Make Music Day is a day of public music entertainment and immersion sponsored by the National Association of Music Merchants, or NAMM. Inspired by the Fête de la Musique in France, over 700 cities in over 120 countries have joined the celebration, which is on the summer solstice each year. Whether you’re an experienced musician or just a music lover, everyone is invited to play. Prepared with a small production of a drum loop and a few synths, we set up a recording session outside in the middle of Boston’s Copley Square. As people passed by, they stopped to record some takes. They provided parts on an array of instruments as well as with their voices. This is what our producer Freaked Frequency later came up with using those recordings.
We brought as many instruments as we could fit in the tent, from simple percussion to strings and found objects. Here are just a few examples.
Voice and acoustic guitar.
Shakers and other auxiliary percussion.
Break drum and other used car parts, bongos.
This recording project was only half the fun we had at Make Music Day. The other end of our table had some toys set up too, where people could learn to use the software. We set up some Microsoft Surface Pros, three portable MIDI controllers (from Xkey and Akai), and a Korg MS20.
The tent drew attention from passersby, wondering what we set everything up for, and we convinced most of them to try it out! Grown ups and children, musicians and non-musicians alike are drawn to music, and we were happy to help them make their mark on our song. We hope you had a good time at Make Music Day, and we hope you join us again soon.
