Mar. 12, 2015 | By Alec
As 3D printing’s potential is really only limited by your own imagination, it’s hardly surprising that it has already ended up in the hands of musicians too. In recent months we’ve seen a number of interesting 3D printed musical applications, such as this 3D printed beer bottle instrument, but there are also plenty of more serious other examples, like this 3D printed guitar. Also falling in the category of serious, beautiful instruments producing enchanting tunes is Daren Banarsë's recently completed 3D printed melodica.
Now for those of you who've never seen a melodica, it's probably best described as a combination of a piano and an harmonica. Air is blown in through a mouthpiece, while pressing various keys determines where the air goes and the sound it makes. It’s a wonderful and fun instrument sometimes used by jazz musicians that are also popular in Asia. Daren, meanwhile, is an artist and composer from London who has already composed quite a lot of music for TV shows such as the Apprentice, Top Gear, Horizon and Coast, while also creating musical sculptures under the pseudonym Troy Banarzi.
As he explained to 3ders.org, he absolutely fell in love with a toy harmonica a while ago. "I was hooked. It only cost me £20, it was easy to play, and so small I could take it anywhere. I decided to devote a few years to it, and see if I could discover its full potential," Daren explains. "At first it was great fun, and quite a novelty to be playing a toy instrument to a high standard. But it had its drawbacks. You couldn't play fast melodies without some of the notes dropping out, and the tone was so shrill, I felt sorry for anyone sitting next to me. But perhaps worse of all, I found it difficult to be taken seriously at music sessions when I pulled out a bright plastic instrument which was ultimately designed to appeal to kids."
A regular melodica
All the parts in a standard melodica; quite a building project.
And that's the biggest problem with instrument: it is marketed to children and doesn’t really come in professional versions. Daren therefore set out to make one of his own, even though he had absolutely no experience or knowledge of 3D printing at all. "I began the journey by getting some lessons in CAD software. Once I'd covered the basics, I took my melodica apart, and bit by bit, recreated it within a 3D environment," he explains. "And once it existed in virtual reality, I could make all the changes I needed to create my dream instrument. I wanted something that sounded as good as any other professional instrument, with a clear tone, and I also wanted it to look a bit special, something I could be proud of."
But of course embarking on a 3D printing adventure for the first time is quite time consuming. Starting out in July of last year, Daren even purchasing a low-end 3D printer to experiment with. "I ended up with the design for one large piece, a sort of frame which was 40cm long, and 32 small keys which slotted into it. I bought a Flashforge Creator Pro with the idea that I'd print the 40cm long frame in sections, and glue them together. After printing out some of the keys, it soon became clear that the accuracy wasn't sufficient for building a melodica," he explains.
"So, I sent my files to a printing company, 3D Alchemy, who printed the whole instrument in resin, on a Stratasys Eden 500V. This was much more accurate, but unfortunately, once the melodica was assembled, the keys began bending under the pressure of the springs I was using to keep them in place," Daren told us, finding out that not every material was suited for the rigors of constant use. In the end he settled for the exceptionally strong Nylon 12 filament through a Shapeways service for his keys and the frame.
34 parts printed in resin on an Eden 500V printer
But as you might have guessed, Nylon isn’t the best material for blowing instruments as its quite porous, while an ideal material would be both airtight and watertight. "I got around this by coating it in a few layers of acrylic sealant, before finishing it with paint and varnish. Once assembled, I could see that I had the right material. It was strong and light, and looked great with a layer of acrylic paint," Daren explains.
After that, it was simply a matter of dressing it up to fit in at professional environments. To do so, Daren covered some parts such as the black keys with thin wood plates. "I also stripped the ivory from some old piano keys to recreate the touch of a quality instrument," he adds. But the results are great – who would’ve guessed that this melodica was 3D printed? "I'm delighted with the result," Daren says. "I finally have a musical instrument that I can take out and play at professional concerts and recordings."
And then just one question remains: how does it sound? Well you can decide for yourselves by watching the clip above, but we are absolutely sold. It sounds the way it looks – professional and wonderful.
Posted in 3D Printer Applications
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Wow. Super impressive and talented guy. Nice job!
Penny Whistle Pete wrote at 3/12/2015 12:42:21 PM:
Bloody Brilliant
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