Chime Xylophone

Musical Collaboration Nurtures Young Relationships

Project completed while attending California College of the Arts

Chime is an eco and child-friendly xylophone aiming to introduce children to creating together. It was made to host a fun, team-building exercise.

School Visit 1 |

Our class was invited to gather insights from a Saturday school. We noticed a willingness for children to play with each other,

Reflecting on this observation, rainstorm methods to create an inclusive classroom environment through play. Both Zander and I share a passion for drumming and creating music, so our interest to invite children to create their own music seemed exciting. Many music towers and systems were prototyped, tested and resurrected to ensure an engaging and immersive product.

School Visit 2 | Testing student interest, and collaboration in very rough initial prototypes.

School Visit 3 | Testing rough prototypes to observe inclusivity and general interest.

School Visit 4 | Testing a refinedprototype to see how students

Chime was inspired by the unique forms created through steam-bending plywood. A pressure-bent plywood arc would allow two students to engage in songwriting and collaboration.

Vacuum forming the 4 plywood sheets over a buck to make Chime’s soft arc took 24 hours. This was followed by jigsaw routing, beveling, drilling, and painting. Using sustainably sourced and recycled materials paired with non-toxic finishes helped to reduce Chime’s ecological footprint.