Last year I toyed with starting a non-profit called All Things Percussion. I had no idea how big of an endeavor it would be. Fiddling with All Things Percussion over the past year taught me many lessons and refined my vision for what I wanted to be accomplishing. Today marks a new beginning of that vision from a year ago.

May I introduce to you (drum roll, please!!!…): Collective Rhythm, a non-profit organizing resources and developing relationships in the musical community. Stop by the site and take a look around.

As our first day in existence Collective Rhythm has already touched a few lives and partnered with a class at Ventura Park Elementary School where we had a blast playing hand drums with a group of 5th graders. Stay tuned for more updates on our work and future partnerships.

Our focus now rests on getting the word out and find partners. This Saturday we kick off our gorilla marketing campaign. The Pacific Crest Wind Symphony is hosting the Oregon Adult Band Festival where we will be passing out information to area educators. Our success demands way more than just one Saturday of papering a small segment of music educators. So would you help? Will you spread the word to those you know? Tell everyone and help us give more opportunities for music and artistry to the community at large.

Performers hit the streets all the time to share their music and talents. In Portland, the meandering sounds of music while strolling through town offer a fun back drop to the city’s life.

More often than not the music comes as a nice surprise and appropriate in measure. Every once and a while businesses or residents nearby ARE bothered AND complain. Be proactive to avoid such friction by knowing your rights and being ready to deal with them in a professional way.

The city has supported a healthy relationship with street performers in the hopes of successfully negotiating disagreements about noise. The best way to avoid any problems is to know the laws, expectations and practices for your city and abide by them. Here are a couple of links covering Portland’s approach to buskers and laws concerning sound levels in public:

Street Musician Partnership for Portland.
How loud is too loud.
Where to be on the sidewalk.