Basic Beat is West Music’s exclusive brand of percussion instruments and accessories designed with the educator in mind. Because West Music has developed and sources the products directly from manufacturers, it allows us to offer quality instruments at an affordable price. Basic Beat products provide the perfect balance of quality, price, and performance for music-making in the classroom and beyond.
The History of Basic Beat
The Basic Beat brand was developed over 25 years ago by West Music. Our internal product consultants saw the opportunity to curate a line of quality instruments built for music educators and their students. An additional goal of the brand was to create a line of instruments at exceptional prices. The reason for this was to pass the most savings possible directly to schools, institutions, and individuals. The next step towards creating Basic Beat was to set out to build strong connections with prominent instrument makers in Germany, India, and Asia. Once those key elements were in place, production of the Basic Beat brand began!
The Basic Beat Line
The Basic Beat product line falls into four categories: unpitched/non-pitched percussion, pitched percussion, mallets, and percussion accessories. Whether you’re looking for a specialized effect to grab the attention of your students or an Orff table stand to hold your xylophone, West Music has you covered!
Unpitched/Non-Pitched Percussion
Pitched Percussion
Mallets
Percussion Accessories
Disinfecting Basic Beat Products
Most Basic Beat products are made from plastic, rubber, wood, metal, yarn, felt, or nylon. Use the following guidelines when disinfecting:
- Egg shakers and chiquitas can be cleaned with disinfecting wipes but should not be submerged in a cleaning solution or put in dishwashers. They are not water-sealed and will take on liquid.
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- Note: the beads inside these products are non-toxic and safety tested, but they are metal shot, so don’t react well with liquid, leading to messy leaks.
- Plastic and other wood-hard surface percussion instruments (i.e. rhythm sticks, resonator bells, woodblocks, etc.) may be cleaned with disinfecting wipes or sprays.
- Metal instruments like jingle bells, tambourines, may be wiped with disinfecting wipes, but be mindful of extra residue.
- Rubber mallets may be completely wiped with disinfecting wipes or sprayed. Yarn and felt mallets may have the shafts completely wiped and the heads can be wiped or sprayed but may get a little fuzzy and/or may have some color transfer as a result of cleaning this way.
- Nylon/Lycra/Spandex (carrying bags, Orff dust covers, Tube Drum Bags) may be completed wiped with disinfecting wipes, sprayed, or by using soap and water on a damp cloth and allowed to air dry.
How are Basic Beat products chosen?
West Music’s education consultants evaluate and consider each product in the Basic Beat line based upon a wide variety of factors. Some examples of these include:
- Requests from our customers
- The product’s application in the classroom
- Needs in music therapy settings
- Requirements from general consumers
- Quality of construction materials
- Sound quality
- Affordability
Basic Beat Guarantee
When you choose Basic Beat branded products, each item includes a 1-year replacement warranty. West Music takes pride, care, and consideration while creating quality products at affordable prices. This all with superior customer service! Please note, we are here to help! We invite you to check out the full line of Basic Beat products here: http://basicbeat.com/
If anything should happen to your Basic Beat instrument or accessory, if you are not fully satisfied with your Basic Beat purchase, or if there are any product defects discovered within the first year, we are happy to exchange it for a replacement item or credit your account for a future purchase. Please note: All exchanges and/or replacements are subject to approval. All you need to do is give us a call at 800-397-9378 or email service@westmusic.com to complete the process.
In summary, West Music actively listens to the voices of music educators, Music Therapists and the needs of their clients, and participants, and everyone using the Basic Beat instrument line. We actively seek out quality materials that are friendly to budgets. Each product undergoes comprehensive quality control testing processes at our manufacturing facilities and then again by our education consultants. West Music is extremely mindful of how important it is to bring quality instruments to your hands, and we undertake careful planning and testing before each product reaches you, we truly mean just that!
Tereasa Evans is the Music Education Consultant for Classroom Percussion and Wellness. She has her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and her Master’s of Music in Percussion Performance, has her Level I, II, and III Orff-Schulwerk certification, has taught elementary music in the state of Florida for 10 years, along with participating in and directing various indoor, marching/DCI, and percussion ensembles throughout Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida. She has performed on many platforms including symphony orchestras, world music ensembles, drum corps, and drum circles. Tereasa is also certified in Remo HealthRhythms facilitation, Beat the Odds, and currently pursuing her Drums Alive Master Trainer status. She manages products for music therapists, music educators and the general hobbyists specifically related to unpitched percussion in an elementary music classroom. She works with West Music’s own music therapy department to produce and provide instruments to meet the needs of music therapists not only for the in-house department but customers around the country. She also works with major percussion manufacturers to meet the needs of her customers. Whether she’s striking, shaking, scraping, drumming, or breaking instruments it’s all for a good reason and to benefit her customers.
