Junkyard Symphony

They call themselves Junkyard Symphony. Their motto: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rock. Their instruments, junk.

They play, they perform, they juggle, they teach, they bring people into a world of music and playfulness and mutual delight.

"For rhythm workshops students learn the importance of rhythm in music and life. In a drum circle fashion using buckets as drums, Junkyard Symphony teaches the basics of rhythm such as tempo, beat, and dynamics. They also cover the values of quarter notes, eight notes, half notes and whole notes and the students learn a series of syncopated rhythms. Add in a cheer box and a few rhythmic games and the workshop becomes a "Stomp" for students!

"For recycling workshops, Students learn how to make instruments from reused materials such as a maraca from a plastic water bottle and macaroni or a rain stick from a paper towel roller and beans."

They are the inventors of Rhythmball:

"On each side of the court are two gongs with a basket. Two players stand on each side of the court, and a drummer on the sidelines keeps the beat on a junk drum kit.The rest of the two teams also stand on the sidelines. The object of the game is for the two teams to rebound the rhythmball off the gong and into the basket on the opposite side of the court, but there is a catch. The rhythmball must hit the gong on beat 1 of a 4 or 6 beat cycle to get full points. The ball must also be passed every beat one for the play to continue."

And their music, played on junk, ranges from raucous to ethereal. Yes, I said ethereal. Listen to them, for example, playing and singing "Dream a Dream." And dream with us, how we might reuse junk to create musical games, recycle junk into song.

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from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith