Getting your kids any music stuff for Christmas-Hanukkah?

[Tedster]

I just bought my daughter a Tascam MF-P01 for Christmas. Okay, so it's not a billion dollar studio rig, but a musical sketchpad...but what I would have given for something like that when I was 15. Just wondering what all of you parental types with musical chilluns are getting them this season?

[GypsyTiger]

YES!!! We got our 7-year-old daughter a guitar for xmas. I had thought about getting one of those "jr." jobbies, but we ended up getting ehr a Real Live Squire instead. I am sooo excited! I can hardly wait for xmas morning!!! (I only hope she's a sexcited over it as I am.)

[fantasticsound]

We've been searching for Music Blocks at a decent price for months. Costco said they'd be stocking it for the holiday, but it never arrived. Over Thanksgiving we travelled from Nashville to Chicago and, lo and behold, we found a Costco in Merrillville, IN, with plenty of stock. Half the price of any other store or on Ebay! Needless to say, she received it for Chanukah, and loves it. When you move each block or re-face it (Each side has a different geometric shape) you change the order of the samples or the arrangement of instruments it plays back. We have a few cartridges with different sounds/music as well. I'm also impressed with the sound quality from a children's toy. I may open it up and add an output jack to feed powered speakers. (The samples are great, but the speaker is mediocre.) I definitely recommend this to parents of other young children. (Lilly's almost 4 years old.) Oh, and a few days before Chanukah we went to the Mars liquidation sale. The only purchase was an Orange. It's a shaker. There are Oranges, Bananas, etc., each with different size pellets for variation in tonality. Hey, it was $3! ;)

[Jeep]

That reminds me..... These folks have a wonderful array of good-quality, inexpensive musical goodies, for kids of all ages: http://www.justwebit.com/members/35649/worldwidefp ..............^Just scroll down^ A great alternative to the ubiquitous consumer computer/digital/electronics realm, FWIW. Heck, I'd love some of these items too! Arriba! Cute definition of a little boy: A noise with dirt on it. :) P.S.- I have no connection to this outfit. It just looks like fun.

[Curve Dominant]

I got my two little nephews kids-sized Mercenary Audio T-shirts. The caption on the back says, "My Daddy'll Fix It In The Mix." Their daddy (my older brother) is stuck in LA teching for Weezer over the holidays, so I figured that would be a cool thing for them. I don't have kids of my own (yet or that I know of) so that's the best I can do, Tedsta. I treated myself to a new compressor for Xmas - woo hoo!

[Bunny Knutson]

Tedster, that is a SUPER COOL gift idea. I would have LOVED to get a gift like that at that age. I'm seriously considering getting my four-year-old a miniature drum kit for Christmas. I know, I know, I must be completely insane... Well, maybe it'll be a kid's classical guitar instead. ~~~ Hey, Curve, what kind of compressor didja get?

[Paul Berolzheimer]

I bought my 7-year old son this for Hanukah: http://ssltech.com/proaudio/cart.cgi?page=&cart_id=&detail_display=on&item_id=3751 And boy is he excited! So am I! also this: http://ssltech.com/proaudio/cart.cgi?page=&cart_id=&detail_display=on&item_id=2935

[Bunny Knutson]

Cool, Paul. You rock! Man, that tiny little amp is only $25!!! I may have to get myself one of those some day, just for kicks! Let us know how it sounds, when you-- er, I mean-- when [i]your son[/i] gets it! ;)

[Tedster]

[quote]Originally posted by dBunny: [b]Cool, Paul. You rock! Man, that tiny little amp is only $25!!! I may have to get myself one of those some day, just for kicks! Let us know how it sounds, when you-- er, I mean-- when [i]your son[/i] gets it! ;) [/b][/quote]Yeah, haha...I'm probably gonna have to experiment with Lindsay's Tascam to help her get the knack of using it...hehehe... They never HAD inexpensive cool stuff like that when I was a kid! My hat is off to you cool parents/uncles etc.! I think we've gotta get Lilly together with Paul's and Dbunster's kids...they'll be rockin' the free world in no time... :D :D :D Oh yeah, Neil...when you said you went to Mars and bought Lilly an Orange, at first I thought you were talking about one of those little Orange amps...HAHAHA...

[Magpel]

My 5 1/2 year old already has rights to my Fernadez Nomad electric travel guitar. He doesn't use it much, so I keep it strung Nashville style and find it records pretty well with a little help from a POD... But back to the question: I've always wanted to buy him a mini drum kit. I've been hesistant for two reasons: 1) those toddler ones are SO small and will be out grown SO quickly. 2) most of them suck. They have one crappy little cymbal, no hi hat. And then...I was walking by a store front and Kingston, NY this week and saw an incredible array of Junior traps sets, ranging from toddler up to nearly full size. Several of the smaller ones had hi hats, mounted and floor toms, and looked to be pretty good quality. So I went in to ask about prices and found out that the store was a tatoo parlor. The drums weren't for sales. Somebody was just storing them there... ?? :confused: :confused:

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

[quote]Originally posted by The Tedster of Christmas Present: [b]I just bought my daughter a Tascam MF-P01 for Christmas.[/b][/quote]Hey, thanks Ted! Now I can buy [i]my[/i] kid something nice. :D My son, at age 3 1/2, has already appropriated most of [i]my[/i] gear, so it'll be awhile before he gets any of his own. He bangs on my synths, strums my guitars, and randomly pushes faders and buttons on my mixer. Let me testify that by age three, we all know that up means louder. :) - Jeff

[Franknputer]

[quote]Originally posted by Jeff, TASCAM Guy: [b] My son, at age 3 1/2, has already appropriated most of [i]my[/i] gear, so it'll be awhile before he gets any of his own. He bangs on my synths, strums my guitars, and randomly pushes faders and buttons on my mixer. Let me testify that by age three, we all know that up means louder. :) - Jeff[/b][/quote]I know what you mean, Jeff! I have an old mixer that I keep around for just that purpose, since my daughter was old enough to crawl around in the studio. Now her brother's getting into the act - he's almost a year old, and does the same as yours! Keeping on topic - I'm thinking about getting him a drum of his own. The Remo kid drums are way cool - I got my daughter one a couple years ago - and a local store is selling them dirt cheap right now, too.

[Tedster]

[quote]Originally posted by Jeff, TASCAM Guy: [b] [quote]Originally posted by The Tedster of Christmas Present: [b]I just bought my daughter a Tascam MF-P01 for Christmas.[/b][/quote]Hey, thanks Ted! Now I can buy [i]my[/i] kid something nice. :D My son, at age 3 1/2, has already appropriated most of [i]my[/i] gear, so it'll be awhile before he gets any of his own. He bangs on my synths, strums my guitars, and randomly pushes faders and buttons on my mixer. Let me testify that by age three, we all know that up means louder. :) - Jeff[/b][/quote](chuckle)... And of course, louder IS better :D . My grandson, age 6 mos...is already [i]fascinated[/i] by anything musical. I'll plop him on my knee when I have a guitar on my lap (not easy) and he'll go crazy whapping at the strings. Strings and knobs...mmmm...fun... Have taken him downstairs, too, and let him whop on the drums, too. Noise! It doesn't get any better than that. :D

[fantasticsound]

I can relate, Jeff, Tascam Guy! Lilly has been all over my equipment since she could crawl. My acoustic hangs in the family room. She strums it all the time. Actually, if I was a [i]good[/i] parent, I'd finally blow a few hundred on a used Alesis D4.. mostly for her! I've had my buddies homemade electronic drum set in my home for years, but never had the extra dough to shell out on a sound module/trigger input device. She begs to sit at the pads and play, though. It would be cool to get the kids together someday... I know it's a long way off, but is anyone planning on attending summer NAMM with their kids??? :D

[Salyphus]

Hmm, I'll have to think about this...

[Barandine Vondenger]

chillins' and moosic is cool and seems to go together very well. I have taught more than a few chillins' how to play THEIR FIRST GUITAR SONG the classic MY DOG HAS FLEAS on both guitar and piano. arppegiate all the open strings while singing the words in as barbaric a manner as you can. kidds of all ages are allowed to plink and plonk on my old pianner any time they wish and if they wish to plink while we are talking then I hook up a keyboard with headphones. chillins like it. I have fun teaching them them how to play THEIR FIRST PIANO SONG: "MY DOG SAYS ARF" on piano. just beat and bang any old way on all the keys with a committed approach and sing:"roses are red violets are blue sugar is sweet and my dog saysssssss ARF! arf,arf,arf,(take a big breath)arf,arf,arf, Howlllll like a dog)araoooo!" the kids like it. the bigger kids can learn THE KNUCKLE SONG. a fun tune. they'll be playing it for "rest of their lives". ahahaha! I bought an old flute style recorder for a buck ,long ago and sometimes i'd drag it out and pipe a few notes and sing some old low down blues and hand it over if the chillins get restless. to me the squawks and hoots they make are pure music. although many of the moms and dads get withering looks when the noise starts, the kids look radiant when I clap 'em on the back and say:YOU'RE making MUSIC! you gonna be a star if you keep that up! i truly enjoy seeing their faces light up. so far many of my friends and not a few aqquaintances have gotten their kiddies one of those pipes and little keyboards and kereoke stations are poppin' up lef' and right too.ahahaha! I have to decline the lessons plans they wish me to bestow on their chillins. Many parents wish to buy guitars and I say NO their little hands ain't strong or big enough yet. get them other musical instruments like shakers and tambourines and let them jam with you. maybe not guitars, Instead Buy them little keyboards they can make music on. I always get the greatest thrill when I pick up a forgotten "toy" from a toybox ,click it on and play a tune then the chillin jumps up and wants to know how I did that. I show them a quick note progression or somthing then hand it over. They go to town. the parents shake their head and say stuff like I did'nt think that was a "real" instrument? [b]THE LA,LA,la SONG[/b] singing songs together is the most fun for me cause we can sang about all kinds of stuff. Watchin a kid sing his first line is a great joy for me. upon hearing the child "hear it's self" I get choked up like you would not believe. ahahaha! sing along stuff like records and ceedees and tapes are great. So iff you wish to plant the seed of music or foster the idea of song and dance to your child or loved one there are many different ways to introduce the gift of music to a kid of any age. oh, thanks for lettin me share! ahaha!

[Tedster]

Thanks for bumping this thread, Sal! :D

[alcohol_]

OK, I got my son a Midway Cafe T shirt from the fabulous Midway Cafe in JP, MA, The best music bar in Boston! His very own snow shovel. I will not buy a snowblower. Not to be a Scrooge I'm also getting this: [img]http://music.multifarity.com/pictures/DNPUV1.jpg[/img]