My Dad helped me make my instrument. After I had drawn some patterns, I started to make it. I began by looking around in my Dad's pole barn to see what kind of materials I could find to make it. I started out with some copper and steel pipe scraps that my dad had. I marked on them where I was going to cut. Dad did the first one to show me how to use the pipe cutter, then it was my turn. It was easy. It took about 30 minutes to get done with cutting. Then I drilled holes in the pipes using the drill press that my Dad has. Next I got out a piece of wood from my Dad's scrap pile and drilled more holes for where the pipes would hang from. It took about another 30 minutes. Then I went inside and started stringing the pipes with dental floss to the piece of wood. It took about another 30 minutes. The hardest part was getting the ends of the dental floss through the holes. Then I colored "The Wacky Windchime", using markers. I put a rope handle on the instrument. I buffed up the copper and steel. Together I spent about 2 hours working on the instrument. I used pipe, wood, dental floss, and rope as materials.

To play the instrument you can make sound by tapping it with the tapper I made or just by moving it gently back and forth using the handle. The tapper is made of a half inch threaded metal rod and a plastic knob screwed onto the end. The dynamics of the instrument can be changed by the way that I strike or move the instrument. If I tap it hard, it would make a loud sound. If I tap lightly it will make a soft sound.

You can change the sound characteristics of the instrument by changing the type of metal, length, and the diameter of the pipes used. Depending on the different type of metal that I used, the pitch can be changed. The copper had a lower pitch than the steel. The length and diameter of the metal used also changes the pitch that is heard. The longer the pipe, the lower and deeper the tone. The shorter the pipe, the higher and lighter the sound. The diameter of the pipe used from wide to narrow, changes the sound from low to high. The timbre of my instrument sounds like a clinky, melodious, thin, rich, and musical sound. I really like "The Wacky Windchime", and I hope you do too.