Kids can drum on pots and pans and sound good, and the RhythManiacs have found unusual items to drum with too (and keep out of the trash).
Music is not usually something that you think of as being eco-friendly or not. Food, understandably, can be eco-friendly, and fashion can be green, but it takes some creativity to figure out how music can be made more organic. One way to make musical performances more sustainable is to use renewable energy (such as human cyclists, for example) to power them, but what about making the music itself more sustainable? What is the carbon footprint for making a piano or a guitar?
An all-female group of drummers in Israel, RhythManiA, has been exploring ways to make their instruments and their music more eco-friendly and have started to perform their show Green Drumming – In Sync With the Environment using all upcycled drums.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyxQSxjR-M4[/youtube]
The show presents the possibility of using everyday items as musical instruments. Some of the instruments include buckets, trash cans, barrels, broomsticks, pots, plastic bags, and more.
RhythManiA hopes that their use of humor, creativity and rocking beats will help promote their green message. They also hope to inspire children around the world to start playing instruments and maybe take drum lessons on a ktak.
Green Drumming is performed at schools, nurseries, and can be performed on the street as well. To date, the show has been performed all over Israel.
RhythManiA’s performed at the historic Turkish train station in Tel Aviv which has become a hang for brides-to-be as well as kids.
Update 2020, their site is down, so we removed link.
Read more about eco-friendly music:
Don’t Panic, It’s Organic… Music: Non-Electronic Concert in Tel Aviv
Putting the Pedal to the Heavy Metal
VIDEO: Making Music From the Sun
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
