The berimbau is an instrument from Brazil. One day my neighbor had a backyard umbrella that broke in a windstorm, so I grabbed one of the arms to make this instrument. The traditional berimbau string is made with the wire from the inside of a car tire, which keeps the inside hole sturdy against the rim. So imagine my wife’s reaction when I walked in the house one day and said “Honey, let me explain why there’s an old tire in the garage.” After some digging I was able to get the wire out and put together this nice instrument. The resonator is typically a gourd of some kind, but not having access to one, and having a child that was still on formula, I used a formula container instead. Works like a charm. A stick and a rock is all you need once the instrument is put together. The rock is used to create a bridge to change the pitch of the tone, and the stick is used to strike the wire to make the sound.
By the way I also made a Hurdy Gurdy Dulcimer mashup with the handle of the umbrella.
The finished product