Paulo Salmaci
Founder and Director of Rádio Sucata
Musician graduated from University of Campinas and winner of the Prêmio Brasil Criativo 2023 in the Music category.
“People are fascinated when they come across discarded objects producing sounds similar to conventional musical instruments. That was exactly what happened to me when I built my first instrument using materials that were headed for the trash.”
Creating musical instruments from discarded materials
Why build musical instruments?
The goal is to discover how far materials considered waste by society can go in producing musical sounds.
How are the instruments made?
The foundation of this process is material selection. Traditional instrument-making materials such as wood or animal skin are intentionally avoided.
The objects are then transformed and combined while preserving their original visual characteristics, as conceived by industry.
The results?
See them just below
VIDEOS
Explore some of the experiments
Berimbau
PVC pipe, tire wire, and plastic soda bottles
Caxixi
Braided PET bottle plastic and mayonnaise or preserve jar lids
Cavaco
Cookie tin body, broomstick-handle neck, and bicycle brake cable strings
Ukulelê
Cookie tin body, broomstick-handle neck, and bicycle brake cable strings
Jongo drums
Deep PVC drums with X-ray film drumheads
Atabaque
Cardboard body with X-ray film drumhead
Pandorim
Heineken keg rim and soda-can-bottom jingles
Glass bongos
Wine jug body with PET bottle drumheads
Surdo
Deep cardboard and metal barrel drums
Triângulo
Instrument made from construction rebar
Snare Drum
Cardboard barrel with X-ray film drumhead
Chime set
Keys, bottle caps, and coffee machine capsules
Tamborim
Food can body with PET bottle drumhead
Ocean Drum
Water container, X-ray film membrane, and ball bearings
Can bass
Soda cans, PET bottles, and food cans
Timbal
Traffic cone with X-ray film drumhead
Congas
Metal barrels with X-ray film and banner-material drumheads
Guitarra
Water container and vinyl record body, broomstick neck, and bicycle brake cable strings
Bongô
Metal barrels with PET bottle plastic and feed-bag drumheads
Carrirola
Key and bottle-cap chime instrument played with drumsticks
Vibraslap
Construction rebar and Tic Tac container
Pandeirola
Keg-rim shaker with soda-can jingles
Xequere (agbê)
PET bottle shaker with soda-can pull tabs
Pandeiro
Water container or PVC body, X-ray film drumhead, and soda-can jingles
Repique
Paint can body with PET bottle drumhead
Berimbau
PVC pipe, wire, and PET bottle
Balafon
Ceramic keys and soda-can resonator boxes
Pau de chuva
Cans, wire, and assorted filling materials
PHOTOS
Drums
The drums may feature metal, cardboard, plastic, or glass bodies, while the drumheads are made from X-ray film or PET plastic.
Shakers
Various models with internal or external filling materials
Percussion keyboards
Melodic percussion instruments with ceramic or glass keys
String instruments
Instruments using bicycle brake cable strings, with dimensions adapted from conventional instruments
Others
Other categories of instruments
radiosucata 