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Talent on the Set: The Making of Make Music!
by Deborah Burns
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.
Some on-set secrets….
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.
Deborah Burns has been an editor at Storey Publishing for more than 25 years. When not working on books about farming, animals, bees, and birds, she is also a writer, traveler, musician, painter, and mom.
Master photographer Bob Langrish has spent his 40-year career tracking down the most exceptional horses in the world. His images have illustrated hundreds of books and graced countless magazine covers. He lives in Bisley, in the heart of the Cotswolds, England, and can be found online at http://www.boblangrish.com.