What you need
A cardboard tube
A cheap comb
Dressmaking pins or map pins
The printed wrap
Sticky tape
An adult
How to build it
Wrap the template round the tubeTape it down. The lines across are time; the rows up and down are notes.
Mark your tuneA dot wherever you want a note. Copy something simple first, three or four notes long.
Push a pin in at every dotAn adult does this. Push them in far enough to hold, sticking out a few millimetres.
Hold the comb against the pinsLine the teeth up with your five rows. Rest it firmly, do not press hard.
Turn the tube slowlyEach pin plucks a tooth as it passes. Turn at a steady speed or the tune goes wrong.
Pins are sharp and small. An adult fits them, and count them in and out so none are lost on the floor.
The template
Print this at 100 per cent, not fit to page, or the sizes will be wrong. The ruler line below tells you whether it printed correctly.
The bar above should measure exactly 10 centimetres. If it does not, your printer has shrunk the page.
Now send something
Put the same pin in twice, side by side, and listen to the difference. Then move one pin along and hear the tune change.
Why position is a codeBack to Make