THE MARDI GRAS BEAD SHAKER By AJ K. My instrument is very easy to play and to make. I took two plastic 2-liter soda bottles and taped them together with duct tape. I then filled them with Mardi Gras beads which give it a very brittle timbre. To play the Bead Shaker, you shake the bottles up and down which makes the beads rattle around, producing a party type noise. You change the volume by either shaking it harder or lighter, and you can get different sounds by shaking it or swirling it. Resonance is produced from the sound waves bouncing off of the sides of the bottles.