Brillo Box Development Group~

I first began woodworking during hot summer breaks at my Grandfather’s woodworking shop in the mid-1970's.  I could never get enough of my short bursts of building or helping build whatever projects my Grandfather deemed safe enough for me to work on.

By the time I was six my Grandfather had also started to pass down his knowledge of the tic-tac bass style which I played on the little acoustic guitar he gave me.  I always admired his Gibson Humming Bird guitar but was never allowed to play it at such a young age.

With much angst and trepidation, at age seven  I was classically trained on piano.  By age thirteen I formed my first band and began to form my style around my Grandfather's mantra, “rhythm and time are the most important rules to live by.”  I began playing in clubs by age fifteen and played double bass in my high school band. Somewhere along the way I started teaching music and aided in directing a small 65-voice choir.

Although I tinkered with improving basses, guitars and instrument speaker cabinets through the years, I was re-introduced to the idea of instrument building in the early 1990's when I built a few thumb piano kits and began researching the history, design and spirit of the small Shona lamellophone called M'bira.  After building my first few kits I felt it was important to truly study and understand the M’bira and the meaning behind the Bira before I built any more M'bira-styled thumb pianos.


In 2005 I decided that it was time to start designing and building thumb pianos based on traditional M'bira designs using found objects and recycled materials.  During this period I also accidently began building the Afro-Cuban Marimbula and a Chinese zither known as a Qin.  Most of my best work is either an accident or an accident about to happen.

When my first Qin was constructed I was looking for a way to make a thin top thumb piano out of a 2x4.  I really know nothing about the Qin other than it is claimed to have been invented by Emperor Huang Di about 5,000 years ago.  History also suggests that many Chinese scholars including Confucius took up playing the instrument since that period. 
 Qin schools and societies continue the traditions, performance and study of Qin music theory today.



I forge some of my instrument parts out of waste metals and I am always looking for scrap wood, cans and rakes.  I need those old rakes!  So, if you happen to see me dumpster-diving for parts please don’t call the police. Just stop, say hi and give me any old rakes or scrap metal and wood you happen to have with you- or offering a donation toward your own M’bira is always welcome.



Early rosewood Marimbula top in the foreground
and a biscuit-tin Thumb Piano


Baby Whale thumb piano
made from pine panel with maple, recycled ebony,
coat hangers and other construction refuse.


Recent Thumb Piano designs constructed from upcycled water pipes and wall racks, scrap wood, bailing wire and found objects.


Qin design built from a pine 2x4, upcycled
banjo parts and a rosewood plank base