Musician, Child Educator and Animal Rights Activist Brandon Blake of @bonustimemusic went live on Facebook during the NAMM 2021 virtual Show "Believe in Music" Week to demonstrate his unique way of working with the WE PLAY WELL TOGETHER family of instruments including: Hokema Kalimbas, Metal Sounds Tongue Drums, and feeltone Monochords & Tinka Tongs - combined with electric bass and live looping. We think you'll find this video truly inspirational and will hopefully give you ideas of how you can utilize your instrument in intriguing combinations. 

Brandon is truly an innovative musician - having created a specialized playing technique with the Hokema Kalimba Sansula in which he taps and strikes the drumhead of the instrument while plucking and muting the metal tines. Plus - he's figured out a brilliant method to instantly retune the instrument in the middle of his playing - using tiny weighted magnets!

Brandon is also a bass player who skillfully incorporates live looping. Watch him create incredible soundscapes in real time by looping Kalimba, Tongue-Drum and Monochord accompanied by some satisfying bass-bombs to build a body-moving groove overlaid with rich sonic textures and thrilling overtones. 

Watch the Video Demonstration.... 

How DO you make a handpan?

We got to go behind the scenes with our friends at Metal Sounds the South of France to find out!

...turns out the answer is a LOT of care, craftsmanship, heaps of hammering, laser-cutting, patience, and good ears (along with high-precision tuners!)

We put together this video showcase for Metal Sounds and can't wait to share it with you...

"This particular handpan by Metal Sounds is one of the most beautiful that I've personally played before!" - Todd Boston, January 2021

In this 7-minute video, acclaimed Producer and Composer Todd Boston talks about the the differences between the Metal Sounds Spacedrum Nitro and Spacedrum Evolution - offering his impressions on what makes each model possess a unique sound quality.

Want to know how to record a handpan? Towards the end of the video, Todd offers tips on how to best mic the sound of handspans using the mid side mic technique. If you like to geek out on technology or are an audio engineer, read on...

As Part of the NAMM 2021 "Believe in Music" Virtual Show, We Play Well Together is running a contest that goes until the end of February when we'll be GIVING AWAY some amazing products including some of our best-selling instruments! 

To enter the contest you must: 

1) Follow @weplaywelltogether on Instagram

2) Create a Story, Post, or Reel (can be text, photo, and/or video content) where you share which product giveaway you'd like to receive and what's great about it. You MUST tag @weplaywelltogether in your post!

You can enter multiple times for more than one item. Extra points will be given if you tag others in your post and encourage friends or followers to post as well!

We'll be announcing the winners live on IG on March 1st at 4pm Pacific Time. Winners will also receive Direct Messages on Instagram when we'll ask for your mailing address to ship you the products. You must respond within 2 week's time in order to claim your prize. 

We Play Well Together is proud to have been presented in a virtual booth at the NAMM Show 2021 "Believe in Music" Week in January! 

We've been attending NAMM in Los Angeles every year for the past few conferences. Due to the ongoing pandemic, The 2021 NAMM Show was all online. Our team got to work building a virtual exhibitor booth and we put together a ton of great video content highlighting our instrument makers and latest products! We'll be highlighting these videos in blog posts and newsletters to our We Play Well Together community in the weeks and months ahead. 

You can still attend NAMM through the end of February - to browse all the digital booths and view recordings of the workshops and presentations on product demonstrations, music industry news, marketing tips, and much more. Just go to: attend.believeinmusic.tv to offer your email address and you're in! 

We invite you to join us in community as we pause to go deep, deep within: journeying to the stillpoint at our center. This is the resting place of the soul.

You'll be guided through a series of participatory invitations utilizing movement, voice, breath, and deep listening. These will include: gentle yoga poses, guided breathwork, vocal sounding, and listening to live performances of inspired poetry, song, and therapeutic sound instruments.

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE

At We Play Well Together, we're all about the potency of musical micro-moments. Recently, we started using our social media accounts to feature members of our community and have received lots of great feedback. So this is our call-in: share with us your content so we can celebrate you!

If you're creating sounds with feeltone, Hokema, Metal Sounds, Zenko Drums, Koshi or Zaphir Chimes, we can play well and grow together.