Georgia Magazine - April 2021 - 27

Have music, will travel

COURTESY CITY OF CONCORD, CALIF.

COURTESY SOUND PLAY

One potential buyer decided to go to Parrott to
hear for himself. A hematology/oncology specialist
at Albany's Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Jose
Tongol is a musician himself with his own band,
The Yo-Yos.
" It is beautiful the way it was done, " he says of
the soprano metallophone he purchased.
He didn't keep it long, though. His plan was to
give it to the city of Plains, which he did last year.
Because Plains is just down the road from Parrott,
that purchase stayed close to home, but some
of Sound Play's instruments have done a lot of
traveling.
" We've had approximately 850 installations in
11 other countries and every state, including Alaska
and Hawaii, " Bond Anderson explains.
Why did people in countries as far away as
Korea, England, New Zealand and the United
Arab Emirates seek out a company in Georgia? It's
because of Bond Anderson. A classically trained
musician, Anderson had spent years as a flutist with
the Albany Symphony Orchestra. He understands

These Sound Play instruments were installed at Mateo's Dream
Playground in Concord, Calif. This accessible playground has a
diatonic-scale soprano marimba and a bass metallophone featuring
a pentatonic scale. Pentatonic scales are often used in jazz and rack
improvisations.

the importance of music as a form of self-expression,
and his standards are high; no instrument ships
out of Sound Play until it is both accessible and in
proper tune.
The first of Sound Play's musical playscapes
found homes in playgrounds and backyards.
Eventually, people saw even greater potential
for Sound Play's instruments. Community parks,
businesses and government facilities as well as a
number of hospitals and well-being centers began to
request installations.
Much of Sound Play's success is attributed
to the integrity of its process. These are not massproduced products. Nothing truly begins until
Anderson's interaction with the buyer gives him
clarity as to his or her needs and expectations. Now,
more than ever, there is an emphasis on installations
that offer inclusiveness. For Sound Play, making the
equipment wheelchair-accessible and compliant
with the Americans with Disabilities Act has always
been a focus.

Music that endures
Sound Play's first installations were in the early
1980s. In the decades since, these instruments have
withstood Mother Nature and the wear and tear of
all of her creatures.
Bryan Thompson can attest to that. He was

COURTESY SOUND PLAY

along with several downtown storefronts, one of
which is Sound Play's workshop. Since the early
'80s, instruments on its front porch have welcomed
residents and visitors to come and play.

A Sound Play preschool music station was one of the attractions at
the 2016 NAMIWalk event in Colquitt, sponsored by the National
Alliance on Mental Illness Georgia.
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Georgia Magazine - April 2021

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