Ms. Camardese and I have been inspired by these interests and have been looking into the idea of creating our own group instruments for everyone to use. These afternoons we have been getting together to explore this idea of materials and sound. Starting with metal, the loudest material we could think of!
We chose familiar materials like keys, pans, tongs, and triangles. This gave the children the chance to reflect on what they knew about these sounds already. We compared them with materials we did not know much about like tuning forks, wind chimes, and metal xylophones.
While asking the children to describe their thoughts, we discovered it was harder than it looked. The children just enjoyed the moment, testing out different sounds with different materials. Metal pans made a clanging, while tuning forks made more of a ringing sound. We could hear the vibration! Overall, the metal sound was loud and sharp.
It was hard to describe with our words, but I could already see the children starting to form their opinions on what materials they liked the most. In order to create instruments, we need to know what type of materials produce what kind of sounds. Our intention is to explore other materials and what kind of sound relationships can be formed.
