Musical Cake Tin!

Goal:

How to make a Musical Cake Tins

Materials:

• A square or rectangular metal cake tin
• 5 rubber bands that will stretch lengthwise around the cake tin
• A piece of thick cardboard, big enough to overlap one end of the cake tin
• 5 soft drink caps or small pebbles

Instructions:

1.Measure and cut out a rectangular piece of cardboard. It should be slightly wider than the cake tin and should cover about half the length of the tin.

2.Lay the piece of cardboard over one end of the tin, and stretch the rubber bands lengthwise around the tin. Space them evenly across the cardboard. Beside each string write a number-1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

3.Slip one of the soft drink caps or pebbles between each of the rubber bands and the cardboard.

4. Pluck one of the rubber bands at the uncovered end of the tin, and listen to the sound it makes as it vibrates. You can change the sound that each string makes by moving the soft drink cap or pebble back and forth under the string. Experiment to find out how to make the notes higher and lower.

5.When you have tuned all the strings, try picking out a tune on your instrument. When you’ve found one like, write it down by recording the number of each note in turn. Put a dash where you want a rest, or break, in the tune. Play your tune back to yourself. Then see if your friend can play back to you!