This is what my adorable hubby wrote this week on our family blog about my favorite new instrument, which arrived at our house over the weekend:"Joy recently purchased the coolest musical instrument you can buy for your child. I'm not kidding. These things are so addictive you'll be wrestling your child for the chance to play with them.
They are nothing more than plastic tubes that have be cut so when you hit them they produce fixed pitches on the diatonic scale. So when you hit the red tubes, you get a "C," the orange one gives you a "D," and so on. And when I say "hit," I mean "hit." You get to smack these things on the wall, the floor, the table, your arm, your child's head, anything really and you get a note. Whack three together and you can make a chord. Sure it comes with mallets, but where's the fun in that?
Best part? The name - Boomwhackers! Doesn't it just make you want to whack the tubes and yell "BOOM!"? Ok, maybe it's just me, but Sam's doing it too.
You also get a black plastic cap that drops the pitch produced an octave, a cap they call the "Octavator," which when combined with Boomwhackers makes these things sound like they will either save the world or take it over (The Octavator is attacking with his Boomwhackers! Take Cover!")"
He was more than a little excited, especially because these funky little tubes reminded him greatly of Harry Partch, wild and wacky musician and instrument builder of the 20th century, who also happens to be the subject of hubby's dissertation in musicology.
Truthfully, his enthusiasm is completely justified. Just hear a sample of some compositions written expressly for Boomwhackers. And then come see my new set this weekend at our Family Music Day (which I'll write more about tomorrow). I also suspect they'll start showing up in some of the Young Child classes soon.
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