Xylophone

The xylophone is a simple percussion instrument that is known around the world. Our 
xylophone will be made of simple unsharpened pencils, but many xylophones are made of bamboo
 or metal. The xylophone is often a part of the orchestra, and is can play many different 
songs with ease.



 How to Make It

To make this you will need at least seven unsharpened, wooden pencils, scotch tape, a shoe 
box lid, a marker, a ruler, and a saw or sharp scissors.

The pencils that you have will serve as the bars of the xylophone. So, first of all, you 
will need to cut the pencils to the appropriate length so that they produce the right tone 
when struck. Although every pencil will be a little different, below are general 
measurements to create the first six notes of a scale.

Pencil #      Note Produced      CM Measurement
 1             C                  16.25
 2             D                  14.8
 3             E                  14.6
 4             F                  14.1
 5             G                  13.5
 6             A                  12.9 

Now use the shoebox lid to create the xylophone bed. Stretch two parallel pieces of tape 
across the shoe box lid, sticky side up. Secure it at both ends with more tape. Now, gently 
rest the pencils on the tape from longest to shortest, left to right. To play your new 
xylophone, strike it with the metal part of your pencil.