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Castanets

In 2012 the YS programed Carmina Burana for their final concert. The one instrument the section needed was a professional pair of castanets. Until then the only thing we had was a castanet machine that I made in the 70's that worked OK if the sound was covered up by the rest of the orchestra. However, this was a solo part and should be played with a pair of hand mounted castanets. Because time and money was short I had the percussionist use my Epstein's for the rehearsals and concerts.

My embarrassing machine castanets
After the concert I had time to think about making a set. I found a pair of 2 5/8" ebony (they were not ebony) online, using my Epstein's as a reference, I made handles and mounted them.

I then started on a design to play them as a castanet machine.  The picture below is the set of castanets and machine that I made for the Canyon Winds Band last year.


The sound of these castanets are NOT the quality of the professional level brands. They do however, produce an outstanding sound with the flexibility to be played by hand or mounted. The total cost was $75 parts and time spent.





































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  1. Far Side of FiftyOctober 22, 2019 at 7:16 PM

    You are a genius!

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  2. RonaldOctober 23, 2019 at 9:51 AM

    Jerry, I see your "mallet flower garden" in the first picture. I's something you might consider as a backgroound in the future. When you were first discussing them with me, I don't remember the block looking like that - kind of rustic? Did I miss something. On another note, I may be finally getting off my writer's blog block. Hopefully, in a day or two.

    ReplyDelete

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