I got the idea for the Blow Mallet from
thinking about making some type of maraca, but I also
wanted to make a flute. I mixed these ideas together and
made a Blow Mallet. I drew a picture of what I thought it
should look like and then my Dad and I went to the
hardware store to find the materials we needed to make
it. We looked at metal and a couple different types of
plastic plumbing supplies. After testing many different
things that we could put together, I decided to use white
plastic pipes and adapters be cause it was light and easy
to put together. The whole instrument cost about $5.00 to
make.
The maraca part of the Blow Mallet is a percussion
instrument. Pounding on things, you can also use this
part of the instrument to make sounds. It is made of a
plastic plumbing connectors and screw on caps. I used
pennies to make sounds by hitting each other and the
inside of the plastic. I designed it so that the ends
would come off so I could put different things inside to
make different sounds.
The flute part is a wind instrument. This part is
the handle of the Blow Mallet. It is made out of plastic
pipe with holes drilled in it to let out the air and make
sound.
One of the neat things about the Blow Mallet is
that it can also be used as two separate instruments by
pulling off the handle and using each section by itself.
The Blow Mallet I made is spray painted red and decorated
with glitter. The end of the handle is not painted and is
slanted so that it is easy for me to blow into.
