The DIY Battle of the Bands is coming to Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead! On November 3rd, we will welcome some of the brightest children in SWFL to explode our collective minds with their creativity and skills. Full STEAM Ahead will also have FREE Open Makerspace during the event, snacks and drinks available for purchase, and .

Date: November 3, 2018

Time: 9AM – 12PM

Location:Full STEAM Ahead – 2655 Northbrooke Dr. Naples FL, 34119

Contest Guidelines

Team Registration

After 3 years of amazing Battle of the Bands hosted by Full STEAM Ahead at CMON, we are moving the location of the competition to Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead! We are incredibly excited to welcome our STEAM competitors from around SWFL.

For the uninitiated, the DIY Battle of the Bands is a STEAM Competition and a part of the SWFL STEM Tour. The STEM Tour invites students and teams from all of SWFL to compete in various events that emphasize creativity, perseverance, critical thinking, and collaboration in a fun, friendly environment. The Battle of the Bands adds another layer of complexity to these already difficult challenges by requiring the students to not only build their instruments, but also to play them with their “band”. Through the years, we’ve seen incredible performances and ingenuity across a broad range of age and experience levels.

Come experience a one-of-a-kind STEAM event!

Interested in joining one of our STEAM Teams and competing in awesome events like this? Check out our STEAM Teams page.

First, a quick recap of our winners:

Elementary –

1st place- Smarty Stars from Full STEAM Ahead (you go girls!!!)
2nd place – Science Stars from Heights Elementary
3rd place – STEM Cats 1 from Six Mile Charter Academy

Middle –

1st place – M.A.S.T. from Murdock Middle
2nd place – Nerd Squad from Oasis Middle
3rd place – Nerd Herd from Oasis Middle

High –

1st place – BV Gold from Bishop Verot
2nd place – BV Vikings from Bishop Verot
3rd place – The Conductors from Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead

If the title didn’t emphasize it adequately, allow me to reiterate: WOW! What an event! The level of ingenuity, creativity, and craftsmanship on display from the group of young musicians and engineers from across SWFL was truly spectacular. The varied solutions we saw to the millenium-old problem of how to design a great musical instrument were a perfect mix of ingenious, beautifully simple, and hysterical. All in attendance were clearly impressed by the instruments and performances crafted by the students, and for good reason!

There were the obvious crowd favorites like the BV Gold team that not only dressed the part for their rendition of “In the Jungle”, but also had a homemade steel drum fashioned from an old propane tank that sounded like it was professionally made. There was the PVC flute from that got the crowd up our of their seats and closer to the stage to see what was making such a beautiful sound. And then there was the instrument too big for even a single adult to move, requiring an entire team to move the 7ft tall pine teepees that held the hanging glass bottles in place. These were just a few of the inspired and uniquely designed instruments on display at the first ever BIY Battle of the Bands, and that’s not even addressing the performances.

While there was always something to see at the BotB, the main stage was the focal point of most people’s attention, and the performances stole the show. BV Vikings regaled us with a stellar rendition of “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid down to the costumes and even a fishbowl. We have had an entire dance crew Whip and Nae Nae their way into the crowds hearts. A light saber battle, a boot stompin’ good time, and some Harry Potter sorcery all broke out on stage, keeping the crowd engaged and in awe. We can’t wait to see what happens next year!

We’ve tried a whole bunch of stuff out to see what works as a musical instrument and what doesn’t, and these kiddos (and their teacher, whoever that may be) have learned an awful lot in the process. We’re rapidly gaining appreciation for the art of building the instrument–not just playing the instrument, and the engineering and design skill needed to build something that looks, feels, and most importantly SOUNDS great.

So far, we’ve found that 3D printed materials, while awesome to watch and play with, have their limitations, particularly if you are using normal plastic. And as fun as it is to cut PVC all day, it definitely needs some fine tuning and some math to get the notes to play accurately according to our tuner app (Pano Tuner free version). It’s also important to pay attention to the simpler instruments like shakers and wood blocks. While they may not blow the judges away, they are a great way to layer sound in your overall band performance–and we definitely are looking forward to seeing lots of amazing band performances!!

As part of the collaborative efforts to put on the first ever, one-of-a-kind, DIY Battle of the Bands, we here at Full STEAM Ahead are committed to sharing ideas, resources, videos, and pictures. The open source maker movement supports the sharing of ideas and acknowledges that when we all share, we all win and progress moves much faster. We believe no differently at Full STEAM Ahead, so here are some of the ideas and resources guiding our early protoyping:

(Good) Carrot Clarinet → Click Here
Makey Makey Piano → Click Here Full STEAM Ahead Original!!
Learn simple songs → YouCanPlayIt.com Song Tutorials
3D Printed Ocarina → Click Here
Theremin
Drawdio