Yeah!One, two, three, four.
THEY ALL DRUM
Musical compositions can be madein all sorts of different ways,and it's not always as you mightimagine, with guitars, bass,pianos and all that stuff.
THEY DRUM
I'm here to meet a load of kids, andthey are getting into playing musicjust by banging on theseold plastic barrels.They're being led by Katieand Finlay, members of Trash,a musical group that playsinstruments made out of…well, trash.
Are you ready?And one, two, three, four.
That sounded great, guys. Well done.Where do all these drums come from?
Some are old water barrelswe've cleaned outso they are now safe to use,and now they are drums.
If I take some of these buddingmusicians on a bit of a raidto find some materials to make somemusical instruments,could you help us compose a piece ofmusic out of what they find?
Absolutely. That's what we do.
What you're looking foris anything that might makea really interesting sound, andremember, you might have to puta couple of items together to makethe sound work more effectively, OK?
Helping me today are Sean and Elise,Dan and Rosie.
Let's go in.
Rosie gets stuck in straight away.It doesn't take very long to findher first Trash-style instrument.
BOX MAKES SHUFFLING NOISE
TUBE POPS
HE BANGS ON TIN
METAL CLANGS
Most of the time it's a matterof combining a couple of thingsto make your instrument.
PINS RATTLE
Other times, it's just pick up…and blow.
HE PLUCKS STRINGS
SHE SCRATCHES TUBE
TUBE POPS
SHE MAKES A SCRATCHING NOISE
They are finding some reallyuseful-sounding materials.It's going to be interesting to seeif they actually can composea piece of music from scratch.
As soon as we get back,our composers' first task isto sort out the trash instrumentsbefore they can start practising.
What have you got there,Sean? Just a…
TUBE POPS
Whoa!How are you making that sound?
You're not taking the cap right off.You just take it off a little bitand slam it back downand it makes a good popping sound.
Can I help?
Yes, please.
I'll blow a bit of air.
THEY PLAY THEIR INSTRUMENTS
Let's see what you can do with that.
Look at this, right. They've beengoing just a few minutesand already we've got a melody on acolander, some rhythm on a balloon,and a box full of foam or something,I don't know.But, yeah, they are makinga funky piece of music.
It's Elise that's emergingas the leader of the trash band.She's got some great ideas for howthey could end their composition.
We could allcut off at different bits.Dan's cut off, then Sean,then Rosie,then I would cut off and you wouldget quieter, you and Finlay.
OK. Do you think you're ready to showus and direct us with that? Yeah.
Excellent.One, two, three, four.
THEY PLAY THEIR INSTRUMENTS
You tell them, Elise.
I'm pleased with the music we madeand how they all went together.
I'm really impressed.
Now you've seen how it's done,why not give it a go?You don't need to play a properinstrument to make musicout of scraps,it's really easy to do.
DOORBELL RINGS
Video summary
A group of children work with musical group ‘Trash’ to compose a piece of music using only rubbish and recycled objects.
Firstly, they visit a recycling centre where they identify what is safe to use, as well as what might make an interesting instrument.
They then experiment with a variety of different objects and discover what interesting sounds can be produced.
Finally, they return to their classroom to begin developing the sounds, playing together and coming up with simple melodies and rhythms.
This is from the series: Compose Yourself
Teacher Notes
Groups of children could follow the steps demonstrated by the children in the clip to create their own piece of music.
The group can pick their own ‘word family’ to base their piece on or it may be more appropriate to have one picked for them, perhaps relating to a current classroom project.
To develop the music further the group could try getting different players to drop out for a short time so that the character of the pattern changes, extend the pattern to repeat every eight beats, rather than four, and add further layers using percussion instruments, additional voices or other ‘layers’.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Music at KS3 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Also 2nd and 3rd level in Scotland.
Composing a piece of music using unpitched percussion. video
A group of children, who have no experience of composing music, work as a team to produce a short piece performed entirely using their voices and clapping.
Composing a silent film soundtrack. video
A group of children help composer Lauren Hayes make a soundtrack for musician Kid Carpet’s silent film.
Finding sounds around you to create music. video
Kid Carpet joins composer Jules Rawlinson and a class of schoolchildren to experiment with ‘found sounds’.
Taking inspiration from your surroundings to compose music. video
A group of children from Gateshead try to produce a piece of music inspired by the Tyne Bridge.
