Project 24 - Jazz Band

I had to design, brand and make a musical instrument that has never been created before. It can't really resemble an instrument that currently is in existence. It took a while before I came up with an idea that I was content with. I can't say that it's the best design for an instrument but it looks different from a lot of instruments. It's a relatively simple, and is a somewhat hybrid String and Percussion instrument.

I originally drew a sketch of what I thought would be a good place to start and then I made a prototype of it using card. It looked a little too simple and perhaps a little messy and the shape wasn't very interesting. So I decided to draw out another sketch in order to see what would interest me as an instrument. After initial sketches of different ideas I thought the simpler the instrument the easier it would be to make and it would still work as an instrument.

I had drawn out my design and thought I'd try to make it out of clay to give a proper feel of shape and depth of the instrument. I wanted the shape to be relatively interesting and also it was fairly ergonomically shaped so there were also indents in the instrument for holding the instrument comfortably. I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with the instrument at this stage, however it does seem to make some audible sound and does seem to be relatively interesting so I may see how it goes. 

I have yet to think about exactly how I will graphically brand the instrument, however with the shape to resemble a frog (of sorts), the instrument is called Frogbalooka (for no actual reasons behind the name and just the relation to the frog. I think that, it will be branded as a musical instrument that is frog themed - as the sounds that it makes does have a low tone to it, almost like a frog (if you believe it does).