From Trash to Tunes

Gr 4 Up—Dr. Dennis Waring, an enthusiastic musician, is eager to share his love of creating instruments from items that are generally found in a hardware store. The first portion of the program features Waring seated in front of a table display of his homemade music makers with an audience of elementary grade students. He briefly discusses how he made each string, wind, trumpet-type, and percussion variety, and demonstrates them by performing a folk tune. Also mentioned are music vocabulary terms such as "resonance," "strum," and "mallet." The children are happily involved throughout the program by either answering questions or trying out the instruments. The rest of the DVD is divided into 30- to 60-minute segments showing Waring in his workshop demonstrating the fabrication of instruments. He assumes that the average household will have a workbench and a dovetail saw, a construction stapler, an awl, and a hammer, which seems a stretch. He states that other tools and parts can be easily purchased—no doubt, by an adult! While many maneuvers could be carried out by children, there are others that would need close adult supervision. For instance, he shows how he has cut nicks with a utility knife in a PVC pipe to make a whistle. This is an enlightening and entertaining production, and viewers will learn how to make a fun assortment of instruments using the ideas demonstrated.—Jennifer Ward, Albany Public Library, NY