This was a very fun project! Me and my partner, Elianne Sacher, attempted to make a kora using non-musical objects. The only things we used specially made for music for this instrument were the tuning pegs and guitar strings.

So what is it? Its a kora! Or at least based on one. The kora is a traditional West African instrument, composed of a resonant body usually made out of wood with an animal skin stretched over it. Ours has 6 strings, and is made with a home depot bucket. The kora is usually played by setting it in the player’s lap, and they can both strum the strings and hit the base, for a combination of percussion and strings.

We chose a home depot bucket for a few reasons – one was availability. We had originally planned on using a large tin can, but the bucket was more readily available. We also realized that the bucket was a decent drum, which would allow us to also include the percussive element usually present in a kora.