Discover new and innovative ways to make music! Thanks to partnerships with several leading companies, people across the country (and around the world) will expand their musical horizons on June 21.
Jump to:
Makey Makey
FarPlay
Jumbie Jams
Makey Makey joins Make Music Day for the first time in 2022. Using this circuit board, plugged into a computer, performers of all levels will turn everyday objects (like bananas) into touchpads and use them to make music.
This year, Makey Makey will supply kits to a dozen Make Music Day chapters, and work with them to devise new, fun ways to incorporate this technology into collaborative music making and learning through play.
Cincinnati, OH
Contact: cincinnati@makemusicday.org
For people who don’t think they can “play” an instrument, this is a completely different way to approach how we typically view music making. Come have fun with an entirely different way of making music!
Kansas City, MO
Location: City Farmers Market
Time: All Day
Contact: nancy@rcwilliamsco.com
Come see what a Banana and a Makey Makey can do!
Madison, WI
Making Music with Makey Makeys
Location: Pinney Library, 516 Cottage Grove Rd, Madison, WI 53716
Time: 12:30 – 2:00 pm
Contact: scott@fradkin.com
17.2m (aka Scott Fradkin) will use Makey Makeys as a midi controller to play with synths and a drum machine. Come learn about electronic music and experience the power and fun of the Makey Makey. 17.2m will both perform an original piece he wrote for Make Music Day and offer drop-in interactive sessions.
Platteville, WI
STEM to STEAM
Contact: nfairchild2@gmail.com
A university professor will lead this hands-on experience explaining the physics of the Makey Makey and allowing participants to do hands-on music creation.
Portland, ME
Rock Music – an interactive sound installation
Leaders: Asha Tamirisa and Jeremy Fink
Location: Post Office Park at the corner of Exchange and Middle Streets
Time: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Contact: jfink2000@gmail.com
What if rocks could sing when you touch them? Unlock the sound of the rock sculpture in Tommy’s Park!
Santa Fe, NM
Contact: SantaFe@makemusicday.org
Sheboygan, WI
Make Music with Cheese and Brats!
Location: Sheboygan Library Downtown
Contact: abby.block@sheboyganwi.gov
Come play music using cheese and brats and the Makey Makey!
Sulphur, OK
Contact: lindsaym@rockprairieproductions.com
Syracuse, NY
Makey Makey Potato Rap
Contact: michaeljohnheagerty@gmail.com
The pride of CNY is a folk-lore foodie item called Salt potatoes that is the “side dish of the region”. Crispyonthemic, our local rapper who raps exclusively about potatoes, will use a Makey Makey to play fingerling potatoes and rap over it as part of the celebrations of the day.
Waunakee, WI
Let’s Makey Makey Some Music!
Location: Waunakee Library
Contact: kwest@waunakee.com
Come experience the magic of making music using technology! Makey Makey stations will be set up at the library, and kids can try various objects and create songs.
During the pandemic, musicians everywhere tried to collaborate over the internet. Unfortunately, on a typical Zoom connection, the delay between the time one person makes a sound and the other one hears it is half of a second – about the same latency as one person shouting to another from across a football stadium – making it impossible to play rhythmic music together.
Recently, groundbreaking new software has solved this issue, reducing the delay so much that musicians around the world can feel like they are in the same room. This year, a leading low-latency audio program, called FarPlay, will be used on Make Music Day for a series of remote jam sessions hosted by jazz pianist Dan Tepfer called “Round Midnight Around the World,” with collaborators in different time zones playing duets of the Thelonious Monk standard.
Participating Musicians Will Include:
Kristin Berardi (Switzerland)
Sam Anning (Australia)
Mike Janisch (UK)
Seigo Matsunaga (Tokyo)
Sophia Bacelar (US)
This project will be broadcast on the Global Livestream for June 21 – catch it throughout the day at volume.com/makemusicday!
Steelpans are the only family of chromatic, acoustic instruments developed in the last century. Invented in Trinidad around the Second World War, they are traditionally handmade from oil drums, and hand-tuned by a small number of master pan tuners.
Although historically hard to come by, steelpans will be found around the country in participatory events and “petting zoos” for Make Music Day thanks to Panyard’s Jumbie Jams, an entry level steel pan designed to be easily playable by anyone.
Atlanta, GA
Steel Pan Alley
Contact: ben@volume.com
Improv Songwriting station featuring Panyard Jumbie Jams
Auburn, CA
Auburn Art Park Music Station
Location: Art Park at 1101 High Street
Contact: april.mayn@gmail.com
Come play at our music station in the Art Park in the center of Downtown Auburn and learn to play the Jumbie Jam led by an experienced percussionist
Appleton, WI
Jumbie Jams with the Building for Kids
Location: Fox Cities Performing Arts Center – Outside
Time: 12:00 – 12:50 pm
Contact: michael.pittman@heidmusic.com
Come Explore the Panyard Jumbie Jam with Building for Kids
Chicago, IL
Panyard Jumbie Jam Workshop on the Riverwalk
Location: Chicago Riverwalk
Contact: aertz@imfchicago.org
Cincinnati, OH
Instrument Petting Zoo
Location: Sawyer Point Riverfront Parks
Time: 4:00 – 10:00 pm
Contact: cincinnati@makemusicday.org
Come try out Panyard Jumbie Jams in the park
Clatsop County, OR
Contact: missusmoose@lonetree.com
Denver, CO
Make Music Day Denver
Location: Downtown Denver
Time: 12:00 – 6:00 pm
Contact: jdelhierro@confluenceministries.org
Fairfield, CT
Drum Circle in Sherman Green
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: Sherman Green Gazebo, Post Road
Contact: loubaurheumann@sbcglobal.net
Drum Circle with Jim LoPresti featuring Panyard Jumbie Jams
Federal Way, WA
Location: Town Square Park
Time: 3:00 – 8:00 pm
Contact: jbarberf@aol.com
Instrument petting zoo featuring Panyard Jumbie Jams
Hartford, CT
Panyard Jumbie Jams at the Library
Location: Hartford Library Downtown, 500 Main St.
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Contact: ARoy@letsgoarts.org
Come try out Panyard Jumbie Jams on Make Music Day!
Houston, TX
Location: Houston City Hall
Time: 11:00 am
Contact: gracie.chavez@houstontx.gov
Kansas City, MO
Musication Station at Union Station
Location: Union Station
Contact: heidi.markle@kcmo.org
Lancaster, PA
Community Steel Pan Instruction and Performance
Location: Binns Park
Contact: MFELancaster@gmail.com
An introduction to the wonders of playing steel pan drums. Come try out Panyard Jumbie Jams in the park with the help of an instructor.
Land O’ Lakes, WI
Play Steel Drums with Jessica Anderson
Location 1: Land O’ Lakes Chamber Parking Lot
Time: 10:30 – 11:00 am
Location 2: Luoto’s Fitness Center Courtyard
Time: 11:00 – 11:30 am
Contact: lolaarts.wi.com@gmail.com
Steel Drum Jam featuring Panyard Jumbie Jams
Marshfield, WI
Jammin’ with Pans
Location: Chestnut Center for the Arts
Time: 12:00 – 4:00 pm
Contact: edie.smazal@gmail.com
We will have three jumbie jams included with our full-size tenor pan drum. One of our volunteers will engage passersby in playing some of the tunes provided by Jumbie Jams.
Milwaukee, WI
Make Music Day Instrument Discovery Zone
Location 1: Milwaukee Public Library – Good Hope Branch
Time: 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Location 2: The Yard at Bayshore
Time: 3:00 – 4:00 pm
Contact: outreach@brassbellmusic.com
Come discover the Panyard Jumbie Jam at the Instrument Discovery Zone on Make Music Day.
New Haven, CT
Kids Percussion Kick-off
Location: West Haven Library
Time: 5:15 pm
Contact: Briana.m.Williams96@gmail.com
An event celebrating drumming as a metaphor for effective communication and collaboration featuring Panyard Jumbie Jams. Come join us and play along!
Orange, CA
Location: City Hall
Time: 2:00 pm
Contact: KimThienLe@Me.com
Percussion Jam featuring Panyard Jumbie Jams
Ridgefield, CT
Contact: jenniferdineen06877@gmail.com
Santa Fe, NM
Rhythm in the Railyard
Location: Santa Fe Railyard
Time: 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Contact: evangalpert@gmail.com
Open percussion jam featuring Panyard Jumbie Jams
Seattle, WA
Contact: brione.rainieravenueradio.world@gmail.com
Sheboygan, WI
Contact: Abby.Block@sheboyganwi.gov
Sulphur, OK
Location: Sulphur Downtown Plaza
Time: 3:00 – 10:00 pm
Contact: lindsaym@rockprairieproductions.com
Live band performances and the opportunity for people to participate in an open-mic type of event using Panyard Jumbie Jams.
Syracuse, NY
Location: Perseverance Park
Contact: michaeljohnheagerty@gmail.com
Drum circle featuring Panyard Jumbie Jams
Tucson, AZ
Drum Circle hosted by Michael Burris of Spirit Music Meetups.org
Location: The House of Bards
Contact: johnbujak.jb@gmail.com
Drum circle featuring Panyard Jumbie Jams