Sound artist Steve Wright (aka Steve Weave) is working the platter-sized cymbals so loudly that our bones shiver. Percussionist Barry Taylor is beating a drum with equal vigour. The seven people listening to the impromptu music session are delighted by the rhythms and some of them join in on other available hand drums.
Wright leads an ongoing series of weekly music workshops at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt that gives guest musicians a chance to come together with adults who have developmental disabilities for a guided jam session. Each week he invites a new musician to join him, and the group of interested individuals might drum one week and play the ukulele the next. This week it’s Taylor who shows how he can tap out rhythms on any surface in the gallery.
“Who wants to give Jan a sound bath?” asks Wright, and a willing volunteer jumps up. Somewhat nervously, I stand with the large cymbals or gongs at my back while the volunteer bangs them loudly. As the instruments continue to shimmer they are passed around my body and I feel the vibrations as a type of soothing sound massage.
“It’s like going through the car wash,” said Taylor, and everyone giggles.
Wright demonstrates the difference between high and low tones then takes up his guitar and invites everyone to play. The joy among the participants is palpable — from one fellow on the floor keeping the rhythm with a big grin on his face to the moment when everyone finds the groove — oh yeah! After a while the percussion mellows to the sound of a heartbeat — tick tock — and ends with a big finish on the gong.
“SCACL [Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living] used to run this program for years,” Wright said. “But it was just me leading it and I wanted to open it up to more guest musicians.”
He is grateful that these weekly musical workshops now have funding from the Sunshine Coast Credit Union and the support of the District of Sechelt. Wright noted that they are open to the public, and run every Thursday morning from 10 to 11 a.m.
“People can come and sit in, and it might range from talking about sound waves to a dance party to a straight ahead traditional guitar session,” he said.
They are taking a brief break this coming week; the program resumes Oct. 2.
