Peace of the Powwow Drum

My instrument is called, "Peace of the Powwow drum". My dad and grandpa helped me build it. After choosing an instrument my dad and I went to the barn where my grandpa was. My dad and grandpa helped me pick out two boards that would work for making a drum. After my dad and grandpa found two boards that could work I carried them into the barn. In the barn my dad and grandpa cut each board so it was thin enough to bend. Then my dad and grandpa cut the board in half on the sawmill to make both boards shorter. After that my dad and grandpa found four pieces of scrap wood that I could use as braces. My dad, grandpa and I put two boards on top and two on the bottom and nailed the boards on each end so they would clamp the boards together. After putting the boards together my grandpa drove my dad and I over to my great grandpas in his golf cart to see if the boards would fit in his bathtub to soak, but they didn't fit. So my dad and I took them home and they soaked in our downstairs bathtub so they would be flexible to bend them into the shape of a drum. In the bathtub my dad showed me where to put the rocks that he had brought over to hold the board in place. He put one down on the scrap piece of wood so it wouldn't scratch the outside of the drum then I put down the other one on the other end. After dad and I let the boards soak for one and a half days, I carried the boards over to the barn with my dad. Next came stretching them. My dad put the board around a 50 pound propane tank and then took a clamp and wrapped it around one of the boards. After it was around the board I straightened the clamp so it was in the direct center of the board and then my dad tightened it. Then my dad took another clamp and put it around the top. I made sure that it was along the very top of the board and when I said it was lined up my dad camped that on tight. Then dad took the very last clamp and did the same except that it was along the very bottom. My and I went around it, and as it stretched, the clamps got lose so my dad and I kept doing it till it was as tight as it would go. Then my dad and I went home and let it dry in that shape for 4 days. When my dad and I were stretching the second board it cracked all the way around so we couldn't use it any more. When the board that was left was drying, dad and I found two spindles from an old chair and put two round knobs on the end. My dad drilled a hole in the center of each of the knobs showing me how to drill for later in the project. Then my dad showed me how and where to cut the spindles too make them however long I wanted them. He cut one half way through and then I cut the rest on both spindles. I sanded the very top of the spindle so the glue would work better. After that I poured Elmer's glue in the drilled hole in the spindles. My dad told me when to stop. Then I put glue on the very end of the spindles and my dad showed me how to spin the spindle with your finger over the glue to spread the glue so it was not just in one place. My dad did one to show me, then I did the other. After we put the glue on it and spread it around, I put the spindle in the hole and pushed to make sure it was tight on both spindles. After I did that my dad checked each one to make sure they were tight. They were. My dad and I went home so the new mallets could dry. When it was finally time to undo the boards of the drum, my dad took me to the store to get the things needed for the drum, before the boards could be undone. First my dad and I went to the Dollar Daze. I found a card holder that had the peace sign that I wanted to use for the drum, so my dad said that I could buy it. Then my dad found the beads. I picked out the colors I wanted, but they only had them in star shapes, but I bought them any way. Then I spotted a rope that had a bunch of colors on it, so I got that too. Next my dad took me to Cooks Music Store to get drum head rings. He found the size needed to fit the drum. Then my dad took me to the Home Depot and he showed me the stuff that was needed. First he took me to where the "all thread rods" were, and I picked brass ones. Then my dad took me to where the nuts were and picked out 4 different packs the size of what I needed to make the drum. Then he took me to where the glue was and found gorilla glue. My dad picked out the size of bottle that was needed. Then my dad and I went home. When my dad and I got home, both me and my dad went over to the barn to undo the board from around the propane tank, but before my dad undid it he found a long thin board and cut it into four pieces. Then he took the saw and turned it so it was at an angle and cut the ends of the four pieces like that. Then my dad undid the drum board and I held the ends so they wouldn't fly out like a bow and arrow. After they were undone, my dad carried them into my grandpa's and grandma's house I followed carrying the angle cut boards. Inside my grandparents house, my dad took the board into my grandpa's workshop and set it down. My grandpa came out to help us bend it into shape. When my dad and grandpa were bending the board, it was an egg shape and they could not get it to go in the 12 in. head ring that my dad and I bought at the store earlier. So my dad and I had to go back to the store to buy a bigger head ring for the drum. My dad and I had to go back to Cooks Music. At Cooks Music my dad found a 14in. head ring that he thought would work. My dad bought two of them. Next, I had to go back to the Home Depot to get two more "all thread rods", and two more packs of nuts. Then dad and I went home. At home my grandpa and dad bent the board around and I measured where the bolts that dad bought would go. Then they let go of the board and drilled holes were I marked on the drum board. Then I drilled holes on the little strips of angled support wood that would line up with the holes on the drum board. After that I glued the support wood on the drum board and stuck the bolts through each hole. Then dad folded the board over and got it to go into a circle shape (with lots of help from my grandpa and my cousin Derick Brumley) and over the bolts that I had put in. While he was doing that, Derick and I quickly threaded the nuts and washers over the bolts so my dad could let go and it would stay in a circle. When dad let go it stayed. After that my dad showed me where to put the supports on the inside of the drum. I put glue on the pieces of wood that dad cut for supports. Then I set them on the inside of the drum where they needed to go. After I did that, my grandpa found some clamps. I took the clamps and clamped them as tight as I could get them over all the supports. Then my dad checked each one after I was done, to make sure that they were as tight as they could go. Then my dad and I went home so they could dry for at least 3 hours. Before dad and I went back to check on the drum, I went upstairs and cut pieces of colored string into threes and then beaded them while braiding them together. Then I went downstairs and my dad took pieces of wire and formed the peace sign. After dad formed it I put beads on it. Then when all the beads were on it dad hooked it together. Dad and I back to grandpas three hours later to check the drum and to take the clamps off. My dad and I let it dry inside over night. The next day, dad and I got the drum and took it out to my grandpa's outside workshop to sand it. The first time dad and I sanded it, dad gave me 120 sandpaper to use and himself the same. The second time dad and I used 220 sandpaper. Then I carried it up to my grandpa's house and my dad drilled two holes on top of the drum and one on the bottom of the drum. I took three wooden pegs and stuck them in each hole and tightened them so they wouldn't come out. When I was done tightening the pegs, my dad ran home to get some of his old varnish. When he came back, he cut the bottom out of an old coffee can and poured some varnish in it. Then my dad found a paintbrush I could use. First my dad showed me how to do it then I did the rest of it with my dad watching just in case places where I already varnished started to run. When I was done I found the eight black pieces of leather that my grandpa said I could use for my straps and took them home. At home my dad took me into the garage and showed and helped me braid the four pieces of leather together to make the strap. Near the end of the braid my dad had me hold all four pieces together while he grabbed a screwdriver to braid around so there would be a hole in the braid for the wood peg that holds the strap to the drum. Dad and I braided both of the straps together, then took them over to my grandpa's. Then dad and I went home. The next day dad and I came back to decorate the drum. First, I got out the straps that dad helped me braid the day before, and I stuck them on the pegs. Then I tried the drum on, using the straps to make sure they would fit. They did fit, but the two strap parts that went over my shoulder kept falling off of my shoulder. My dad said that I should braid a short strap to keep them together on my back, so I braided a short one. Then I braided the ends of both sides that I left around the two long straps. Next I got out some of my grandpa's deer skin and put a coffee can on top of it so I could trace a perfect circle. My dad held the coffee can down so it didn't move while I traced it. After I traced, I cut the circle out. Then my dad showed me where to cut the string called "cat gut", so I would be able to use it easier. Then my dad took the deer skin and pulled it tight around the top of the head of the mallet and I tied the cat gut around it really tight. Dad and I did that to both of the mallets. The next thing I did was put the used drum heads that a friend from our church said I could use on the drum. Since I couldn't push hard enough, my dad put the head rings on both sides of the drum for me. Then I opened a pack of bolts that dad and I bought before and took the brass rods out and put the bolts on the brass rods just far enough on the rods so I could put them through the holes on the head rings and put another bolt on the other end. Dad and I did that with all the brass rods and bolts. After that, I took the peace rings I made early on, and decided where I wanted to put them. After I found out were I wanted them, my dad showed me how long to make the cat gut. My dad held the peace sign in the place where I wanted it and I tied the first side to the brass rod it was going to be over. Then I tied the other side, but this time dad didn't have to hold it. Dad and I did that for all the peace signs. Next I did the mallets. For the mallets, my dad cut a slit all the way around the mallet because dad said the knife was too sharp for me to use. I then took my grandpas bag of feathers and picked out three feathers and tied one around the mallet in the slit dad cut to keep the cat gut from sliding down the mallet. I did the same on the other mallet but this time tied two feathers on it. I can produce sound by hitting the drum with the mallets or by tapping the drum with my hand or fingers. I can change the dynamics of my drum by hitting the drum harder to make the dynamics loud and by hitting the drum softer to make it soft. I can change the pitch of the drum by hitting the drum in the center to make it sound low and by hitting closer to the edge or side of the drum to make it high. I can change the timber of my drum by tightening the bolts to make the head sound high. When I loosen the bolts, the drum sounds deeper. I had a lot of fun making and designing my drum with my dad and grandpa. I started working on the drum on January 2, and didn't finish until January 21. It's a good thing that I typed parts of my report everyday that I worked on the drum. The guy at Cooks Music is waiting to see the finished drum, and my cousin Derick has called twice from Louisiana to ask me to send him pictures of the drum.