Make a wooden kazoo
A. Description, how it works
The kazoo isn’t a wind instrument: if you blow into it, nothing particularly musical will happen. The sound is produced by a small vibrating membrane, which has led those who classify instruments to classify it as part of the membranophone family. In other words, the drum family! Just imagine how painful family gatherings must be for our poor kazoo! Having to put up with the jokes from the bongos and the bass drum… not to mention the cuíca, who’s laughing all the time.
His thing isn’t hammer blows or slaps, no, definitely not: what really gets him going is your voice. Start humming and he’ll join in, altering your voice. He does it through resonance.
B. Materials
Small thin wooden boards about 4 or 5 mm thick. If using plywood, a thickness of 3 mm will work just fine.
An M4 bolt (meaning 4 mm in diameter, including the thread) 25 mm long; a wing nut is preferable but not essential.
Glue.
A sheet of cigarette paper or a dry onion skin.
Also consider a possible finish:
stain, paint, oil, varnish… but non-toxic in all cases.
About this, you can read: How can we source wood?
C. Tools
You will need the following tools:
- a pencil, something to measure with (though you can just eyeball it here)
- a saw (or even a craft knife)
- a hand drill or electric drill with a large wood drill bit (13 mm, for example) and a 4mm one
- clamps
- some sandpaper
D. Plan
E. Step-by-step guide
1. Drawing
Trace the outlines of the pieces onto the boards, allowing for the width of the saw blade. The dimensions in the diagram are merely an example. In practice, simply cut out two identical rectangles measuring approximately 30 × 100 mm (or slightly longer), and mark the large and small holes roughly where they should be on the top board.
2. Cutting
Cut out the pieces using whatever you like (even a craft knife may do the job for thin wood, if you make several cuts). Drill holes through the pieces held together where the holes need to line up.
3. Gluing
Glue the two edge strips to the base: they should touch the corners on the mouthpiece side and converge so that they are only about 5 mm apart on the other side. Position and glue the top in place.
First, thread the bolt through the 4 mm holes so that they line up properly. And there you go: clamps.
4. Cutting (again)
It’s time to trim off the excess! Cut the boards flush with the battens to achieve the final trapezoidal shape. I use the belt sander for this step (on the back, like a sanding station) (no, the sander is on the back; I am standing up, obviously).
5. Finishing
Sand to round off the edges (100 or 120 grit), then to smooth (finer grit). Stain if desired (walnut stain or another non-toxic dye). Varnish (sandarac varnish) or oil (linseed oil).
Fix the eyelet in place, then slip two layers of cigarette paper underneath it. That’s it!
In the music library: we think of Jimi Hendrix’s Crosstown Traffic, Queen’s Seaside Rendezvous, and several tracks from Frank Zappa’s *Freak Out*, etc.
Feedback
Send me photos of your creations and I’ll post them here!
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