Cutting wood

• Teamwork

• Technical recording 

• Encouragement 

• Health and Safety