Boomwhacker

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Various boom whackers

Boomwhackers are musical instruments from the group of percussion idiophones . They consist of plastic tubes of different lengths . These are harmoniously coordinated. When the boom whacker hits different types of objects, different-sounding tones result.

Modes of operation

a group with an assorted diatonic phrase Boomwhacker

Boomwhackers create sounds when you hit them against each other, on the floor, on the body or on another surface. Boomwhackers for different pitches are of different lengths and are made of different colored plastic (whereby the same tones in different octave registers usually get the same color) so that they can be assigned more easily. You can also play with mallets on boom whackers fixed in a holder like on a xylophone . The pitch can be varied by pressing on the outside . An octave downwards can be achieved with the so-called octavator cap.

Boomwhackers currently only exist in the C major scale and are mostly available in pentatonic and diatonic settings . In order to be able to play or accompany other keys, an additional chromatic set is required.

Applications

Boomwhackers are often used by performance artists such as the Blue Man Group . Music teachers use them to teach basic concepts of rhythm , harmony, and melody . They are suitable for making music together in larger groups. So the teacher can involve all students or the artist can involve his audience.

history

The inventor Craig Ramsell from Sedona in the US state of Arizona came up with the idea for this musical instrument in the mid-1990s when he was shredding cardboard tubes to put into a recycling container. He noticed the musical potential, experimented with different sizes and materials and developed a business idea from it . At that time, many artists used recycled materials for percussion performances . For music educational purposes, the finished Boomwhackers are better suited than improvised instruments made from recycled materials, as the musical performance can be reproduced more easily.

In the early musical education to Boomwhacker have established such that some software manufacturers functions to automatically generate colored notes in her music notation programs have integrated.

literature

C major scale with colored Boomwhacker symbols, written in PriMus 1.1
  • Klaus Gramß: Boomwhackers in the class groove. Helbling Verlag, Innsbruck / Esslingen / Bern-Belp 2004, ISBN 978-3-85061-291-3 .
  • Klaus Gramß: Boomwhacker elementary 1 . Helbling Verlag, Innsbruck / Esslingen / Bern-Belp 2007, ISBN 978-3-85061-364-4 .
  • Andreas von Hoff: Making music in classes with Boomwhackers. LeuWa-Verlag, Freiburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-940533-23-4 .
  • Martin J. Junker: Tubular Music - exercise and performance pieces for Boomwhacker ensemble. Fidula-Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 2003, ISMN 979-0-2003-5205-4 (search in the DNB portal) .
  • Sandra Möller, Helmut Eisel: Modern music lessons with Boomwhackers. Auer-Verlag, Donauwörth 2007, ISBN 978-3-403-04772-8 .
  • Elmar Rinderer: Boom Boom Whack. Helbling Verlag, Innsbruck / Esslingen / Bern-Belp 2016, ISBN 978-3-99035-323-3 .
  • Esther Sperber: Elementary music-making with Boomwhackers. Persen Verlag, Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-403-23470-8 .

Web links

Commons : Boomwhackers  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files