Welcome to the Percussion Play Blog
We hope you'll be a regular visitor as we share stories about the instruments we make and the people who play them.
This is where we share our passion for music in the great outdoors! We'll share with you details of exciting new outdoor music projects and designs from around the globe. We'll share with you information about the instruments we sell and a little about the inspiration behind them
Most importantly, this blog is about what we love to do the most - help you create new and exciting ways to bring music to the great outdoors.
Thank you for reading, visiting, commenting and contributing - we’re excited to have you here!
Egg-citing Beats: A Musical Easter Egg Hunt That Teaches Dynamics
Introducing dynamics to young children is an invitation to make some noise and is the perfect subject to take outside and make good use of your outdoor musical instruments.
This music activity is great fun to play at Easter time. It introduces the children to dynamics while they enjoy a chocolate egg hunt. However, you don’t need to use Easter Eggs; other prizes suitable to whatever time of year it is can, of course, be used.
Dynamics refer to how loud or soft a musical passage should be played. Instead of just explaining what dynamics are and teaching the different symbols and abbreviations, going outside with a hands-on activity that demonstrates how dynamics can be used and achieved in music, can only help enhance their knowledge and appreciation (the choccy helps of course!)
Explain how Dynamic levels are a natural indicator for emotional mood. Loud dynamics are associated with turmoil, conflict. Marches, fanfares and triumphal music all tend to be loud. Soft dynamics are...
Guide to Building the Perfect Musical Garden
Whether you are planning a new interactive sensory garden, or making an existing landscape more sensory-rich, there are so many benefits – happily all relatively easy to achieve. The design and layout of your musical garden, if you get it right, should provide a stimulating journey through the senses, with opportunities for seeing, smelling, hearing, touching and tasting.
Typically, sensory gardens are built in schools, colleges, children's centres, special needs units, hospitals and nursing homes. This shows the importance of the sensory garden in providing both a place to learn and play, as well as a place to relax and recuperate in peaceful surroundings.
Click Here to download our Musical Garden Guide.
Planting Firstly, consider the planting. All plants used should be child-friendly – no poisonous, sharp or prickly ones!
Ensure you’ll have year-round interest by planting lots of shrubs and perennials...
Wrap Up Warm and Get Outside: Why the music shouldn’t stop for winter
On these cold, dark wintery days, weather is the thing most likely to keep kids from playing outside. It is very easy to turn up the thermostat, lose track of our ‘screen time’ and minimise our exposure to the elements.
However, being out in the cold fresh air for most children is a wonderful and uplifting experience and they are often less fazed about challenging weather conditions than adults are.
Winter is a wonderful time to be outside and as the daylight hours are shorter it is especially important that children experience creative outdoor play during their school day. Percussion Play’s musical instruments are designed to withstand the elements and live outside all year to help create an outdoor environment that supports young children's health, well being, development and learning. Installing musical instruments in your outdoor setting will incentivise kids to venture out into the cold weather and try something new.
Children will love the fact that music can be used...
Percussion Play Instruments Feature in US Town 'Battle of the Bands'!
Percussion Play have been working with Symphoria - the musician-owned and operated successor to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra - to create permanent outdoor musical instrument 'stations' in three locations across downtown Syracuse. Two of the sound stops (#SyrSoundStops) have been installed already in Columbus Circle and Lemp Park. The third location will be the Everson Plaza at the Everson Museum.
Started as a partnership between Symphoria and the Connective Corridor, the project has expanded to include the Everson Museum of Art, the SU Setnor School of Music, the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County. Working together, their aim is to distinguish downtown Syracuse as a uniquely creative and collaborative environment, and a fun place to live, work and visit.
Prior to being installed in their final 'homes', Symphoria have been showcasing the instruments around town over the past couple of weeks, demonstrating how our tuned instruments are designed for year-round music-making, are...
Percussion Play says 'Namaste' India
We're delighted to share with you photos of the first play area in India to feature Percussion Play instruments thanks to our representation by the great people at Pan India Play.
Based in Pune, Maharashtra and established in 1996, Pan India have been providing play solutions to a wide spectrum of projects from schools, residential developments, holiday resorts, local parks and city parks.
From consultancy through to installation, Pan India offers a full range of playground equipment and services, but was lacking musical performance solutions.
Rashida Sabbir, Director of Pan India Play tells us how this gated community in Mumbai came to choose outdoor musical instruments for their project:
"Initially I had met with the developer to discuss play equipment, however when I showed the director the musical instruments, he just loved them so much that he wished to incorporate at least a couple of them in the play area."
"Outdoor musical instruments are unheard of to most in India...
New distributor partnership in Lithuania
Last week we were delighted to welcome a new distributor to our team. Meet Eglė Prieskienienė from UAB 'Dego', who is the brand new distributor of Percussion Play Outdoor Musical Instruments in Lithuania.
Visiting our workshop last week, Eglė met the whole team and was introduced to the full range of instruments. We want our distributors to be well-equipped with all the information and knowledge they need in order to provide the same level of excellent service we would provide to customers. Therefore, to enable Eglė a successful start she received some pretty intensive product training over the two day visit.
We wish her and the team at UAB 'Dego' the best success!
https://www.facebook.com/uabdego.lt/
Tel: +370 616 19216
Email: info@dego.lt
