Boomwhacker

[2] Boomwhackers evolved at a time when junk bands and performers using instruments made from recycled materials were popular.

Bands often used gas pipes or various cast-offs from plumbers that were cut to length to produce different pitches when struck on an open end.

Schools, meanwhile, created their own junk bands as a cheap way to simultaneously promote creativity and encourage recycling.

Craig Ramsell then started Whacky Music, Inc. in 1998, marketing a wider variety of Boomwhacker sets and materials.

In July 2009, the Sedona, Arizona-based Whacky Music, Inc., sold its interests to Rhythm Band Instruments LLC of Fort Worth, Texas, through an asset purchase agreement.

[4] Boomwhackers are most commonly used in elementary music classrooms as an inexpensive alternative or supplement to traditional pitched instruments such as xylophones and metallophones.