Kalimba Kit
Create your own Thumb Piano!
These kits come with all the parts you need except for the gourd, You can make these using many different types of gourds including bottle, canteen and others. (The one pictured below is made with a canteen gourd.) These kits are 8 note diatonic scale kits, which may be retuned to pentatonic if desired. Instructions for assembly and playing basic tunes are provided.
Kalimba Kit: $16
Drums are made with a variety of techniques, from simply gluing a drum head onto a gourd, to complicated wrapped and woven application techniques.
A gourd book by Ginger Summit and Jim Widess
These big drums were made using a large drum skin. Depending on the size of your gourd, rawhide lacing can sometimes be cut from the same skin as the head if the skin is sufficiently thick enough.
Hint: To cut rawhide lacing, use sharp shears. Start at the outer edge of the skin and cut a strip 1/4 - 3/8" away from the edge. Continue cutting in a long spiral around and around the outside edge of the skin until you have a sufficient length of lacing for your project.
