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Summary: Learn how to fill a tube with beans when making a rain stick with expert crafting instructions in this free online percussion instrument video clip.
Views: 614 | Tags: make, crafts, history, stick, rain, rainstick, percussion, origin, nativeamerican
About the Expert
Ginny Larson Ginny Larson has been creating fun, inexpensive crafts for her own pleasure for the past thirty years. She loves being creative and making charming pieces fro... read more
Hi this is Ginny with Simply Beautiful Crafts on behalf of Expert Village. Now, let's put some rain in our rain stick. We're going to experiment with four different mediums - dried lentils, dried rice, dried black beans and bird seed. If you have a large tube, you're going to want the larger filling to make your sound because then your nails are farther apart. If you have a small tube, your smaller fillings make just as good of a rain sound. I used the tube that had the toothpicks in it and decided that I wanted even more filter for my sound. So I added pins. Let's see what it sounds like with lentils. One thing you want to do too is keep in mind that you can vary the amount of rain you put in your rain stick. Let's see what it sounds like with the lentils. I'm going to just pour some in. Oh, it sounds nice going in already. We're going to hold the other end because I don't have a cap yet and listen. Hmn. Well that made a very pleasing sound, and I don't think I would need to add more lentil. That seemed to be about just the right amount. Let's see if it sounds any different with rice. It does have a different sound, kind of a lighter, brighter sound with the rice. I'm going to cover the end again and listen to it. Oh, yes. That's definitely a more gentle rain. I think I'm liking the rice even better. Although it doesn't last as long because it's smaller and it falls more quickly through my sound filter. Now let's try the black beans and hear what they sound like. They may sound louder because it's a bigger product. Favorite vegetable. Oh yes, quite a difference. Put a little more in this one. Let's hear what this sounds like. That did take a little longer to filter through. I'm not sure that's my favorite sound. Last but not least, I'm going to try a little bird seed. You may want to decorate your tube before you fill it. And you may want to wait until after you've filled it to decorate. That was up to you, and it depends on how you choose to decorate your rain stick. So you have a variety of mediums, and this only a few of the mediums you can use. Oh, yeah. The bird seed sounds nice, too. I think the rice was my favorite, but it's up to you. Fill it with whatever you want.