Done! now onto details...

okay, turns out... the jigsaw wasn't very effective on the propane tank because it was a lot thicker than the normal refrigeration tank that was cut up in the youtube video i saw. So basically, we used the grinder to grind out the whole instrument. the drum makes a very nice and beefy tone.
ill make a video of it soon enough post it on here.

otherwise though, thank God its done. hahahaha update you later visually. hahaha no pictures rite now

time "grinding" down... less than a week before the project check up, but things are doing good.

So, me and my dad have been working on the propane tank and we've changed two major things of the tank since the last update...

#1- The top of the propane tank, which held the nozzle and the handle of the tank is gone. I chose to cut this off so the sound can escape from the tank while its being played, and so i can dampen it from the inside rather than using tacky bungie cord to stop the unwanted metal sound that it resonates, ill probably use foam strips and stick/tape it to the inside of the tank... Here are some pictures of what happened to the tank.






#2- We were told that it was good to use a drill to start making the slits for the tank, but it was taking to long and showed uneffective, so my dad decided to use a grinder instead. Here are some pictures of what we used before, and what we are using now to start the cuts of the propane tank.









After we finish using the grinder to weaken and thin out the marked slits we need to cut, we are planning to borrow my uncles Jig Saw to cut the rest of the tank. So until we get the Jig saw, your fully updated and i dont have much to say anymore!

-blog ya later!
Val Joseph ;D

More information about the HANG DRUM

first of all, pronounciation. HANG DRUM [HONG or HUNG], not HANG like hangman.

Researchable @ wikipedia.com [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_drum], the hang drum is a melodious percussive steel musical instrument created in Switzerland. It uses some of the same physical principles as a steel drum.
its very beautiful, listen to this professional hang drum player, who actually plays TWO hang drums at the same time!
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQXn5ba0aT8

The hang drum is very rare, only availiable in switzerland and only for a limited time. They go for 10,000-20,000, sometimes even more. Its scarcity and expense gave way to the "poor mans" hang drum, aka the HANK TANK/DRUM.

The hank tank or hank drum, but i like referring it as the hank drum. is called the "poor mans hang drum" because it replicates the sound of a hang drum but built from a PROPANE TANK.

propane tank + hang drum = HANK DRUM

and to finish the blog, im going to post a HANG DRUM song with the IMEEM player which will play automatically, so you'll know exactly what it sounds like, and what im trying to recreate =D. this will be put RIGHT AT THE TOP of my blogsite page, so look for it, and if you cant find it, you'll always be able to hear it!

some possible songs we are planning to play!

below me are two urls, one being green light by john legend and public affair by jessica simpson. These are two possibilities of two songs we can play. check them out...

Public Affair - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPyKUB8cSI4

Green Light - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hd-uklv-5g

Part 1 how im making my "hank drum"

here are the BASIC blueprints for my hank tank:

http://dennishavlena.com/for-webpage-lp-hang.htm


first we took off the basic metal-ring stand at the bottom of the propane tank, because the base will be used as the "playing" part of the instrument

Then, we took the plans, and after a long time a kinko's we blew them up to its needed size.


We made copies of this blow up and got them ready.


We cut out the "tongue sizes" for the hank drum which act as templates and taped them to the propane tank.


we took measurements of how far they need to be from each other and spaced them out correctly according to the blueprints


We lightly marked it with pen indicating where the drum needs to be slit.




ill continue the rest another day, all thats left is to slit the tank and add a little innovative features of my own ;D... but thats for another time.

-til next time!
Val Joseph

more than one instrument..

im still shaky on the piano but as of right now, i dont have anything else im interested in besides maybe a marimba. Also, ive decided to have my secondary instrument be wine glasses that will be tuned with water in it, giving of different notes when struck, or caressed at the top of the glass.



-Heres how the wine glasses with water work..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABJzzYSw3fs


-now heres what happens when you get many wineglasses, tune them, and play them according to what song you want to play...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phqymc8anO0



.......... WOW, as i was working on this blog and looking for wine glasses i just found a NEW instrument..... this TOTALLY changes my perspective if i want to make a piano still. LOOK at this!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQXn5ba0aT8
i studied about these on wikipedia and turned out they are very rare and probably expensive because all of them are handmade. So i youtubed it, and turns out u can make ones similar to it with a propane tank! its COOL! check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LYgxb5J9SI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpMS15kJyOY&feature=related

... I'VE DECIDED! im going to make a Hang Drum and a wine glass instrument =D

BOMB SQUAD, will we have a piano player? =D

OKAY! its day 3 of the Battle of the Bands workday... and our name did change! we are the----

BOMB SQUAD!!!

...now on to other business.... ive been studying how a piano works, [i knew it would be a challenge and pretty complicated and difficult... but man oh mann] since ive played piano since i was about 8. I'm not very good, but i do know my way around a piano; i know its a string instrument and the keys press hammers that strum the strings inside, but ive never really took the time to see it work as i actually play. I observed my piano at home... and i wikipedia-ed and google-d it and found out it will really be a challenge for me, and i dont know if im truely UP to the task, so im rethinking the idea, but it would be really nice if i came to school with a small, working baby piano... heres some stuff that shows whats inside the piano and how it "ticks."

The following is a brief explanation of how an upright piano works:






so basically, this is what is happening in the picture [i took notes on this]-

1. When a key is pressed slowly and softly, it rocks on the center rail and goes up in back.
2. key raises the sticker and whippen
3. whippen pushes the jack, which pushes the hammer butt.
4. hammer butt pivots on its flange and moves the hammer toward the string; when key is half way down, the spoon engages with the damper lever, lifting damper off the strings.
5. when hammer is almost to the strings, the jack heel bumps into the regulating button, and as the whippen keeps going up, the jack pivots and slips out from under the hammer butt
6. hammer continues under its inertia to the string, instantly rebounding
   At this point the strings start vibrating, the vibrations are carried to the bridge which transmits the vibration to the soundboard; [the large, thin wood piece you can see in the back of the piano] it amplifies the sound [a.k.a big speaker]
7. The catcher is caught by the backcheck and held in this position as long as the key is depressed.
8. When the key is released, the whipen drops, the backcheck releases the catcher, the briddle tape gives a little tug on the hammer butt, and with the help of the butt spring, the hammer returns to the hammer rail.
9. The damper spring returns the damper to the strings, and the jack spring returns the jack under the butt, ready for the next repetition

*entire sequence occurs in a fraction of a second, allowing pianist to repeat notes rapidly

SO MANY steps to play one note! and WOW, a fraction of a second??.. how can i make a baby piano work so smoothly and effectively that it will play note by note on each and every string i want in FRACTIONS of a second? This is going to be tough!

Oh and btw! i also wikipedia-ed it, so heres what i got.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano#Construction

they do show how pianos work and different kinds, but they only show professional and pricey pianos. they dont exactly show how they basically work, so its not as helpful as what i found on google, not that it didnt help me.

OH WELL, SEE YA LATER!! [i have some serious work to be done. til next blog!]

-Val Joseph aka veryVALuable

ROCK BAND!

okay! I want our new bands name to be the Hottie-Boom-Botties.

-[subject to change] we will have...

• arjimy on tenor/violin


• nick on cello


• janevie on xylophone


• and me on piano

FROG BLOG!

i made TONS of frogs over these past weeks. ive been testing different folding methods and different sizes and shapes. i went through MANY, MANY, MANY different types... wanna see? lets take a look at my earlier generations of "jumping" frogzZz.


-My first frog, was a normal frog layout that i copied straight from what my friend arjimy was doing, he taught me how to fold my first frog.



-Then after i learned how to make that frog, i check the links on fusion, and found this frog, which i also remade...



-Those were too simple and didnt work as well, so I tried getting really inovative... dont ask what this is supposed to be... hahahaha



-Then i tried having some of the same concept as the first generation frog, but changing it up, it turned out like this..



-Then i had a break through in 2nd period tagalog class... i was messing around, folding frogs with index cards, and i got this, a REALLY good jumper. a smaller size of my first generation.



-Then i made them colorful! hahahaa



-I also tried making them even smaller, it worked good too, but not as good as the original 3x3 frog fold



-Then i tried making it out of planner material, which im still working on.



HOPE YOU ENJOYED seeing all the things i tried! more to come! =D working to see if i get any more "breakthroughs" ;D