Sawing & sanding

Most of the sound bars had previously been roughly cut to size by Youssouf Keita and myself. But some also had to be cut from Padouk planks. The fine round sawing of the ends and sanding was also to be carried out by Berna and her husband Bertus. Bertus himself also works with wood to create works of art. He works mostly with  fosile wood. This is wood from oaks that have been lying in the peat for 5,000 to 7,000 years under low-oxygen conditions. It is hard and pitch black. In the Binnenveld near Rhenen, many oak trees emerged during the excavation of farmland for nature development. Bertus used this wood to make several works of art for the municipality of Rhenen, which can be found on two roundabouts, among others. Using saws and sanders, Bertus has now finished the rough work of making the sound bars.

11 July 2023

“As you can see, hard work is being done here. The first key is hollowed out and in tune. The others are ready to be brought into tune. Nice collection of 15 tones, starting from F.”

Regards from Rhenen, Berna

Tuning of the keys

For tuning the sound bars, I had recommended using a tuner app on the phone. Berna does not use an android phone and had to pick one herself to install on her phone. In the photos she sent me, it was already clear to me that she had found another tool, the melodica.

15 July 2023

“Hi Paul, keys tuned, it feels like more: the frame. I have 3 examples at home (to study and possibly use their model, ed.) My preference is as light as possible and slightly curved key row. What wood do you recommend me for the curved bar? To us, beech seems good for the lower beam. Do you agree or are we overplaying our ambition? “

The frame

At the start of the project, I had already recommended using some of the fossil wood that Bertus also uses for his works of art for the decorative pieces on the two sides. Furthermore, my advice was solid wood for the frame and flexible wood (I often use pine for this) for the flexible part.

30 July 2023

“Making steady progress. Frame provisionally assembled. Used willow and oak”

First intermediate result

Time for a first test. Meanwhile, I am back from my working holiday to the Festival Byggefest and Utamaduni African Camp, both in Denmark. We can make a new appointment. Although the keys are not really attached properly yet, Berna can play a bit on them. It looks like one of the last taught pieces. But I hear it’s not quite right…. Has she composed a new piece: ‘Berna creates her own Balafon‘?

2 August 2023

“Welcome home! It does not yet sound as it should; fine tuning is necessary. Which days are you available? This week and next, I’m still at home until Thursday. Will pick up the phone later”

Follow up meeting

Berna soon arrives for a follow-up. She is still eager to continue. It turns out that the app installed on her I-phone to tune the keys, was not working properly. She therefore switched to tuning using the melodica. However, this turned out not to be completely well tuned, so there is some new fine-tuning to be done on the precise tones.

Together, we find a new app for her phone and practice using it. With that, she can get back to work at home. Most of the keys still need to be tuned slightly higher and we consider making them shorter or sanding down the bottom outside. We choose the latter and Bertus will get back to that.

For the frame, she has used beautiful wood and leather with a nice red-brown colour. Only the willow wood used is a bit out of place. I offer her Padouk timbers to use as gourd sticks and suggest a nice straight bamboo-stick on the side. She takes that into consideration and I show her how to tie it properly.

Fixing gourd wood

A good knot for the keys-mat

5 August 2023

“Valuable lesson learned. With the app “tuner light”, fine tuning will definitely work. And the videos give a good idea of how to lash bars and keys. There is work to be done and I am looking forward to it. Thanks Paul..”

Bertus makes corrections

At home, Berna & Bertus get right to work. Berna the calculating and measuring work; Bertus the planing and sanding.

“And now just hope that it sounds like it should…”

Berna creates her own Balafon ….. to be continued …….