Reviews by Students of Hatch
School
Find out about Hatch
School, Oak Park, Illinois
Mrs. Maureen Jeffries, Hatch School music teacher, asked her
students to visit The Museum of Music Inventions on the
Internet in the school's computer lab. Their assignment: write
reviews of your favorite instruments.
Teachers: Send your students' reviews to: erexford@musicinventions.org
My favorite instruments were: Silver
Harp, Alien Bongos, and Chime-Chime.
They were made by kids all over the country. I liked the Silver
Harp because the inventor used her imagination and used a
different material than rubber bands. She used special wire.
I also like the Alien Bongos. These are
handmade bongos with cardboard alien heads on them. They can make
more than one sound.
My last and final favorite instrument was the Chime-Chime.
This was made of old pipes, fishing line, and paint. The kid
explained that on his/her instrument, the shorter pipes made a higher
sound, and the longer pipes made a lower sound.
This was a fun site to visit.
By Kara F.
The Wing Wang Whistle is a very
small and tiny instrument. It is a test tube covered with paper and
it has stars all over it. It cannot produce more than one pitch
because it's all one size. Bells On a
Bike is a bike covered with spray paint and bells. It looks
REALLY cool! I like it because it is very creative. Materials: a
small bike, bells, nails. and spray paint. This instrument can
produce more than one pitch because it has different sized bells. The
Potband was really unique!! It had soooooo
many different colors! It was made of lots of painted pots with
plastic wrap all over the top. It was really COOL!
By Joan S.
Alien Bongos are made from foam core, oatmeal
boxes, bells, green and black paint. It is an interesting art piece
and an instrument that wasn't just slapped together before school. I
like this instrument because it has a nice use of color and it is
very interesting.
The Silver Harp is made from
a bulletin board, copper wire, special wire, aluminum foil, and
tacks. The Silver Harp is an instrument that is not too hard, but it
does take a good half hour to make. It is pretty, doesn't seem
impossible and it's made by a kid.
The Tree of Rhythm is made from
an interesting piece that is nicely put together. It is very
decorative, it has a nice amount of color and I wouldn't mind having
one myself.
By Milan C.
My favorites are the Silver
Harp, the Dulcijo, and the Xylostrummer.
The Harp is made out of a
bulletin board, copper pipes, special wire, aluminum foil, and tacks.
I like it because I like the sound of a harp. It looks like a harp,
but more square. I learned on the Internet that the Silver
Harp can produce more than one pitch.
The Dulcijo is made of wood, a cookie
tin, and banjo strings. You play with a stick and your fingers. It is
in the String Family. Yes, it can produce more than one pitch. I
found that off of Netscape Navigator.
The Xylostrummer is like a xylophone.
I like the name of the instrument. You hang the instrument from your
thumb, then use your pencil. I found out it has more than one pitch
from the Internet.
By Deann G.
The first instrument I picked was Robo Rock
by Eric L. I picked it because it was the only one that was an
instrument and a toy at the same time.
The second instrument I picked was the Water
Drum by Jamie H. I picked it because it looked cool. I also liked
it because it was a water instrument. It is made out of a metal bowl
filled with water. You hit it with a wooden spoon.
The third instrument I picked was The
Purifier by Adrienne D. I picked it because it was unique. It is
made out of a wrapping paper tube, sewing pins, and rice. It makes a
rattling sound when you tilt it.
By Margaux
Vendar was one of my favorite
instruments. I liked it because it looked cool. Ding-ga's
was another one of my favorites...it looked neat because it was
spray-painted gold. It was made of coke bottles and beans. I also
liked the Alien Bongos.
By Danny T.
My first favorite instrument is the BoBo. It
has tiny drums and maracas. Next, I like the Rain
Stick. It has little pebbles in it and it makes a cool sound.
Finally, I like the Alien Bongos. The
Alien Bongos are like they have the alien
heads on it and they are black and green with little lids on the
top.
By Joshua N.
My three favorite instruments are the Simbos,
Xylostrummer and the Alien
Bongos. The Simbos are 6 Coca Cola bottles each with different
amounts of water in them. You can make six different sounds with
them. They were made by Peter B.
The Xylostrummer has ten different
metal bars on it all lined up. You hang it from your thumb and hit it
with a pencil. It was made by Zac J.
The Alien Bongos are two oatmeal cans with
black paper around them. Then there is green paper with an alien
face. It was made by Jake N.
By Kevin S.
The Vitar is an instrument made by
a student at Holmes School in Oak Park, Illinois. The Vitar is made
of wood, strings, and metal tuners. It was purple in color and I
really thought it was pretty. That's why I chose it. The Guitar
is also a very pretty instrument. It is made up of the same things as
the Vitar because they are both string instruments. This instrument
was made by an eleven year old boy from Longfellow School. Probably
my favorite instrument of all is the Pringle
Can. All that they used to make it was a Pringle can. I like this
instrument because it reminds me of food.
By Nia B.
Instruments Kids Made
I liked the instrument the silver
drum because it was made from a regular silver bowl and a regular
wooden spoon. How you use the instrument is you use the wooden spoon
and bang the silver bowl and it makes a silver sound. I also like the
Thingamajig. It was a long bottle and
it was decorated and filled with beads. When you shake it, it makes a
shakey sound. The Monophono is a mixed
flute and a trumpet blown into so that it can make a sound. The
instrument probably plays both high and low pitches.
By Anastaisia B.
The first instrument that I saw was "The
Rexton". It looked similar to a guitar. "The
Rexton" was a blue box that had strings to pluck or strum. The
strings were made from rubber bands. The blue box also had a few
decals on it. The "Smiley
Shakers" are kind of ugly, but they probably make an ok sounding
noise. The "Shakers" were yellow like a smiley face. It looked as if
they were painted yellow, with the eyes and mouth painted black. They
also had some glitter on the sides. The "Vitar"
was an interesting instrument. The "Vitar"
was a mix of a violin and a guitar. It looked like it was painted
either a purple color or a blue color. It had strings placed across
the opening of the "Vitar". Over
all, I think this was the best instrument of all of them. I think
that everything looked like it could play music and that some were
even better than I could do. Out of the selection, I think "Vitar"
was the best and most creative.
By Colleen O.
I like the Tree of Rhythm
because it looked cool. I think this instrument can play different
pitches. This instrument is made of rubber bands. I like the
Wing Wang Whistle because it
looks cool. I don't think this instrument can play different pitches.
This instrument is made of wood. I also like the Drumapluck
because it looks cool. This instrument can play different
pitches. It is made of tin and rubber bands.
By Joseph B.