Tongue Drum Plans(for tongues)

[Jim Eller]

I've the October 2006 issue of Wood with the article and drawing for the tongues but would like a variation and one with more tongues.

I have done the Google search thing and have found dozens of pictures but not dimensional drawings of the tops for the correct sound.

Does anyone have any of these or a source for tongue drum plans?:p

Thanks,
Jim

[Matt Crew]

Hey Jim,
Here's a link to some tongue drums :
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=20769&highlight=tongue+drum

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

if the tongues are too long they won't resonate well.
Too narrow and they won't ring.
Ya gotta experiment.

I've seen a website where the guy claimed he was able to tune them but I sort of wonder about how effectively it can be done

[Keith Outten]

Jim,

Note that the link that Matt provided is to a thread that our own Super Moderator Ken Salisbury, who is now deceased, started to share what he knew about tongue drums. Although he is no longer with us Ken's knowledge is here for all to enjoy. Note the "In Memoriam" User Title, they are rare here but it is our way of letting everyone know they will always be missed here and the knowledge they shared will always be valuable to us.

.

[Jim Eller]

Matt: Thanks for the link. Some nice pics in there.

Cliff: Experimenting is what I am trying to avoid. I was hoping someone had already made all the mistakes and I could learn from them.

It's really hard to believe that there aren't some dimensional drawings out there somewhere of what really works.

Keith: Thanks for the info. I wan not aware.

Jim

[Matt Crew]

Kieth, I didn't see the " In Memoriam".
I do remember reading alot of Kens posts. Hadn't realized he passed.
He certianly shared alot of wisdom that will continue on.

Jim, I thought I had seen a link to a site with plans, but I was wrong.
I'll see if I can find something.

[Jim Eller]

Matt,

Thanks for the help.

Jim

[Matt Crew]

This seems to be the best I can find for now. They have a small section on construction, but then end it with "coming soon" .

I'll see if I can find any more. I'd like to make one of these also.

http://www.tonguedrum.com/

[Matt Crew]

Here ya go. These are plans from the wood mag web site.

http://www.woodstore.net/totodr.html

[Jim Eller]

Thanks Matt.

I do have that issue of Wood.

I am still looking for plans for a "two sided" version of this thing without duplicating the sounds. I would guess it would be an extended scale. Something like an eight to twelve key version like this.


http://tonguedrum.com/media/12KeyTongueDrum%20005.jpg
http://tonguedrum.com/12Keypage.htm

It looks simple but I know you just can't start sawing and get the right tones.

Thanks for you assistance. I appreciate it.

Jim

[Stan Smith]

Hi Jim. I just came back to this forum after 5+ years. I'm curious about tongue drums. I made the one from Wood mag out of some mahogany and red oak scraps. To me it sounds fine. I haven't actually tried using a chromatic tuner to see what the pitches are though. I'm thinking of making another one similar to the one in the pic you posted. In another post you mentioned the "correct sound.". I'm a musician and I'm not sure that there is a "correct sound" for a tongue drum although there may be ways to make the various tongues have different sounds and be close to the sounds of actual notes. Obviously you can do this with a marimba which has to have the "correct" note variations to fit in with other instruments. Since I'm a brass player, my pitched percussion knowledge is not much. I'd be very interested to see if you were successful in making any tongue drums. I agree that dimensions would be nice to have. Here's a pic of mine:

251909

[Jenny Trice]

I saw a guy at the American Craft Council show last year who made beautiful looking and sounding tongue drums. He explained that he did hollow out the under side until he achieved specific tones. They were very nice.

[Brian Kent]

Stan, I have owned some and played many. I also have a Musser marimba. They are different beasts entirely. On the marimba the bars were shortened to raise the pitch and hollowed to flatten the pitch (ever so slightly). After 45 years it is still in excellent tune. The tongue drums are replicating pre-tonal drums much cruder than the modern ones.

If anyone wants to try making one in 2013 (and not in 2007 or 2008 when the thread began), I would be happy to measure some marimba bar lengths so you can have an approximate tone. The aim of these drums would be a pentatonic scale (like our piano black notes) but when I chose mine, I would play 4 or 5 until I liked one, no matter what notes.

[phil harold]

Jim,

Note that the link that Matt provided is to a thread that our own Super Moderator Ken Salisbury, who is now deceased, started to share what he knew about tongue drums. Although he is no longer with us Ken's knowledge is here for all to enjoy. Note the "In Memoriam" User Title, they are rare here but it is our way of letting everyone know they will always be missed here and the knowledge they shared will always be valuable to us.

.
Any way to see the pictures in that thread
or maybe its my computer...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?20769-Tongue-Drums-**PICS**