KITCHEN SYNC has only one required instrument: a food blender, with an electric extension cord for it to operate from the stage. The larger and louder the blender, the better the effect; handheld blenders and mixers may not be loud enough to cause the utterly annoying interruption of the playing. Putting dry beans or rice in the blender will increase the volume! Please note that if the piece is performed without the track, one player MUST trigger an egg timer to ding on the fifth beat of bar 35.
Musicians are invited to order from the suggested percussion instruments du jour (* indicates idea suggested by the students in the Culver City High School Concert Band):
Clicked Menu (items that can be struck against each other or other objects):
2 Metal spoons or spatulas
2 Wooden spoons or spatulas
2 Metal whisks
2 Chopsticks *
Nutcracker as castanets
Tongs as castanets *
Garlic press as castanets
Metal or plastic shellfish crackers as castanets
Metal garlic press *
Wooden rolling pin, struck with any utensil *
Textured Menu: (items that rip, snap, crinkle or shake):
Aluminum foil sheet, ripped from container, tapped, ripped, snapped, and crinkled
Wax or parchment paper, ripped from container, tapped, ripped, snapped, and crinkled
Empty bag of chips, used creatively *
Metal or plastic measuring spoons, shaken *
Cereal box, shaken *
Bag of chips, shaken *
Metal utensils hanging from a rack, used like a mark tree *
Scraped Menu: (items that can be scraped with fingernails or utensils):
Metal sieve, scraped and played with fingernails, wooden spoon, metal spoon
Plastic sieve, scraped and played with fingernails, wooden spoon, metal spoon
Cheese grater, scraped with wooden or metal spoon
Something strummed against a whisk, like metal spoon or a small hard plastic spatula *
Something strummed against a fork, like metal spoon or a small hard plastic spatula *
Open-rod style knife sharpener, scraped *
Lunch Bowl Menu: (bowls and pots struck with fingers, fingernails, hands, wooden spoon, metal spoon):
Plastic mixing bowl, played with fingers, fingernails, hands, wooden spoon, metal spoon
Glass mixing bowl, played with wooden spoon, metal spoon
Ceramic bowl, played with wooden spoon, metal spoon *
Metal mixing bowl, played with fingers, fingernails, hands, wooden spoon, metal spoon
Metal pot with handle, played with fingernails, hands, wooden spoon, metal spoon
Metal pot with lid used like a hihat *
Additional ideas for instruments are welcome, and the sound they make can be matched with any of the sound group staves of the four Chef Teams. The sole requirement is that, per the music in KITCHEN SYNC, the item(s) should be rhythmically playable at a fast tempo.
The chef accepts substitutions, but due to the exorbitant cost of liability insurance the restaurant cannot allow the use of knives or other notably sharp utensils, nor sources of flame!
Thanks to the students in the Culver City High School Concert Band for their creative ideas during their first Zoom session with Alex Shapiro— it was fun to brainstorm!
Here are some of their additional concepts:
Pouring a glass of water
Plastic ziplock bags that are opened, tapped, etc.
Wooden cutting board with spoon chopping against it
Two glasses clinking (or ceramic mugs, plastic glasses)
An object clinking inside a glass
A wine glass filled with water to create a ringing sound
Fill a drawer with objects and jostle them (junk drawer or silverware)
Use a can opener for clicking
Interrupt the piece with loud blender or coffee grinder or hand mixer
Have an egg timer go off at the end
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