Russian band makes music from salvaged objects
73 views · Published 12 December 2018 · 6:36 · Indexed 19 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(7 Dec 2018) LEADIN: A Russian music group has abandoned traditional instruments, instead making music from salvaged scrap. Fanta Wind believe music can be made out of anything, now they just need to persuade audiences. STORYLINE: Their concert is a triumph - but it's ever so slightly out of the ordinary, because these musicians aren't playing traditional instruments. Look closer and you'll see the band are using old water drums and engine parts they've salvaged from their local neighbourhood. Fanta Wind are on a mission to change the way we listen to music. First, the musicians forage for scrap metal, old water drums - even spare engine parts, anything which might make a good sound. Today it's an old skip. Tomorrow they might find something by the side of a road. It wasn't always this way. When the band first formed five years ago, they played with more conventional instruments. Soon they decided to break from convention and try something a little different. Nowadays they scavenge and hunt around for new sounds. Over the years, they've tuned their ears - and have a tried and tested method to separate the junk from the potential. The "instruments" are selected according to notes and timbres they have. "This one doesn't sound good, we won't take it," says Mikhail Zyablov, as he compares two metal pots. "That one over there sounds great, but it's way too heavy." The band want a rich variety of sounds explains Zyablov. "We select the ones that sound good out of hundreds of iron parts found on dumps." "We choose them according to the notes and timbre. For example an iron barrel has one timbre, while a plastic one sounds different. It's also quite important, there should be a variety of sounds, only then will the result be good." Local car services workers have got used to a strange bunch of people knocking on spare parts and no longer pay any attention to them. The band store all the different objects together and then come together to make their final selection. Band leader Yuri Pavlov explains that music can actually be "extracted" out of anything, one just has to learn the instrument. "What's important is to understand how to do it, where to hit and how, in other words to learn the instrument as you would do with regular drums." Nataliya Mayorova says she searches for sounds even when "off duty", though she admits sometimes the noise annoys her neighbours. "But there's a way to get along with anyone. When they feel our commitment they calm down and there's no more anger left," says Mayorova. So will an audience feel as passionate as the band? "This music takes you from the districts of Latin America to fancy Europe, and then to Asia," says Alexander Pichugin who's watching the show in the Nizhny Novgorod neighbourhood. "And this is all created using the most simple things. How cool is that." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4282b5da0bd057eabbaa5c18265987f1
