House Orchestra
Making groovy bangers with what is available in your house.
INTRODUCTION
Encourage and inspire everyone in a household, from toddlers to teenagers and adults, to actively engage and look around the house to find objects with which to make musical instruments and start creating music.
The concept and name is a play on “house”, intended both as a musical genre where we will be applying house music elements (easy to follow 4 x 4 rhythms and groove); as well as using only household items readily available in your home, with no need to purchase anything. Most instruments are already there, made and ready to go, you just need to find them.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- 1 x Large Bin
- 1 x Pot
- 2 x Plastic Bottles
- 4 x Glass Bottles
- 4 x Metallic Tins
- 2 x Items of cutlery
- 1 x Rolling Pin
- Rubber Bands
- Rice or Barley
- Strong Glue
To co-ordinate a House Jam, we will group sounds into BEATS, SHAKE and MELODY, and use a simple numeric system from 1 to 8 so we can assign each instrument or sound to a number: 1- 3 – 5 – 7 are on the beat, and for who is feeling more adventurous, you can shake in between the beats on 2 – 4 – 6 – 8 (or simply all the time).
STEPS – INSTRUCTIONS
BEAT: PLAY ON THE 1(also works well on 1 & 5)Bins: loud and hollow bass drum, use a rolling pin or stick to bash loudly.
BEAT: PLAY ON THE 3 & 7
Pots, pans and lids: start bashing with a wooden spoon or cutlery, experiment with size and water fillings.
MELODY: FREE / IMPROVISE
Megaphone: Make a cone shape out of paper or cardboard to amplify your voice.
Sing along or shout out numbers to keep up with the Beats and Shake.
BEAT: PLAY ON 1 3 5 7
PLASTIC BOTTLESThese make a great loud and hollow sound, bash on any surface or against each other.
BEAT: PLAY ON 3 & 7Experiment with or without lids, open or closed.
PLASTIC BOTTLE SHAKER
SHAKE: ON 2 – 4 – 6 – 8 (or all the time)These are simple and easy to make, just fill with anything you like and start shaking (or bashing with a stick).
TIN SHAKERS:Get a used tin can (ringpull are best), wash carefullyl (adult supervision needed, lid can be sharp). Get a piece of cardboard and draw a circle around the can on it (this will give us the size of the lid).
Fill with whatever you think gives the best sound, rice or barley (any small grains, if they’re old and stale, all the better, check the cupboard), I experimented with pasta and coins too.
Then cut out the cardboard circle you draw at the start and fit it on top of the can, glue it with strong glue (an adult will need to do this).This will keep the lid closed, and now, SHAKE!
SHAKE: 2 – 4 – 6 – 8 (or all the time).You can also paint and customise your own tin.
PAN PIPE BOTTLESMake your own “Pan “Pipe”. Bottles are great melodic and percussive instruments, add water to each bottle for different notes.
Rinse out any glass bottles, then starting from an empty one, gradually fill the other bottles with a bit of water, every bit of water creates a higher note. I find 4 notes is great to play with.
You can also tape them together to some cardboard so you can hold them easily together.
MELODY: ON THE 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 (or Free / Improvise)Blow in each bottle and make your own melody.
BEAT: ON THE 1 3 5 7Wood: melodic and rhythmical, experiment with different sizes.
MELODY: FREE / IMPROVISEBox guitar. Use rubber bands around a hollow box or cardboard box. Experiment with cutting grooves at regular intervals and using different size rubber bands.
HEALTH & SAFETY:
Please note this is intended as an outdoor activity and social distancing should be respected at all times, you are only expected to be on your doorstep or even just play out the window of your own house.
LINKS
Website: www.jacquesmalchance.com
Instagram: @jacquesmalchance
