The toy-instruments

The toy-instruments played by the PTO are exactly those we can find in our children’s toy-boxes. Each one of them can be a temporary diversion, but also the beginning of a lifelong passion!

It is all about hard-paper or cellophane drums, which must be stroked, instead that really hit, to make a sound; small accordions made of paper and plastic that must be carefully and patiently handled to produce a good sound, paying attention not to pierce them or lose any key; almost tone-deaf, plastic saxophones; xylophones with only 8 notes possible; three-note whistles; undersized guitars, which, due to their quivering tuning, are often used as basses to harbor the risks; little pianos for which polyphony is a dream, since two keys, if played together, do not produce any sound.

All these toy-instruments, although limited in their musical proficiency by their design and original purpose, if skillfully played, can produce  original, wonderful sounds… the real strong point of the Playtoy Orchestra.

Each musician, never fails to land a (musical) hand to colleagues needing the note their own toy-instrument is missing.

This is the “Playtoy sound”: a kaleidoscopic warp in which each musical thread is important.

There is more! Besides plastic toy-instruments, the PTO also “plays the unplayable”: toys that produce sounds but are not really meant to be played! We are talking about plastic whistling puppets, toy-horns, plastic cogged-wheels (the ones we buy from street stalls) and last, but not least, our mascot and lucky charm FUFY, a drumming rabbit that changes the speed of its drumming according to its battery charge. FUFY is completely autonomous on the stage and this won him the title of Playtoy Orchestra’s official 8th musician!