A big boomwhacker event with added 'wow' factor!
A big boomwhacker event with added 'wow' factor!
Yes, that’s right, that really is a concorde plane in a giant hanger with people playing boomwhackers underneath!
Leading a corporate boomwhacker session for 700 people under a Concorde has always been on my bucket list and now I can tick it off – hooray! Alright, not really – who knew such a thing was even possible? I was incredibly excited when I heard about this potential gig via the Out There Events company and had to visit the venue on a recce to see it with my own eyes. A genius idea to turn a redundant but world-famous aircraft into a venue! With carpet, seats, a buffet and everything else you may expect from a regular conference venue, but UNDERNEATH A CONCORDE – this was a fantastic venue to get people playing boomwhackers.
I love leading big gigs like this. They are incredibly exciting and a little scary. In fact I need an adrenaline hit like this every once in a while – I really thrive on the challenge. And there are challenges with such large gigs. The layout of the boomwhackers must be carefully planned to ensure musical equality and harmony on the day. I need a large team and they need to know exactly what is going on. Inevitably, on the day things can change and numbers of people can fluctuate, but not to worry – we always pack spare boomwhackers for this reason. The biggest challenge with such a large group is how to facilitate the live music being made as there can be a time delay between one side of the room and the other. There are various plans we put in place to mitigate this potential issue – careful planning of the location of the colours and positioning team members on stage to lead colours both really help. However, I need to really put my trust into the participants as well – I facilitate the music, but actually they are the ones who self-correct if the pulses start to go off-time. It is a real testimony to the power of teamwork that when a big group of people really focus on a task they are able to come together in synergy and synchronicity – the success of this event really proved this theory. There is more to these corporate events than you would originally think!
We would like to thank Out There Events for enabling this unique opportunity. They understand all the planning that goes in to such an event to make it work. We would also like to thank the Concorde Conference Centre – we would love to return! And finally, a big thank you to all the willing participants who made this one of our most memorable gigs yet.
If you have a conference event coming up and would like to make it a highly memorable success we’d love to hear from you. To book an event or discuss your requirements please contact us – we will be delighted to help!
African drumming circle challenge with Royal Mail Team
African Drumming Workshop With For The Suzuki Violion Group
We have just received some wonderful footage from a big drum circle session last month with staff from Royal Mail. It’s just too good not to share!
The video is the culmination of a workshop where the entire group of 110 delegates split up into 5 smaller teams to device their own rhythm composition. Their compositions were then incorporated into one big group drumming piece.
The drumming session was part of a leadership programme facilitated by People Create. We loved working with People Create – they provided a great brief before the session. The whole leadership programme was about evaluating success not by one’s own personal achievements, but instead by your ability to help colleagues acquire the same level of expertise.
The team break out part of our drumming session was a superb way to bring this to the fore. In team break outs there is always a mix of skill levels in the area of music, drumming and rhythm. As the session progresses, people with either a great idea or skill become the natural leaders in the session. It is their responsibility to communicate their idea in a way that everyone can understand and put effectively into practice. This can be tricky and just having a real flare for music and rhythm does not necessarily mean you will automatically be good at teaching and instructing those around you. What really helps is if a leader is able to empathise and relate to another person’s level of expertise and think flexibly of ways in which that person can understand, overcome obstacles and progress to their same level of acquired expertise.
The video shows some wonderful ideas. We were very impressed, not just by each team’s imagination and energy, by most of all by the way they managed to include everyone! We do hope we can work with People Create and Royal Mail again in the future.
If you would like further information on the sessions we offer, please get in touch.
Free boomwhacker rhythm for primary school teachers
Free boomwhacker rhythm for primary school teachers
It’s nearly Christmas and we like to be organised! So here is a present to all the primary school teachers who might need some inspiration for their class music sessions or impending school concert. Here is a video with a break down of parts from one of our new boomwhacker rhythm pieces:
The rhythm consists of eight rhythm parts and in the video we outline the colours and notation so you get the right harmonic mix. With a bit of practise an upper KS2 class should be able to compile all the parts, but you can take some of the musical dialogues in isolation to provide ample fun music material for younger children. So if you are a teacher from a primary school with a neglected boomwhacker set sitting in your cupboard collecting dust – now is a great reason to take them out and get your children boomwhacking!
We hope you are inspired by this piece. If you are, please feel free to ‘share’, ‘comment’ and ‘like’ the video. In the meantime we have lots more rhythms and tips to share, so do get in touch if you need some Unbeatable Energy action with boomwhackers at your school. We would love to help!
A creative way of teaching Songs: the song helmet
A creative way of teaching Songs: the song helmet
What do you need if you wish to hold up a banner to teach a group the words to an African song, but want to use the same hands to play a backing rhythm on a djembe? Well, you need the new ‘Song Helmet’ of course! Made with only the most authentic materials acquired from the local skip, this is the must have for any self-respecting drum teacher in 2015. Make your order now!
What do you need if you are a drumming teacher and you wish to provide a banner to teach a group the words to an African song , but want to use the same hands that are holding up the banner to play a backing rhythm on a djembe?
Baga Gine
The song being taught was Baga Gine, a West African song by Famadou Konate. It’s a song about a woman who hears some music and can’t help but dance!
A boron ma? Ma boron ma? Yee!
A boron ma? Ma boron ma? Yee!
A boron ma? Ma boron ma? Yee!
E laila! Baga Gine
Fare boron ma woto kui! Eee!
If you would like any more inspiration, please get in touch!
Watch 200 rainbows playing boomwhackers!
Watch 200 rainbows playing boomwhackers!
On Sunday we went down to the gorgeous Trentham Estate in Staffordshire to a host a giant boomwhacker workshop. There were five sessions in total, with 200 rainbow guides and staff there on the day.
This might sound like an enormous number, but in fact everybody did fantastically well and it sounded incredible. As we explained on our last blog, the larger a drumming group is, the easier it is for everybody to stay in time. So the more the merrier!
We were happy to receive thankful comments from the staff!
We had a fantastic time overall, as you can hopefully tell from this picture! All the rainbows and staff loved learning how to use the boomwhackers, and we have to say we’re very happy with the effort they put into their safari-style costumes. Very fitting for an African drumming workshop!