Child’s Play Music – our weird and wonderful instruments!
We build all our own instruments, and every instrument is a one-off design. Recycling and sustainability are core values at Child’s Play Music, so most of our instruments use recycled materials for all or part of their construction. Wherever possible the timber we use is recycled or plantation grown.
Our first design priority is that every instrument should be safe and easily playable by children. Next, it has to be almost unbreakable, because if something can be broken a child will find a way to do it! And it has to sound wonderful!
We know that young children are still learning to share, so we make multiple versions of the most popular instruments, and many of the instruments are specifically designed for shared and cooperative playing by up to 4 children. Nobody has to wait for a turn – there are always at least two instruments for every child!
Watch this video featuring a selection of our instruments.
This slideshow shows many of our instruments plus typical set ups for an incursion.
Here’s a full list of all the instruments:
Un-tuned percussion instruments:
Giant bass drums
Bass drum
Snare drums
Toms
Congas
Bongos
Talking drum
Ocean drum
Spin drum
Gongs
Cymbals
Bell tree
Bin-sasara
Assorted hand percussion
Giant bass thongophone
Treble thongophones
Stamping tubes
Boobam tubes
Giant metallophones
Tubular glockenspiels
Toolbox bar chimes
Treble banjo/violins
Bass banjo/cellos
Balloon bassoons
Hosepipe trumpets
Slide trumpets
Didgeridoos
Un-tuned percussion instruments:
Giant bass drums – made from recycled 200 litre plastic barrels these huge drums are inspired by Japanese Taiko drums. They are deep, full sounding drums and they sound more like a kettle drum than a bass drum from a drum kit. We’ve got four, and each one has its own unique sound, due to slight differences between each drum shell and the different drum skins we use.
top
Bass drum – made from a recycled heavy duty cardboard barrel, and inspired by the Japanese Taiko, the sound is midway between that of the giant bass drums and the toms. Just the one of these.
top
Snare drums – made from recycled heavy duty PVC containers, they are inspired by Western military snare drums. The characteristic rattling sound of our snare drums comes from the thin nylon cord we stretch across each drum skin. We’ve got three, and each one has its own unique sound, due to slight differences between each drum shell and the different drum skins we use.
top
Toms – made from made from recycled heavy duty PVC containers, these draw their inspiration from single-headed concert toms similar to those from a modern drum kit. Similar in construction to the snare drums (but without the snare) they are full, clear and open in sound. We’ve got two, and each has its own unique sound, due to differences between each drum shell and the different drum skins we use.
top
Congas – made from 225mm PVC storm-water pipe, these tall narrow drums are based on the classic Cuban conga. They can be played with the hands or sticks and have a wide range of tones depending on how you play them. Bright and hard or deep and bassy, they penetrate clearly through the sounds of the other drums. We’ve got two, and each has it’s own unique sound due to slight construction differences and different drum skins.
top
Bongos – made from 150mm PVC storm-water pipe, these tiny drums are based on the classic Cuban bongo. They can be played with the hands or sticks and have a wide range of tones depending on how you play them. They are bright and penetrating, and small enough to be easily carried – great for movement to music! We’ve got two, and each has it’s own unique sound due to construction differences and different drum skins.
top
Talking drum – made from 100mm PVC storm-water pipe and fittings, this double-headed drum is based on the West African talking drum. Hour-glass in shape, you can raise and lower the pitch of the drum by placing it under your arm and squeezing on the strings; this tightens and loosens the drum skins for the classic “talking” effect. Just the one of these.
top
Ocean drum – made from 225mm PVC storm-water pipe. This double-headed drum is based upon a modern western drum that uses steel beads to create the sound of the surf. Our version uses peppercorns instead! By tilting the drum the peppercorns create a soft, soothing sound like distant waves – but play it with a drumstick and it is an amazingly loud snare drum, and it can produce many other sounds too. Just the one of these.
top
Spin drum – made from 100mm PVC storm-water pipe fittings. This double-headed drum is played by spinning the handle between the palms of the hands, causing strikers on strings to repeatedly beat on the drum. Known by many names (including prayer drum, temple drum, & monkey drum) variants on this instrument are found all over SE Asia, India, and Africa. Just the one of these.
top
Note: all our drums use commercial plastic drum skins, just like the ones that you use on a rock drum kit. Why? Because nothing else stands up to the pounding that children give to our drums! But it’s also about tone – they sound great, and you can buy many different styles of skins, each with a unique tonal character. It’s one of the main reasons why each of our drums has a unique sound which adds considerably to our drums interest and individuality.
Gongs – made from recycled 3mm aluminium plate, and suspended on a PVC frame. Gongs are found all over SE Asia and Asia, and can take many forms. Our square gongs are extremely resonant and sustain for over a minute when struck. We have two, with distinct pitches and tones due to their different dimensions.
top
Cymbals – made from recycled 1mm stainless steel, and suspended on a PVC frame. Cymbals are originally Turkish instruments, although they are found all across Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and have spread worldwide. Unusually, our cymbals are rectangular in shape, but they have a satisfying “crash” sound. We have two, with distinct pitches and tones due to their different dimensions.
top
Bell tree – made from recycled aluminium castings, and suspended on a PVC frame. A true bell tree uses suspended nested bells, and is a common instrument used mainly for sound effects in orchestras; ours uses 6 castings suspended one above the other in two groups of three. Each has its own pitch and timbre.
top
Bin-sasara – this is based on a Japanese instrument used in Kabuki theatre. It is often called a kokiriko, but this is technically incorrect – a real kokiriko is an entirely different instrument. The bin-sasara consists of many small, rectangular wooden plates strung on string and it can be played many ways creating a characteristic hard-sounding rattle. We’ve got two, one made from recycled jarrah, the other from Tasmanian oak; they have very different tones.
top
Assorted hand percussion – we’ve got shakers, guiros (serrated scrapers), claves (tapping sticks), hand cymbals, and hand bells. Mainly based on Latin American instruments, and made from a variety of mainly recycled materials. These small portable instruments are perfect for encouraging movement to music.
top
Giant bass thongophone – most people associate thongophones with the Blue Man Group or artists like Snubby J, but the origins of the thongophone are half a world away and date back centuries. Technically thongophones are from a family of instruments called “plosive aerophones” and are based on bamboo instruments found throughout Melanesia and surrounding areas of SE Asia. Ours is made from 90mm storm-water pipe mounted on a plantation pine frame, and it’s massive! It stands around 160cm tall and it’s big enough to be played by four children at once. The unusual design is completely original and means that even though the longest pipe is around 4 metres long, the instrument is compact enough to fit in our HiAce van – but only just! Played with rubber thongs (rubber beach sandals if you aren’t an Aussie). It’s loud, and is tuned to G major, around the same pitch as a bass guitar.
top
Treble thongophones – most people associate thongophones with the Blue Man Group or artists like Snubby J, but the origins of the thongophone are half a world away and date back centuries. Technically thongophones are from a family of instruments called “plosive aerophones” and are based on bamboo instruments found throughout Melanesia and surrounding areas of SE Asia. Our small treble thongophones are made from 25mm PVC reticulation pipe on a recycled jarrah frame. The unique design means that two children can play it at the same time, and they face each other across the instrument – perfect for shared and cooperative play. Played with rubber thongs (rubber beach sandals if you aren’t an Aussie). Quite quiet, and tuned to G major, centred around Middle C. We have two.
top
Stamping tubes – these instruments are from a family of instruments called “plosive aerophones” and are based on bamboo instruments found throughout Melanesia and surrounding areas of SE Asia. Made from 90mm storm-water pipe they are played by stamping the capped end firmly onto a carpeted surface or firm grass. Our set of 8 stamping tubes is tuned to G major, centred around the C below Middle C. They are wonderful for small group play and encourage movement to music.
top
Boobam tubes – boobams are tuned drums, and ours consists of three stamping tubes taped together and played with a rubber headed drum stick on the capped ends. It’s tuned to a G major chord – G, B, & D – an octave and a half below Middle C. Just one of these.
top
Giant metallophones – most people call these “xylophones” but that’s incorrect – technically a true xylophone always has wooden keys (“xylo” is from the ancient Greek for “wood”). These instruments are inspired by Indonesian gamelan instruments, especially the gender and the saron. Our giant metallophones have large flat keys made from recycled 3mm aluminium plate, suspended above a resonator made from 150mm PVC storm-water pipe. The large size of the keys means that they are easy for even the youngest child to play, and the mellow sound rings and sustains for ages. This mellow tone comes from using rubber headed sticks, although children often experiment with the clangourous tone available by playing with the wooden end. These are the prettiest sounding of all our instruments – children often exclaim “it sounds like a lullaby!” The size of these instruments means they encourage shared playing by up to 4 children. We have two, one with 8 keys tuned to E natural minor, the other to a pentatonic scale that is widely used throughout SE Asia; it uses the notes G, B, C, D, F#, & G, and is very different from the pentatonic scale familiar as the black keys on a piano.
top
Tubular glockenspiels – glockenspiel is German for “bell-play”, and our tubular glockenspiels use aluminium tubing to create the typical clear high sound of this common metallophone. Each instrument is suspended on the simplest of rope frames and can be picked up and played with a beater made from nylon rod. We have two, one is tuned to G major; the other higher glockenspiel is tuned to C major.
top
Toolbox bar chimes – also known as fairy chimes, orchestral chimes, or a mark tree (after the inventor of the original bar chimes, Mark Stevens), our bar chimes are made from a recycled plastic toolbox! The chimes are made from recycled 6mm aluminium rod, suspended from the toolbox handle by loops of nylon cord. It’s a pretty sounding instrument, producing flurries of high thin tinkly notes. Just one of these.
top
Treble banjo/violins – banjos are originally West African instruments, but our single-string banjo/violins are also strongly influenced by the single-string spike fiddles of North Africa and related to East Asian equivalents like the erhu. The body is made from 100mm PVC storm-water pipe and fittings, while the fretless fingerboard and neck are made from Tasmanian oak. It can be plucked but it really comes into its own when played with a bow. No horsehair for us! Our PVC pipe bows are strung with nylon bricklayer’s line! They work surprisingly well when well-rosined, and this instrument is quite loud. The banjo skin is a 6 inch drum skin, and the string is an unwound “G” guitar string. It’s tuned to G, an octave above Middle C. We have two.
top
Bass banjo/cellos – banjos are originally West African instruments, but our single-string banjo/cellos are also strongly influenced by the single-string spike fiddles of North Africa and related to East Asian equivalents like the erhu. The body is made from 225mm PVC storm-water pipe, while the fretless fingerboard and neck are made from Tasmanian oak. It can be plucked but it really comes into its own when played with a bow. No horsehair for us! Our PVC pipe bows are strung with nylon blind cord! They work surprisingly well when well-rosined, and this instrument is quite loud, producing a deep growling sound when bowed. The banjo skin is a 10 inch drum skin, and the string is a wound “A” or “D” bass guitar string. It’s tuned to G or D, two octaves below Middle C. We have two.
top
Balloon bassoons – these amazing reed instruments were invented by Bart Hopkin, but our versions are greatly simplified to make them playable by children as young as three. Made from 40mm PVC reticulation pipe they use a balloon as a reed and produce a loud mournful honking sound rather like a saxophone or a bass clarinet. Since the balloon acts as a single reed, rather than the double reed of a bassoon, the name (my invention) is a little misleading – but the name was too good to waste for the sake of a little accuracy! We have three, tuned to G, D and G an octave higher.
top
Hosepipe trumpets – these valveless trumpets are incredibly simple – a length of garden hose, a funnel for a bell, and a hose fitting for the mouthpiece. They are easy to play, but we don’t use them for children in kindergarten or younger as they often don’t have the lip control necessary to play them. It’s important that every child succeeds at every instrument so we keep these for children we are sure will succeed. Being valveless they play the notes of the harmonic series (like a bugle), and they are tuned to G major. We have three.
top
Slide trumpets – these are rather like a trumpet version of a trombone. Made from PVC electrical conduit the outer section slides back and forth on the thinner inside tube. It’s possible to play complex tunes on them if you have good skills, and they are great fun. It’s considerably more difficult to play than a hosepipe trumpet, so we keep these for children in Year Two or above. They are tuned to G. We have two.
top
Didgeridoos – the classic Australian instrument, digeridoo is not a word from any Australian aboriginal language – it’s most probably an onomatopoeic word invented to represent the characteristic sound of the instrument. The didge has many names in aboriginal cultures, but the best known is probably yidaki, from the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land. Our didgeridoos are made from 40mm PVC reticulation pipe and are tuned to G. Blowing a didge takes a lot of breath and good lip control so we keep this instrument for children in Year One or above. We’ve got two.
top
Culturally, while the didge is principally an instrument played by men in a ceremonial context, in the traditional cultures where didgeridoos originated there is no prohibition on women playing the didgeridoo, and many women there play them. Some other aboriginal cultures (principally in SE Australia) object to women playing the didge. If you are uncomfortable with the idea of women playing the didge we will respect your views and not use them in your incursion. See this article on the cultural status of women and didgeridoos for more information.
Child's Play Music 