Dream Drum Guide

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Introduction The Award Winning Dream Drum is a pitched percussion instrument that is easy and satisfying to play for everyone, from around one year upwards. It can be played: • • • • • • • • • • • •

Solo In pairs With four hands (or more!)

With other percussion instruments Singing along With melodic instruments As a background for story-telling As a sound-cue To encourage active listening As a facilitator of calm As a sound-scape generator And much, much more…

Made from a recycled cooking gas container, the Dream Drum is based on the Tank or “Hank Drum” created by the ingenious American inventor, Denis Havlena. Ours are made in Bali and have an exotic, Balinese tuning.

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Care and Maintenance The Dream Drum is very tough - just wipe it down if it gets dirty and dry it off properly if it gets wet. The only things to watch out for are that the paint may chip if hit with sharp metal objects and the keys may go out of tune if they are bashed very hard.

If your drum should become very “distressed”, it can be re-sprayed (by someone who knows what they’re doing) using car quality paint and you can re-tune any key by sticking one or more small magnets on the under-side. The closer the magnet is to the open end of the key, the bigger will be the shift downwards in pitch. The children will be fascinated to experiment with this!

You can view videos of these quick start activities here

Or in the search bar on www.youtube.com put Soundchildren the dream drum playlist and click ‘view full playlist’ 2

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Playing the Dream Drum Teachers/Practitioners Note There really are no right or wrong ways to approach playing the Dream Drum. You can simply place it where the children can access it and let them create their own Dream Drum story as they go along. Or you can use the suggestions in this booklet, which are tried and tested approaches.

But first, throw away any preconceived ideas about musical instruments as none of them apply to the Dream Drum. And before you present the drum to the children it’s probably worth experimenting just a little yourself . . .

1. Make yourself comfortable.

2. Whether on the floor or at a table, sit the Dream Drum on the doughnut-shaped ‘Sonan’ (made from banana leaves and used in Bali for balancing objects to be carried on the head).

The Sonan allows the sound to come out from the bottom of the drum so you won’t need the Sonan if you sit with the drum in your lap.

3. There are 9 differently pitched notes, including the 8 ‘tongues/keys’ and the centre point of the drum. The smaller the tongue/key, the higher the pitch.

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4. You can use the supplied beaters to vary the sounds, and you can find or make some of your own.

5. Playing with your hands: Use your fingertips and ‘flick’ or bounce them off the keys (as if the keys are hot). See our Dream Drum videos on our YouTube Channel: Soundchildren The Dream Drum Playlist'.

6. Playing chords: If you play 2 or 3 (or more) notes together, you will make some interesting sounding chords.

Altering the Dream Drum sound quality (“timbre”) Tying a piece of material around the midrif of the drum will change the sound. Try using different materials - thicker and thinner fabrics, Bungee straps, tights, scarves . . .

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Special Note for Early Years Settings • Young children will enjoy exploring the Dream Drum so all you really need to show them is the basic techniques of using hands or the beaters provided.

• If you want to, use some of the suggestions in the next few pages and play along with the children.

• Simply playing a steady beat on one tongue and letting the children play along gives instant group improvisation!

• How about using the Dream Drum during story time as a sound effects generator?

• Maybe have the children accompanying your story or you accompanying their story telling?

Remember! via soundchildren.com you can:

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Games and Activities Tip: Teacher ‘models’ each activity when it is first introduced; this provides a clear starting point.

Another approach is to simply facilitate without instruction. Explore what works for you.

Solo Activities “Everyone look at me!” Great for impromptu performance, taking turns, or as a reward…

High, Low Roundabout - one player with one stick plays around the Dream Drum in a circle, finishing by tapping the centre of the drum. Repeat in the opposite direction.

Do it several times. How fast can you go? How slow can you go?

What changes if you use a different stick? (How does a different beater affect the sound quality?) Everyone else listens and reflects observations back...

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In Pairs Stimulate non-verbal communication and conversation with Call and Response activities…

• Swapping the Leader - decide who will start this simple call and response activity. After a few goes, the previous follower becomes leader and vice versa. How accurate can you be as ‘follower? How clear can you be as leader?

Can you get to the point where there is no leader or follower – simply a conversation?

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• With Four Hands or Even More! - sit around the Dream Drum in a small group.

Take two keys each and play them either together or singly, taking turns with someone else. Which notes sound or feel good together [harmony]? Which sound odd [discordant]?

What constitutes a cacophony [a discordant mixture/mess of sounds or noise]?

• With Other Percussion Instruments - the Dream Drum can be the pulse [steady rhythm or beat] or it can play between each pulse/beat.

• Tick-Tock, One O’ Clock - let a percussion instrument play the ‘Tick’ and the Dream Drum play the ‘Tock.’ This activity is good for active listening, anticipation, taking turns and sustaining a beat. Once the beat is established, the group can chant “Tick tock, one o’ clock” – in time to the beat all the way through to twelve.

• Row Your Dreamboat - let the Dream Drum play a two-tone pulse [like a bass drum or a clock] whilst you sing ‘Row Row Row Your Boat, Gently Down the Stream, Merrily Merrily Merrily Merrily, Life is but a Dream....DRUM! [all clap on “Drum!”]

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• Singing Along - make up a Dream Drum song and sing along. Or lead the line with a Dream Drum melody, responding with sung phrases...

You can play ‘Ding Dang Dong!’ on the Dream Drum so, if you’re feeling adventurous, you could attempt ‘Frere Jacques’. Use other percussion to keep the beat or even play ‘Ding Dang Dong’ on the Dream Drum all the way through.

• With Melodic Instruments - what other tuned instruments can be played with the Dream Drum? What feels like it fits and what feels like it clashes?

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In a call and response manner, call one note with the Dream Drum and respond with a chime bar.

Call with the Dream Drum, respond with a guitar pluck, call with the Dream Drum, and respond with piano and so on. Sometimes the notes might have the same pitch – if this happens, all cheer!

Don’t worry exactly which other melodic instruments to use – any will do. You can use a kazoo, an ocarina, a harmonica, a recorder, an electric keyboard, an iPad or a Sound Children Gamelan instrument, for example.

• As a Background for Story-telling - soft music and sound effects to indicate characters or events at circle time...

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Signature Tunes Select a character and let the Dream Drum represent the character. Each time the character shows up in the story, play the dream drum (this creates a ‘leitmotif’ or character’s ‘signature tune’).

Take it a step further: if the character is running, play fast, if dilly-dallying, play soft and light etc.

Find simple variations of ways to play the Dream Drum for the character. This can help to introduce a multitude of playing styles and more importantly, a broader musical appreciation, rather than a one-dimensional ‘hit and that’s it’ experience of making music. This activity can also help to increase the engagement and attention of the whole group, who will love to guess what sounds, might accompany the character next.

As a Sound-Cue A certain note sequence and style of playing could announce lunch-time, story-time, quieten down etc...

Getting Quieter With no instruction or pre-warning, as the group are settling down after a break, play the Dream Drum at the level of current activity and volume.

After a few moments at this level, become 11

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gradually quieter until all in the room follow.

Then come to a stop and let everyone enjoy a short silence. This activity is similar to the ‘mood matching’ approach used in music therapy and helps to establish the Dream Drum’s other qualities and uses.

To Encourage Active Listening, What if?

• We submerge the Dream Drum in a bowl of water so that only the keys are poking above the surface and then play it?

• What if we pour out more of the water?

• What if we tie a scarf around the Dream Drum?

• What happens if we tie a thicker scarf around the drum?

• What if we sit the Dream Drum on a big box and play it?

• What if we put it on a smaller box?

• How long does a note last?

The Dream Drum really lends itself to a creative sound-play approach, which in turn can successfully stimulate reflection and discussion...

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As a Facilitator of Calm Soft, warm, rich tones unrivalled by any other classroom instrument…

• Using the softest beater, tap the dream drum softly and in a slow rhythm until the whole room is calm • Or with the softest beaters, play some notes and pause, play some notes and pause, play some notes and pause. Let each pause be long enough to stimulate inquiry or curiosity. Slow your rhythm down gradually. What happens to the environment?

As a Sound-Scape Generator Replace events and characters from stories with representative note sequences or tones. Use to ‘set the scene’ and ‘carry the journey’ through a soundscape.

Simple Sound-Scape The Dream Drum represents a lovely, calm sunny day. Keep playing randomly. Along comes wind and clouds – perhaps soft shakers and shaky eggs?

Then comes a loud thunderstorm – maybe thunder drums, rain-sticks and stamping on the floor or loud shakers? Now the wind returns and gradually blows away the storm. Out comes the sunshine [Dream Drum] all over again.

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Challenge: The Three Bears Daddy Bear could be the Big Keys/Tongues on the Dream Drum, Mummy Bear is big and small keys, Baby Bear is only small keys.

Big bowl of porridge could be a large shaker; medium a medium shaker and the small bowl a little shaky egg.

Goldilocks could be a wind chime or a chime bar.

Big chair could be... you get the idea.

Read through the story and have fun playing your character. N.B. Characters/events can be played by groups and not just limited to individuals.

After a few practices, begin to drop the words of the story and perhaps replace them with gestures [like a conductor]. At this stage what will fascinate as much as the sequence of events, is the array of sounds and the piecing together of representative sounds with images of the characters and events in each child’s imagination. We are using musical/sound symbols rather than words – which is great fun and great mental stimulation.

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The creative and reflective possibilities are endless…

• You can play it inside and outdoors • You can even let the rain play on it whilst you put it on top of a box outside, Let the children shelter under a canopy and listen for the sounds and patterns produced by the rain. Even put it under a tree in the rain, then go and shake a mass of raindrops off a branch for extra interest.

RECORD – RECORD – RECORD! Record your sessions and play them back. This always encourages reflection and discussion around music and sound-making, developing greater awareness, appreciation and enjoyment.

And do send choice recordings or video clips to us as we’d be delighted to put them up on the website!

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The elements of music Pulse: The underlying beat that holds the playing together and provides a foundation for doing all sorts of things on top. It can be a single repeated note/beat or a repeated pattern of several notes/beats.

If there are two or more players, one can play the pulse whilst the other(s) play patterns around it. A solo player can use one hand to play the pulse and the other to play other patterns.

Melody: A sequence of differently pitched notes. Hitting different notes (each tongue on the Dream Drums has a different pitch) creates a melody. Which sequences sound and feel good to you?

Tempo: The speed of the pulse. Changing the tempo is as simple as speeding up or slowing down. Try doing this randomly. How does that feel? Now double the rate of the initial pulse. How does that feel? Slow the pulse right down and so on.

Dynamics: The word musicians use to describe the volume of the sound produced: loud, quiet and everything in-between. Play softly, building to a loud volume, revert suddenly back to soft. That’s playing with dynamics. How does it feel? What happens to you? Through dynamics we can change excitement to calm, anticipation to relief and so on. Great fun!

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Timbre: (pronounced “tam-ber”) The particular quality of the sound produced by an instrument. Using different beaters or finger tap force will change the sound quality produced by the Dream Drum. Changing the timbre will change the feel of a piece of music. For example, calling the group to lunch using a hard beater sets a different tone than using gentle fingertip tapping to settle the group down for circle time.

Texture: Adding other instruments, such as rainsticks, ocean drums, egg shakers and other sound-makers, as well as singing, chanting or speaking will shape the texture of the overall sound.

Structure: The shape of a song or piece of music. Simple structures can be fun. For example a 3-note introduction, followed by a 7-note middle, and ending with a loud ‘Bong!’ is a simple structure for a song, music piece or sound-cue. The structure of a classic song is usually a combination of verse, chorus, verse, chorus and may also have an end part. Experiment, experiment, and then experiment some more!

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Dream Drum Activities These are great fun activities for; • Listening • Anticipation • Taking Turns • Timing • Focus and Concentration • Beat Competency • Language Development • Communication and Discussion • Call and Response • Exploration and Discovery • Developing Fine Motor Skills • Calming • Stimulating In the gird notation below, 1 column = 1 beat Activity 1

Cobbler, Cobbler

Cobbler, Cobbler, mend my DING! Get it done by half-past DING Because my toes are peeking DING Cobbler, Cobbler mend my DING! 18

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Activity 2.1

Three Blind DINGs!

Different ways to play with this much-loved rhyme. How about tapping at the end of each line, at the beginning, or in the spaces. Each offers its own particular challenge. Tap on the RED words.

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2

3

Three

Blind

See

4

1

2

3

Mice

Three

Blind

Mice

How they

Run

See

How they

Run

..all run

After the

Farmer’s

Wife

...Cut off...

Tails with..

Carving

...ever you

See such..

Thing in your

Life as

Three

Blind

Mice

4

1

2

3

4

Knife

Activity 2.2 1

2

3

Three

Blind

Mice

Three

Blind

Mice

See

How they

Run

See

How they

Run

..all run

After the

Farmer’s

Wife

...Cut off...

Tails with..

Carving

...ever you

See such..

Thing in your

Life

Three

Blind

Mice

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4

Knife

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Activity 3.1

Top ‘n’ Tail

Begin and end each line with a Dream Drum Ding to replace the words.

At, “they all ran after the farmer’s wife,” go back to simply pausing or ending the line with a Ding.

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2

3

Three

Blind

See

4

1

2

3

Mice

Three

Blind

Mice

How they

Run

See

How they

Run

..all run

After the

Farmer’s

Wife

...Cut off...

Tails with..

Carving

...ever you

See such..

Thing in your

Life

Three

Blind

Mice

4

Knife

Activity 3.2 In the Spaces 1

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3

4

1

2

3

4

Three

Blind

Mice

Ding

Three

Blind

Mice

Ding

See

How they

Run

Ding

See

How they

Run

Ding

..all run

After the

Farmer’s

Wife

...Cut off...

Tails with..

Carvin g

Knife

...ever you

See such..

Thing in your

Life

Three

Blind

Mice

Ding

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How about tapping only on “Three Blind Mice” with ‘Ding Ding Ding’, for example?

There are many ways in which to extend and develop this particular rhyme.

Humpty Dumpty would be a good rhyme for ‘Dream Drum dinging’ too!

Indeed, any other nursery rhyme or class action song you can think of which has a definitive ending word would work. [Those with one syllable such as ‘fish’ or ‘shoe’ or ‘mice’ are easier, as any words with two syllables can be confusing.]

Activity 4.1

Hickory Dickory Ding

This will provide a little variation and increase the intensity of listening and anticipatory skills.

“Hickory Dickory Ding The Mouse ran up the Ding The Clock struck one – Ding [Try pausing here to allow the Ding to ring, rather than letting the verse continue as it normally would] The Mouse ran down – Ding Hickory Dickory Ding Additionally: Now repeat a sequence of DingDongs on the dream drum to replace the “Ticktocks” we might usually sing.

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Activity 5.1 A Sailor Went to Ding Ding Ding Let’s learn how to tap three times in succession, evenly on the beat.

“A sailor went to Ding Ding Ding To see what he could Ding Ding Ding...” and so forth.

Activity 5.2 London Bridge is Ding Ding Ding” This song requires increased attention and timing skill, especially when we get to “My Fair La-dy” “London Bridge is Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

Ding Ding

London Bridge is Ding Ding Ding My Fair DingDing” You may find it helpful to keep the underlying beat [pulse] on a different drum or by clapping.

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Grid for Activity 5.2 Tap the Dream Drum on the RED words 1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

London

Bridge is

Falling

Down

Falling

Down

Falling

Down

London

Bridge is

Falling

Down

My

Fair

Lady

Activity 6

Pat-a-Cake

This timing is different to the previous songs. It is called 3/4 (“three-four”) or waltz time.

1

2

3

1

2

3

Pat

a

cake

Pat

a

cake

Ba----

----

ker’s

Man

Bake

me

a

Ca---

---ke

as

Fast

as

you

Can

Prick

it

and

Stick

it

and

Mark

it

with

B

Put

it

in the

O--

Ba---

by

and

Me

and ven

You can repeat this activity with Ride a Cock Horse, which is much more of a challenge due to the nature of the phrasing.

Some of the more confident Dream Drummers will have fun trying this.

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Activity 7 1

2

Incey Wincey Spider 3

1

In

cey

Up

the

Down Washed

the

Out

2

3

1

Win

cey

Spi

Wa

ter

Spout

Came

the

Rain

Spi..

der

Out

Came

the

Sun

Dried

up

All

the

Rain

In

cey

Win

cey

Spi

Up

the

Spout

a

gain

2

3

1

2

der

climbed

and shine

and and

der

Sometimes this tempo [timing or speed] is known as 6/8 (“six-eight”) time, depending on how fast you sing it. It bears a similarity to Ride a Cock Horse.

If you’d like further inspiration, contact me: craig@soundchildren.co.uk and I’ll be very happy to send you more ideas.

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