Making Videos

Global Recycling Day: Turn Everyday Objects into Amazing Musical Instruments!

On the 18th March, it was Global Recycling Day and to celebrate we’re sharing lots of quick and easy ideas for how you can make instruments from household items! From bucket drums to bottle flutes, everyday objects can become part of your very own band.

Bucket Drums – Grab a plastic bucket and some wooden spoons. Turn the bucket over and simply hit the top – you can also tap the sides and edges for different tones.

Bottle Flutes – Collect different size bottles and arrange them small to large. Blow across the top of each bottle to make a note, and if you play from small to large the pitch will go from high to low.

Tissue Box Guitar – Stretch rubber bands over a tissue box and pluck – if you’re feeling adventurous, use an old kitchen role tube to make a guitar neck.

Bottle Xylophone – Fill glass bottles with different amounts of water and tap them with a spoon – the more water in the bottle, the higher the note

Tin Can Güiro – Remove the paper from your latest tin of beans (other canned good allowed!) and use a metal spoon to scrape along the notches. For a traditional “güiro rhythm”, try the pattern long (down) – short (up), short (up)

Challenge: Try making your own upcycled instrument this week and share your creations with us! Tag us on @playtherig to showcase your “brand new” instrument.

Get more inspiration from our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1b4zJE81iE&list=PLv02JSMFjC1oUAamy8CyRTkqFAmia4IPH

Make Your Own… Upcycled Instruments

Ready to turn everyday items into musical magic?

We’ve got some quick and easy tutorials on creating percussion instruments from recycled materials.

Click our Instagram videos below to make a glass jar xylophone or a tin can drum!

Let’s get creative and sustainable together!

Watch more videos now on our RIG TV page

Filming Day April 2016

As part of our Arts Council England funded BBC Ten Pieces Schools tour, we got to film two videos. This was designed to be both a tool for post workshop embedded learning and to be able to be watched as a stand alone video for those who couldn’t attend the workshops. We also put together a short film on how string instruments work, which was so ably demonstrated by Amy’s brother Tom – thanks Tom! You sure know how to give the cello a good pluck!

We are very grateful to the inspiring and generous Ian Blanford from Bright Spark TV who has been coaching us on our presenting skills and helped us assemble an all star cast behind the scenes, including the brilliant Jane Field as our stylist, who we have long admired from her role as Head Stylist on George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces. In fact, we have just bought a caravan for our Rig summer tour, so we might well be using some of Jane’s tips on how to make our own caravan “amazing”!