My Dad and I built the American Bongos. The first thing we did was drill two holes in two cans . Then we cut the wooden pole my dad had bought. After that was done we drilled holes in the pole so we could put in screws to hold on the cans. But even though the cans were secured, the cans still rattled a bit. So we put on some tape to stop it. Then after all that was done I put in about three cups of navy beans. Since we had some extra time we waited to paint the cans red, white and blue and put on the stars which I could not do because the fumes except for the stars of course. Over all it took about three days of off and on working to finish my project.

My instrument is a mix of two instruments so it can be played two different ways. It can either be shook or spinned like a maraca. It can also be hit like a drum.

The instrument's dynamics can be changed in both parts. So you can change the drum part by hitting it harder or softer to make the sound loud or soft. Shaking it hard or soft to make the sound loud or soft can change the maraca's sound. The pitch cannot be changed. The timbre of the instrument is more of a rattly kind of sound along with a low drum sound.