WEBPAGE of DENNIS HAVLENA - W8MI Mackinac Straits, MI

HELLO FROM THE STRAITS OF MACKINAC IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN

Articles here include how-to-build simple but nice sounding/playing folk instruments.

(A few of the instruments

described in this webpage)

MY OWN Music Related Articles	OTHERS' Music Related Articles
Links to Other Musical Sites	Some Genealogical information
How to Play Bagpipes - Amazing Grace	Links to Miscellaneous Sites

.....CLICK HERE FOR INFO ABOUT AN EXPANDED, CD VERSION OF MY WEBPAGE CONTAINING OVER 650 PHOTOS, 57 SOUND SAMPLES & SEVERAL SHORT VIDEOS,THAT WON'T FIT ON MY ONLINE WEBPAGE. $10.00 POSTPAID (If outside of US & Canada, click here). PAYMENT NOW ACCEPTED WITH "PAYPAL"

CLICK HERE for a blow-up and
short explanation of the above collage (also see bottom of this page)

ACE CRAFTSMAN DAVID KRONBERG HAS JUST MADE AVAILABLE BLUEPRINTS/PLANS FOR CONSTRUCTING THREE DIFFERENT STYLES OF VERY HIGH-CLASS HURDY GURDIES. CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT OBTAINING DAVE'S PLANS

NEW: CLICK HERE for a short YouTube video showing several of my instruments being played

NEW STUFF (past half year or so): Fiddle-Gurdy; northern Michigan Kora;
zucchini "clarinet"; helium-tank "Tambiro"; LP-tank mini-Tambiro; 2-1/2 octave
conduit Xylophone; Kid's conduit Xylophone; big Tambiro from a new 20lb LP tank;
Hang-Drum/PVC tube hybrid; Stringed hang drum like instrument; Propane-tank HANK DRUM;
5-string "Uke-jo" --- SEE CONSTRUCTION ARTICLES BELOW

BAGPIPE:

UPDATED WITH PHOTO & ILLUSTRATIONS: How to make Highland pipes from PVC pipe
Construct pipe bags from naugahyde/vinyl
Simple bellows for smallpipes & Uillean bagpipes
Build a bagpipe practice goose from a wine-box bladder
Make an extremely quiet chanter for pipe practice, from a tinwhistle
Build a simple, foolproof check-valve for Highland pipes
Build this Bagpipe Case with room for everything
The only bagpipe tune I ever wrote - 'Richard Longstaffe of Ormond'

BANJO:
Make a 3 string fretless banjo from a cookie tin (MP3 sound sample)
NEW - Ukulele to 5-string "Uke-jo" (uke/banjo) quick conversion
Build a simple 5-string fretless banjo in a weekend
Fiddle & banjo written music for the old-time tune "Gilsaw"

BASS:
Make a real, 4-string upright bass using an upright washtub
Acoustic, fretless bass made from an old guitar body. 40" string-length
Acoustic, fretted bass made from an old guitar in a couple hours. Very easy.
Oversized acoustic bass - construction simplified by kerfing the sides. See picture below
Build this acoustic or electric "Doodle-bass" (4 string, 40" string-length) for a few dollars
Sound sample of the "Doodle-bass"
Turn the Doodle-Bass into a great sounding Electric Upright Bass for a few dollars
A simple way to make a very low cost, fully adjustable electric bass guitar bridge
Build a Bass Kalimba - a String Bass Alternative
Helpful chart showing 2-note chord pairs for bass
Charts for easily converting standard bass notation into bass tablature
Bass clef to bass fingerboard relationship chart (15 frets)
Bass clef to bass fingerboard relationship chart (22 frets)
How to set up an upright bass
Make & install upright bass bridge adjusters (for installing commercial adjusters too)
Build this low-cost, sturdy Upright Bass playing stand
Make a simple wash-tub bass
I very much like my Chinese-made Cremona SB-1 Upright Bass - A short review
My comments about Chris Badynee's excellent cardboard bass

BOWED PSALTERY:
Make a bowed psaltery

DIDJERIDU:
Ready-made didjeridu sold at K-Mart for 97 cents

FIDDLE:
Convert a regular fiddle into a Hardanger fiddle
NEW - Fiddle-Gurdy -- a VERY easily built hurdy gurdy that fingers like a fiddle
How to make a fiddle very quiet - for late night diddling

GUITAR (& GUITAR CONVERSIONS):
a Fretless Guitar in an hour
How to make a Hurdy Gurdy from a guitar
Kerfing the sides of a guitar-family instrument greatly simplifies construction
Acoustic, fretless bass made from an old guitar body. 40" string-length
Acoustic, fretted bass made from an old guitar in a couple hours. Very easy.
How to convert a Guitar into an Octave-Mandolin

HAMMERED DULCIMER:
Build a conduit-tubing dulcimer (includes a jpg photo)
How to build a simple 12-course Hammered Dulcimer

INSTRUMENTS THAT PLAY SIMILAR TO A HANG DRUM:
NEW - Blue-Man Group type PVC instrument inspired by the hang drum"
NEW - Making a stringed instrument inspired by the hang drum"
NEW - HANK DRUM (inspired by the hang drum) made from a propane tank

HURDY GURDY:
How to build a hurdy gurdy for under $20
Sound sample of the $20 Hurdy Gurdy
How to add a 2nd melody string to the $20 Hurdy Gurdy
NEW - Fiddle-Gurdy -- a VERY easily built hurdy gurdy that fingers like a fiddle
How to make a Hurdy Gurdy from a guitar
Spanish language version of my Hurdy Gurdy making instructions

KALIMBA/MBIRA
Build a "KORIMBA" (a Kalimba that plays like a KORA)
Build a Bass Kalimba - a String Bass Alternative
Bobby-pin Kalimba
2-octave kalimba made from lawn-rake tines
Popsicle-stick kalimba, by Dorothy May

KORA:
NEW - How I built a Northern Michigan KORA. Construction article
Make a "Harp-Kora" -- a simple 2-sided harp that plays like a KORA
Build a "KORIMBA" (a Kalimba that plays like a KORA)
Build a cookie-tin KORA

MANDOLIN (OCTAVE):
How to convert a Guitar into an Octave-Mandolin

MUSICAL SAW:
Musical Saw - how to find one & play it (inexpensively)

MUSICAL STRINGS:
Renew the sound of wound, metal strings by boiling them
Make wound music strings
K-Mart/Wal-Mart sells 400' of e-string for $2.99

NON-MUSICAL INVENTIONS & IDEAS:
NEW - Second handle added to a shovel makes it almost fun to dig
Cat-box stink?? Try this
Make cell-phone calls with no subscription or prepaid plan
Beanbag Horseshoes - a fun game
Make a pressman's hat

ODD NOISEMAKERS AND IDEAS:
NEW - a very temporary "clarinet" made from the stalk of a zucchini plant
NEW - Ukulele to 5-string "Uke-jo" (uke/banjo) quick conversion
Build a "whirligig"
Two "Involuntary Twangamadiddles"
NEW - A very simple and effective type of nut

ORIGINAL MUSIC:
The only bagpipe tune I ever wrote - 'Richard Longstaffe of Ormond'
A slip-jig (9/8 jig) my brother and I wrote years ago

PENNYWHISTLES, FLUTES & FIFES:
Instant dollar-store echo/reverb for your tinwhistle (with sound sample)
Make a "flex-fife" from 3/4"D x 1/8" wall clear, flexible tubing for about $1
How to make a low D tinwhistle
Add a drone to your tinwhistle
Turn a tinwhistle into a "no-hole, bugle-scaled" whistle

NEW- TAMBIROS -- VERY NEAT INSTRUMENTS MADE FROM VARIOUS
HELIUM & PROPANE TANKS:
NEW - Make Tambiro safely from an unused 20 lb LP tank
NEW - Make a tambiro - from an empty helium or freon tank
NEW - How I made a smaller-version of the above tambiro from an small camping-type propane cylinder LP

TAMBOURA (INDIAN):
Make a near zero-cost Indian Tamboura. Sound sample & photos included

XYLOPHONES:
NEW 2-1/2 octave conduit-tubing xylophone"
NEW - Very simple Kid's "xylophone"

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HOW TO PLAY THE BAGPIPE - AMAZING GRACE:

How to play "Amazing Grace" on the Bagpipe - note for note

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MUSIC RELATED ARTICLES (other folk's articles & ideas)

PLEASE NOTE: IT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY HARD TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE WITH EVER-CHANGING LINK ADDRESSES. PLEASE FORGIVE ME IF SOME LINKS HERE DO NOT WORK. AS I HAVE TIME I'LL TRY TO FIX THEM:

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LINKS TO SOME OTHER MUSICAL SITES:

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A FEW GENEALOGICAL LINKS:

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MISCELLANEOUS LINKS:

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Dennis Havlena - W8MI (formerly W8UR, KL7GRQ, WA8DDI)
The URL of this webpage is:
http://edcen.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/

Please note: Things have gotten extremely busy
around here. I apologize that I may not be able to
answer e-mail in a timely fashion.
If you e-mail me, please mention musical instruments
prominently in the subject line -- I get tons of spam daily.