Frequently Asked Questions about Making Vibraphones...
Do I need special metal for the bars?
The great thing about this project is that it will work for you extremely well with standard material which is readily available all over the world. Commercial vibraphones are usually made from specially blended alloys, and obviously if you can get hold of something similar, then your instrument could sound even better! However I made the prototype bars from less than $200 AUD worth of standard metal stock and they sound actually better than the commercial bars that they were modeled on.
How much will the materials Cost?
The cost of all your materials will depend on where you live. However I purchased absolutely everything I needed (except the bars - see the question above) for about $450, from my local hardware store. I'm in Australia so at the moment $450 equals about $300 USD.
and the great thing about this design is that it requires no special materials or manufacturing - just standard tools and a good hardware store!
Does the plans include both Metric and Imperial Measurements?
YES! The plans include both imperial (feet and inches) and metric (millimetres) measurements.
Do I need to be good at woodworking to achieve this?
Absolutely not! I’m not a carpenter - I’m a musician. Most of the skills required are fairly basic woodwork – measuring, cutting and sanding.
Even if you’ve hardly ever picked up a hammer or a saw in your life I’m confident that you’ll be able to achieve a workable instrument using these plans. Of course I've picked up a few clues over my time designing and building instruments, but I've put all the important construction tips in the package for you.
Do I need lots of expensive tools?
NO - All of the tools you need are commonly available
Things like:
- An electric drill with a sanding attachment
- A screwdriver
- A wood saw
- A small hammer
- Sandpaper and sanding discs
- Hacksaw
- Rivet Gun
Plus a few other bits and pieces commonly found around the garage!
Do I need any special tuning equipment?
A basic electronic tuner is highly recommended. Any chromatic tuner will do the job, and you can get a really basic electronic tuner from any music store for around $50, or simply borrow one from a friend to get the job done! These tuners are incredibly common – nearly all professional musicians or music teachers either own one or have a friend who owns one.
If you don’t have access to one, don’t worry – as I’ve included a full set of sine waves (clear and clean tones) that you can use to tune the notes by ear. If you have a musical ear it is really easy to do it this way.
Is my homemade instrument going to sound as good as commercially available instruments?
I'm not going to suggest that you can build an instrument which will sound absolutely identical to a commercial instrument unless you get hold of the same alloys they use for their bars. However these bars made from standard metal stock, sound incredibly similar. In fact I've heard SOME commercial bars which don't sound as good as these DIY ones.
Does it matter what the resonators are made out of?
This is definitely one of the biggest areas of misunderstanding for most people.
The fact is that it makes very little difference!
Comercial instrument manufacturers will often TALK about the sounds of different resonator materials - they want to make their instruments seem more special - BUT have you EVER seen anybody publish an actual audio comparison?
and think about it......The resonator's job is to amplify the sound – and it does this by containing a column of air which is the correct size to resonate when sound waves from the bar enter it.
So... does the column of air really care what is containing it? or does it even know? Remember it’s the column of air that is vibrating.. not the container, so what it's made from really makes very little difference!
and I've heard people argue that certain materials are a little harder and reflect sound better than others - well this is true... but here's the thing...
Extra hard metals etc only make a difference at quite high frequencies - the frequencies way above the range of the vibraphone. Only the upper harmonics of the vibraphone are in this frequency range - and guess what... these upper harmonics are actually tuned to NOT resonate in the tubes!!!
The plans included for this instrument use PVC pipe for the resonators because:
- They are lightweight
- They are inexpensive
- They are easy to work with
- They don’t require heavy duty hardware to hold them in place
And you can get PVC pipe at just about any hardware store, as it is usually used for drainpipes around just about any home! Of course - if you really want to use different materials for your resonators, there's absolutely nothing stopping you. The building guide still tells you how to get the result you are after.
Do I have to wait for anything to be shipped to me?
Absolutely not! You have instant access to the e-book and videos via download, so you can get started immediately. The plans print out in Adobe Acrobat Reader (which is a free download, and nearly every computer already has it installed anyway).
Can I modify these plans for different bar sizes or other customizations?
Yes of course you can. There is more than one standard bar sizing and spacing described that you can use depending on what bar stock you have available locally. The whole building process used in this project, AND the building guide itself is actually designed to be as flexible as possible. You can simply follow it exactly - step by step of course... But all the methods of obtaining measurements etc, are explained in detail so you can make your own modificaqtions with confidence if you so desire.
How Much do these plans Cost?
Your PV Vibraphone building guide is just $64.95 US Dollars. You can go to www.xe.com and check it out in your currency.
and this is actually a tiny price for the plans when you consider:
- The length of time that I had to study acoustics in order to bring these plans to you
- The massive content - 87 A4 sized pages packed with detail including over 320 photos and diagrams AND the 38 minute video going through the bar tuning process step by carefull step.
- The trial and error that I went through in designing frames, tuning bars and resonators and selecting materials, that you don’t have to!
- The money you will save on your instrument - even just the money you will save on wasted materials by NOT making the mistakes that I've already made FOR you!
- The near impossibility of finding this information out through other sources – I scoured books and the internet for AGES – and the information you need to build a proper vibraphone yourself is simply not available anywhere but here.
So go ahead right now and click here to get instant access to the building Plans for this Three Octave Professional Vibraphone
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but this is a serious instrument, and the design is such that you can build it with just a few household tools, using only stuff from the hardware store... and even a complete novice in the workshop can build it!
You also get the building guide for this really cool glockenspiel project completely free!
Once you have your instrument finished you will want to play something on it. Sheet music is usually only a few dollars to buy, but it can cost you HEAPS of time finding something suitable for your instrument which is easy to learn and sounds cool. That's why I've written loads of music especially for this instrument - and I'm giving you your first piece completely free!
