Talent on the Set: The Making of Make Music!
Breathing new life into an old book is a team effort, and a photo shoot like the one for Make Music! is an exciting chance to see the pieces come together.
What do a flower pot, a saucepan lid, a dandelion, and a plain old metal coat hanger have in common? They all can make music, and together they can make up an orchestra. And in the same way that many ordinary objects have the potential to become instruments, so does every kid have the potential to become a musician.
We’re doing a book about this, called Make Music!, a splendid full-color revised edition of a beloved older book.
With a new look and additional content for 21st-century kids, it’s one of those rare projects where every step is fun. That’s thanks to:
- The timeless content of the old edition
- The purposeful playfulness of our new author, 22-year-old Norma Jean Haynes
- The inspired, buoyant book design by Alethea Morrison, Storey’s creative director
- The light-hearted instruments collected or created and styled by props-mistress Liseann Karandisecky
- The resonant wooden instruments built by carpenter (and musician) Tony Pisano
- The eye, ingenuity, and patience of photographer Mars
For five days we worked with terrific kids during a series of photo shoots and witnessed their pleasure in playing music on everyday things.
It was my first time in the studio with our team, and I was impressed by their professionalism: Alethea, cool and collected, seeing the big picture; Mars, quick and sure, ready with a joke whenever needed; Liseann, managing to combine absolute super-efficiency (having props in place exactly when needed) with irrepressible humor.
Amid the sheer fun of the project, there’s the joy of watching this book literally coming to life — as the original drawings turn into photos of real kids turning into musicians.
