Paul writes from NYC to tell me about a fantastic project he's running with kids from various high schools across Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. They build guitars and tin-can amplifiers, then record the results to make a radio show which you can download from the site. Paul says: "They spent a lot more time making the instruments than learning to play and record, which shows in the mp3, but the guitars sound good." Why didn't I do this at school when I was 14?
6/14/2006
Incredibly cool DIY guitar-building school project
Paul writes from NYC to tell me about a fantastic project he's running with kids from various high schools across Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. They build guitars and tin-can amplifiers, then record the results to make a radio show which you can download from the site. Paul says: "They spent a lot more time making the instruments than learning to play and record, which shows in the mp3, but the guitars sound good." Why didn't I do this at school when I was 14?
What a great opportunity for inner-city kids! You gotta check out paul's website and the kid's website and kid radio.
ReplyDeleteI also wish I my school would have had a program like this!!
i listened to the mp3 straight through, and i must say without even the slightest tinge of the ironic that i really enjoyed just about every song. it sound like the instructor not only taught them how to build the guitars & amps, but also helped record in pro tools/live and assemble their songs. there are a couple of instances of very quick stutter-editing that work well, plus a couple of drum beats that are far more complex than they need be! and the weird tuning lends an almost sonic-youth-ish flair to the whole thing which is pretty damn attractive. more please!
ReplyDeleteyay! hrvatski reads musicthing!
ReplyDeleteYar this is very cool indeed, as i teach kids how to write music too but only with software and so on - not from scratch. And damn it IS cool to know I'm reading MT with Hrvatski... [see Mum? I do keep the right type of company]
ReplyDeletei've been reading mt since about "music is only psychedelic mountains" - i comment on here all the time!
ReplyDeleteseriously though, you should all click on the link and listen to the "radio show" mp3 - it's super good...
the weird, serendipitous thing about this is that i just happened to be listening to the y. bhekhirst album for like the umpteenth time when i caught wind of this post; it almost feels like some of these songs could have been on the same record, albeit without the vocals...
I ditto that, it reminded me of Sonic Youth too. On the other hand, most of the students I saw on the pictures were black, and some track features hip-hop-like beats. It's like blues meets noise punk meets hip-hop - INSIDE school and with a teacher STIMULATING it! Crazy!
ReplyDeleteBy the other hand, I disagree that I'd like to have this kind of stuff in school. The main reason I started to like music was because it was the opposite of everything I had in school - I hated school and everything related to it. If I had a class like this in school I'd probably hate music at all.
Listened to the mp3 and looked at the site. it's a wonderful project and I enjoyed many of the songs. interesting rhythms and harmonies/dissonances. great stuff! we should get in touch with the instructor and send along the praise.
ReplyDeletei've been reading mt since about "music is only psychedelic mountains"
ReplyDeleteOld school!
I'd love to see a close-up of some of those guitars. I'd be interested to see how they'd been constructed.
ReplyDeleteNot only a wonderful project experience for (likely)_ underpriveledged kids; remarkable that they seem to have come up with some of the most original fresh designs for guitar bodies I've seen in years!
ReplyDeletePaul G
"I hated school and everything related to it. If I had a class like this in school I'd probably hate music at all."
ReplyDeleteMaybe if you'd had a class like this you wouldn't have hated school that much?
when i heard the third song i thought "wow that could almost be a KFW tune" and then look who reads MT.
ReplyDeleteI'm that kid in the black hoody with the red shirt. I have to say that what i learned was a great experience. Since then i've been playing guitar. Everything was hands-on. He let us do all the work by ourselves, unless if we needed his help of course!
ReplyDelete