Adaptatrap Musical Instruments

«What the heck is an ADAPTATRAP?» I thought to myself. This question piqued my curiosity, and I just had to go in. It turns out Adaptatrap is just an excellent music store that sells percussion based instruments.
As I’m much too timid to showcase my lack of skills in a public setting, I mainly watched from the side as others played with bongo drums, gongs, flutes, bells and shakers. As everyone on staff is a professional players and/​or teacher, expect to receive quality service. This is quite the fantastic music shop with a lot to offer. They even do repairs.

Adaptatrap is a fun place to visit for anyone, musical or not. Its’ apt name refers to the first drum kits, which were known as ‘Traps’ (short for ‘contraptions’) onto which anything could be stuck or bolted, as there were no basic layouts then as there are today. Instruments from myriad cultures are brought together in this friendly shop, and the staff make browsers and shoppers feel equally welcome. The stock comprises instruments from Brazil, Australia, Tibet, Ghana, Senegal and several other African countries depending on when you go, there will be instruments from different places, so it’s well worth a return visit to see if there are new surprises. On entry you will see a vast array of toy instruments and small hand percussion. There is a good variety of price, catering to those who want fun instruments as gifts and those who are looking for good-​quality hand percussion. Further back in the shop are larger instruments Adaptatrap stocks a variety of drums of varying sizes, both hardware and rope tuned, and there are also melody instruments such as the balaphon (African xylophone) and the beautiful kora, an African stringed instrument with similarities to the harp, which uses a large and fabulously decorated gourd as a resonator. The layout largely keeps instruments from different cultures separate, so you can see which instruments come from where, and the staff are very knowledgeable and happy to discuss the origins of the instruments. It’s well worth asking questions you can learn a lot about the instruments and the cultures they came from, and the staff can also recommend where to find lessons in many of them. It is as much a world music education centre as a shop, but it’s rare that I leave without something it’s a great place for fun little presents as well as big instrument purchases. Definitely worth a visit.

Oh, this shop was fun in a rare, hands-​on kind of way. I’m used to signs warning against touching or opening or walking past certain things, and this was a welcomed, completely different approach.
The group of friends walking around the shop were sampling every instrument possible and the shopkeeper barely blinked. So, I played for awhile: djembe and kettle drums, recorders, pan flutes, egg and fruit shaped shakers, xylophones of wood and metal varieties, clappers, symbols, tambourines, and singing bowls. I was an untalented, one person band for awhile and quite enjoyed myself.
Other strangely musical items were available as well — like an animal sound can. I tried the cat meow.
A great shop, in summary, for all your musical needs. Plus, the shopkeeper seemed to be fixing something at the counter, so I think they probably also do repairs.

If someone told you they’d just been to a shop called Adaptatrap, you’d not be crazy for thinking that it was a ridiculously niche shop focused on helping people who needed to tinker and customise or turn their mice and rat traps into something completely different. But… It is not.
What Adaptatrap is though is probably the best shop in Brighton to look at/​talk about/​purchase percussion instruments. My old flatmate was really interested in African music and Adaptatrap was always his first port of call. He brought I think what was called a Tuning drum from their. which is an African drum where the tuning is changed by squeezing it (like a bagpipe, in a way). What a crazy instrument.
If your into similar things, COME HERE.

My flatmate– pre-​moving in with boyfriend– played the sitar. So cool, I know. It was a lovely instrument to hear wafting through the floor and looked incredible in the living room but was understandably hard to maintain. It is because of this sitar that I first entered Adaptatrap– in search of sitar strings. Boy! Does the shopkeeper/​owner know his stuff! He was a mine of useful information about sitars, as well as all the other percussion items I picked up and played with. This is a brilliant place to go for an unusual gift, for something small and fun for kids (maraccas, small bongo drum, kazoo!) or for anyone who happens to play an unusual instrument. They stock some lovely African and South American instruments in here as well– really interesting stuff. The prices range from just a few pounds to a fair chunk– go and have a peek, the owner’s passion is contagious.