Found Sound Compositions In The Digital Age
Marjorie LoPresti
East Brunswick High School
marjorielopresti@gmail.com
Music teachers have been encouraging composition using founds sounds like pots, sticks, bottles, glasses, and cans for generations. The music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, and Brian Eno might not be your cup of tea, but composing electronic music with found sounds can open doors for students with limited musical experience, and engage those who haven’t yet found a niche. With limited technology, students can create meaningful electronic composi- tions using captured sound samples. These types of projects can work for students in grades 3-12.
H Software Needs:
For elementary and less experienced intermediate students, use a program like GarageBand or Mixcraft, or an on- line solution like Soundtrap or Soun- dation. These come with pre-existing beats, as well as melodic and harmon- ic loops that provide scaffolding and structure. For more advanced interme- diate and high school students, limit or eliminate the use of pre-recorded loops. Encourage these older students to build their own loops and beats with the found sound samples. They will benefit from the options and flexibility offered by more sophisticated software such as Logic, ProTools, Sonar, or Ableton Live.
umans have been us- ing found sounds to cre- ate music for millennia.
Version 1: School Sounds Remix (for elementary and intermediate grades)
Inspired by WNYC’s “Remix the Rails.” Duration: Minimum 4 class meet-
ings. Allow at least 6 class sessions if stu- dents will be capturing and cleaning up the audio samples themselves.
A. Capture Sounds. [This phase is an optional student activity. As the teach- er, you can capture sounds & generate the sound library, or enlist older students to work on it prior to starting the composi- tion project.]
Using any
digital device that can record (hand- held recorder, cell phone, tablet, Chr omebook , iPad, laptop), and capture sounds
around the school. If you can involve students in this process, they will love the opportunity to experience their school sonically. From recording the bell and pencil sharpener, to doors closing, feet in the hallway, and the squeak of shoes in the gym, students can take ownership of sound collection. Assign students to work in small groups (2-4). Require each group to capture a specified number of sounds, and consider sending each group to a different area of the school. Classroom teachers and colleagues in other departments may be
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open to providing time, ideas, or even helping capture sounds as part of an inter-disciplinary project. Work with students so they master the life skill of moving the files to a shared location such as iCloud or Google Drive. If your school has a technology specialist or coach, consider enlisting her help with file management.
B. Edit sounds and create a sound
library. [Also an optional phase of the ac- tivity. The teacher or older students can complete this in advance.] Teach students to use simple editing software such as Audacity (free & cross-platform) to isolate rhythmic and pitched compo- nents of the captured recordings. Ex- port/save each sound clip as a separate .wav or .aiff sample to build library of sounds. Teacher support will be needed to load the library (file folder) of final- ized sounds to each device students are using to compose. Intermediate stu- dents may be able to utilize some the techniques suggested below in the Single Sound Project to add processed sounds to the library.
C. Assign the project. Divide students into groups of 2-4 students. Assign roles like Record Keeper, File Manager (in charge of saving every 5 minutes), and Headphone Keeper. Depending on the age and experience level of the students, you may want to specify the overall form or structure for their compositions (Beginning- Middle-End, AABA, rondo, or theme and variations). Consider requiring four
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