60sec Tip Bits #5 – Shaker Maker

60sec Tip Bits #5 – Shaker Maker. How to make a shaker with a mere Pringles container, rice and some gaffa tape. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Once, when caught short without a shaker at an acoustic gig, I needed to make one as quick as possible. Across the road from the venue was a newsagents/grocers that sold snack foods etc. Luckily they had a small pack of Pringles and a small bag of rice. This was enough to make a shaker adequate for the show.

Become a Shaker Maker

It’s easy to become a shaker maker, all you have to do is follow my example above. Dispose of the Pringle contents from the cylindrical tube. Then, filling the cylinder with, roughly, 1/3rd of rice you seal it off with the lid. Furthermore, for extra support/stability wrap strips of gaffa tape around the new makeshift shaker. After all, the last thing you want is rice flung about the stage!

You don’t even need a Pringles container. You’ll see homemade shakers made from plactic bottles or chocolate containers – anything that’ll will hold the rice basically. Furthermore, you don’t even need rice; lentils will do just as good for example.

Surprisingly Good

The end result was a surprisingly good shaker. No one at the gig noticed a difference in sound and if anything, it became a talking point after the show. It was added to my percussion equipment until it was donated to a another band.

Such is life but much like in my 60sec Tip Bits #4  this is such an easy thing to do/make and relatively cheap. All you really need is a shop near by that sells food items and you’ll be a shaker maker in no time. Not to mention, you can enjoy the snack as well – a win, win!

Have you ever been a shaker maker or have alternative solutions to the above issue? Let me know in the comments section below!