WGBH's Tina Martin ( @TinaAroundTown) visits the Beat Bus.
Two artists have joined forces to create an innovative music lesson for kids. They use a non-traditional instrument…and take their show on the road. WGBH’s Tina Martin introduces us to the brain behind the Beat Bus.
The drum sounds coming from these buckets make you feel the beat.
The beat, from the beat bus.
Two locals, Maria Finkelmeier of Kadence Arts and Matt Macarthur of the Record Company, created the Beat Bus.
“We bring electronic bucket drumming to community centers, libraries and schools, said Finkelmeier. “We knew we had a bus and we knew we had tech skills and drumming skills and from there the brainstorming began.”
They came up with moving drum lessons for kids ages seven to twelve.
These are not traditional drums, they may be even better.
Matt Macarthur, a record producer rigged the bus for sound.
“It’s a pretty simple set up actually it’s a computer and a set of buckets, the paint buckets themselves have electronic sensors, those are connected to the interface that’s connected to a computer,” said Macarthur.
“When the computer sees that a bucket is being hit it triggers a sound.”
The Beat Bus idea is only two months old and so far it’s a hit. Matt and Maria are booked for the summer. Traveling all over the state for drum lessons paid for by grants from camps and community centers.
“With a bucket, you hand a young person a stick they know what to do with it, they’re gonna smack it,” said Macarthur.
If you want to book the Beat Bus, find them online at beatbus.org
