Surprising Sound

Find a four-foot piece of string or thick thread.  The only other thing you’ll need is a metal wire coat hanger.  A plastic coat hanger won’t work, it must be metal.

Tie the middle of the string to the hook of the coat hanger.  That’s it for your preparation!

Now it’s time to try it.

Wrap the ends of the string around each of your index fingers, four or five turns at least.  Try to make them even.

If everything is set up properly, you should be holding your hands up in front of you, index fingers pointing at each other, with equal lengths of string down to the coat hanger swaying below.

Now, this is going to sound strange, but put your index fingers in your ears!  That’s right, plug up your ears with your fingers!  Bend over and let the coat hanger dangle below your face.  Don’t let the thread touch your cheeks.

This is it! Let the coat hanger gently bump into the wall and listen to the sound!  Instead of the little “ding” you might expect, you’ll hear a deep and bell-like “Gong!”

The vibrations, of course, travel up the string and right into your ears.  Anyone watching will only hear the little “ding.”  This really is surprising and you’ll have to try it to believe it!  Once you do, you’ll want to try it on everyone!   Watch their faces when you tap the coat hanger with a pencil!

If you don’t have a metal coat hanger, look for a thin grill like one that’s used to cool cookies after baking.  If you don’t have one of those either, try a large metal serving spoon, the biggest you can find.  Once you know what to expect, use your imagination and try to find other things that might work.