YouTuber’s Incredible Popsicle Stick Piano
Conventional pianos have always been the staple of the musician, from sounding out modern EDM tracks to performing classical music pieces, they are a versatile tool for the composer. But how about one made out of popsicle sticks?
Mr Mash turns his hand at a song, which he claims has taken him a long time to learn, and launches into a spectacular rendition of the new wave music behemoth “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics. The tone and style of the piece is perfectly tuned, considering he is playing the song on, well, lollipop sticks.
These instruments are works of art, lovingly crafted and fine-tuned to perfection, sometimes over months if they are handmade. This being said, the folks over at the Mash YouTube channel have gone one step further in the development of a new style of piano, choosing to make a piano out of, yes you guessed it, lollipop sticks.
In the video, Mr Mash is seen sticking lollipop sticks to a wooden board before using an app to tune the ingenious contraption. It is a painstaking project, undoubtedly taking hours of fine-tuning and adjustment before an accurate note can be heard from the device. Once tuned, Mr Mash brings in three different layers of lollipop sticks on boards, with the “white keys” on the first two levels and the “black” keys on the top level.
The video is a perfect example of the talent Mash possesses in instrument craftsmanship and what a careful and delicate process it can be to tune an instrument.
Although the instrument is set out in a chromatic scale the lollipop piano is more akin to a mbira, a native instrument of Zimbabwe with its use and function, however, Mash has expertly combined the two functions into a usable, working hybrid with the use of both black and white keys and tones as well as the aforementioned chromatic scale layout. This gives the instrument a simple setup and ease of use, once you have got your head around the scales and keys.
Mr Mash has also created a longer video that showcases the full creation of the lollipop piano from the beginning. If you are a DIY instrument builder, then this would be the video to watch, it shows every painstaking step in the making of the piano, from measuring the drill holes to the fine-tuning of each individual stick.
If you would like to watch more from this creative artist, subscribe to his YouTube channel or follow his Facebook page.