My Buck-A-Roo Banjo
By Zachary
I wasn’t sure how I wanted to make my banjo until I went shopping with
my Mom and found this Buck tin. Then I knew that I wanted it to
look like a hunting banjo and I found everything I needed to make
this. My instrument is called the “Buck-A-Roo Banjo”.
I measured out the wood handle and drew a line on the tin for what
needed to be cut out. My Dad used his tin snips to cut out where
the wood handle needed to go. I then sanded the tin with a file
so that it wouldn’t be so sharp.
I had found some Camo duct tape and used it to cover the wood handle
because I wanted it to look more like a hunting banjo. I then
screwed in the I-lets for the strings and found that they weren’t high
enough, so my Dad had to cut some wood so I could raise the ends
up. Now the strings won’t hit the tin.
I then used fishing line for the strings and found it hard to tie it
tight enough to be able to strum it. But after some time, I was
able to get them all tied off.
I strum the banjo softly to make it have a Soft Dynamics, and I strum
it harder for a Loud Dynamics. I also learned that the
Pitch changes from Low to High if I hold the strings down while moving
my hand up and down the wooden handle while strumming the banjo.
The Timbre of my instrument is banjo like in its sound. I didn’t
expect that because it is made of tin and fishing line. It has
that banjo twang sound like a real banjo has.
I had so much fun building this banjo and seeing it turn out like the
hunting banjo I wanted. And then to have it really work is
awesome.