My Maracas by Ebony C.

My instrument is my Maracas. I'm sure you have heard of it before. I got my idea when we were playing them in music class. I liked the sound and I would definitely want to paint it. The instrument family to which it belongs is the percussion family. My instrument sounds like a wooden container that has lots of beads in it. It looks like a chicken leg. It has a very loud volume. The materials I used for my instrument were balloons, beans, paint, water, flour, newspaper and the two wooden sticks. I found my materials in my house and at the store. First I mixed the water and flour together. Then I blew up the balloon. Then I tore off long strips of newspaper and dipped them in the flour and water. I put it on the balloon. I had to use lots of newspaper on it because if there was a spot left on the balloon when it dried up, then my balloon would pop and my instrument would be destroyed. When it dried I poured all of the beans in to the balloon and then I stuck the stick in there. I painted the maracas with designs. And my instrument was fully built. My cousin Erica helped me by doing one ball for me and my little sister Brittany helped me by ripping the newspaper and dipped it in the water and flour and gave it to me. My step-dad, Rick, helped me by cutting the stick and putting it in and put some kind of glue on it to make it stay. The parts I did myself were making the other ball and painting it and blowing up the balloons and mixing the flour and water together. The problem I had while making my instrument was when I kept running out of flour and water I had to keep running back and forth. I solved it by leaving the flour and a cup of water on the table. I play my instrument by making a beat with it while I shake and rap the song that goes with it. I can change the pitch by putting more or less beans in it. If I could play my instrument more than one way I would play a different beat and change what I have inside the maracas. The way I reacted about my instrument was that I was happy and a little mad and having fun. What I like about my musical instrument (My Maracas) is that they are easy to make and fun to make. I could paint it all kinds of colors and play all kinds of beats on it. What I learned about making my instrument is that if you mix water and flour together and put it on something it gets very hard fast. That is how my instrument was produced.