Craftsmanship in Wood

Because I am not busy enough, I took a woodworking class this weekend with my friend Tadao Arimoto who lives here in Pittsburgh, PA. We made a slightly creative take on a traditional Japanese percussion instrument called a binzasara.
http://www.ee0r.com/proj/images/arimoto-binzasara.jpg
The class was two 8-hour days. We probably could have done it all in one day, but the extra day gave us time for digressions and side discussions. He teaches maybe one or two classes a year at the Contemporary Craft studio, so I try to take them when the timing works out.

Thanks for sharing. I've never seen that instrument before - how does it sound?

I think it sounds like cicadas. You hold it as an arch, with the corded edge up and the plaques hanging down, and sort of snap your wrist to send a wave through the arch. The leaves snap together in series with a zipping sound. There are a few YouTube videos if you search for "binzasara" or "kokiriko". Presumably, using different woods and different length plaques could yield interestingly different results.