Walking by the Middletown High School band room in the past month, students and teachers were likely to hear the clangs and clashes of wooden drumsticks colliding with sheer metal as members of the school’s percussion ensemble practiced their latest piece.
But this time it wasn’t the traditional steel drums, gong or marimba making the music; it was the sound of large aluminum trashcans.
The trashcans have become the ensemble’s newest instrument as they prepared a non-traditional piece for the school’s May 13 spring concert.
Band Director Matt Pagel, who joined the MHS faculty this year, said percussionists are an integral part of almost every musical performance group, and the ensemble allows students to develop new percussion skills while embracing different challenges. Trashcans represent just one new challenge.
“It teaches the same musical concepts we always go over, but in a different way,” he said.
Inspired by the popular dance troupe “Stomp,” which uses the bodies of its members and everyday objects to create a musical performance, Pagel said the piece allows students to have fun and enjoy using a new instrument they otherwise never would have played.
He said while this is the first time trashcans have been used, the same group of students incorporated body movements, like whistling and snapping, in their recent March concert.
“The students were excited because a lot of them have seen ‘Stomp’ and haven’t had an opportunity to anything like it before,” Pagel said.
He said the group worked for a month to get the trashcan piece just right. In the classroom, students used practice pads to learn each rhythm before moving to the trashcan itself. And aside from playing on their own cans, they also learned to play on the trashcan next to them, creating a visual treat for audiences.
Pagel said not only does the piece allow the students to become well-rounded percussionists, it also makes for a fun performance to watch.
“It’s a nice change of pace in the program as far as the whole concert goes,” he said. “It’s a departure from what people expect. It’s just meant to be fun.”
Senior Stephen Smith, a member of the ensemble who has been playing percussion instruments since he was in fifth grade, said using non-traditional instruments is a good way to perfect a musician’s skills and incorporate them in new ways.
“When you learn any kind of music, it helps you read music, it helps you read rhythm and it gives you more control when you play,” he said. “If you learn anything new, it’s helpful.”
Freshman Rebecca Gillie said she was excited to learn she would be performing a piece like this and would like to continue playing with a variety of instruments.
“It’s nice to explore new ways of making music,” she said. “It would be cool to have different types of instruments at a concert every year.”
