Uncommon Instruments

Cohere Touch

Make Music Day participants from all over the world are invited to join a remote performance of Trevor New’s Cohere Touch, developed through the American Composers Orchestra’s EarShot CoLABoratory program and presented by Make Music Day.

This is a large-scale, remote composition for near unlimited numbers of players connected over a Zoom videoconference, offering an exciting opportunity for global collaboration and creativity in real time, under the direction of composer Trevor New. As performers play, other participants on Zoom can use hand and body movements that impact the music and create on-screen animations.

On June 21, Trevor will be on Zoom from 10:00am until 7:00pm, with a main performance at 2:00pm (all times EDT – New York). RSVP below to join or listen to the performance, or just stop in throughout the day to play with the software and explore the creative potential of the work. 

Click here to see some of the possibilities of this piece.

Makey Makey

Makey Makey joins Make Music Day for the second time in 2023. 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 selected Make Music Day chapters, and work with them closely to devise new, fun ways to incorporate this technology into collaborative music making and learning through play.

Jumbie Jam

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.