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The beat goes on at Dobbins Elementary
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .The Youngstown State University Percussion Collective introduced themselves at their March 23 show at Dobbins Elementary. The collective includes YSU students Ed Davis (left), Dustin May, Dylan Kollat, Keith Born, Nick Sainato, and Matt Hayes (right).
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .During the YSU Percussion Collective’s performance of “Head Talk” at Dobbins on March 23, collective member Nick Sainato hit a drum head with mallets, sticks, and even dropped the head against the ground to create unique sounds.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .The Youngstown Percussion Collective created a “Dobbins Drum Circle” with the help of a two Dobbins students from each grade. The musicians of the collective gave each spectator at the show a sound to make, either with their hands or with instruments, which helped make a song when pieced together.
By SARAH FOOR
As they practiced and prepared for their performance at Dobbins Elementary on March 23, the members of the Youngstown Percussion Collective made themselves heard throughout the school with the rumbling beats of a bass drum, the twinkle of xylophones and the ratchet of guiras, or hollow gourds with notches carved in their sides.
By the time Dobbins students were brought to their auditorium that afternoon, interest was already piqued in the sounds provided by the YPC.
The group, supervised by YSU director of percussion studies Glenn Schaft, is a mix of university undergraduate and graduate music students who celebrate the percussive arts through performances, composition, research and educational outreach.
“Our ultimate goal with the collective is to have my students invested and involved in the process of making music on all levels,” Schaft explained.
The musicians visiting Dobbins on March 23 included Ed Davis, Dustin May, Keith Born, Matt Hayes, Dylan Kollat and Nick Sainato. The group performed six impressive selections that included a wealth of percussion instruments, including bass drums, bongos, drum heads, wooden gourds and glass jars, xylophones, tambourines, and even a steel drum.
Between performances, the musicians explained the ins and outs of their instruments and stressed that music, and especially percussion, can be made anywhere.
“Most of us started out hitting jars or pots and pans with spoons, that is really why we’re here today. Anything can be a percussion instrument if you want it to be — stomping and clapping your hands are the start of great rhythms,” Davis explained.
The group invited select Dobbins students to participate in a Dobbins drum circle and the volunteers as well as the audience were invited to keep different beats that transformed into a collective, thundering tune.
Even before the group song, Schaft said he was excited to see Dobbins students keeping the beat of their own accord with their hands and feet.
“Seeing the kids moving and keeping rhythm captures the spirit of what we do. Music is the universal language and that it is wonderful that anyone can do it, no matter what age,” he said.