Sound, vision and vibration
This week we explored sound, vibration & sound linked with visuals.
I brought in 3 new things and also the microphone and fx from a previous week and the polystyrene blocks.
We first explored a programme called izotope iris which is a spectral synthesizer.
You can choose a sound from a large bank, consisting of music notes and sound effects, and then this is shown visually on the screen.
You can then select which part of the sound you want to hear.
I brought a large touchscreen so that the group could draw with their fingers and a mini keyboard that played the selected sounds.
Everyone seemed to get the concept and they all patiently took turns choosing sounds and then manipulating them by drawing on the screen. It is quite a difficult concept but everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Some people really like picking the sound effects and really listened to them and seemed to visualize the sounds and had a strong connection with just the unaffected sounds. Others really enjoyed drawing shapes and seeing how that changed the sound, they all liked how strange and wondrous the sounds could become. We played with this for 20 minutes and then i left it with a staff member to operate the file system and people continued to explore it for the whole session. I was great that everyone seemed to understand that what they drew was changing the sound.
I then set up a keyboard which was connected to a large speaker. The speaker was place on the table next to the keyboard so when you played a note you could see and feel the speaker cone vibrating.
We first just looked and felt the cone. This immediately had an affect on everyone, the connection of sound and vibration was really strong and vivid.
We then explored putting things on the speaker to see how what happened. We put red lentils on it and they buzzed around differently depending on the frequency of the keybaord note, higher frequency made them move quickly but without them jumping, and lower frequencies made them jump and leap in the air.
One member of the group quickly found out that the lentils jump higher if you turned the speaker up really loud.
Everyone seemed to get different things from this experiment, some loved the sensation of the speaker, and really enjoyed placing their hand inside the vibrating lentils, some liked to see how the different notes did different things and some loved the noise, the bass and the wildness of firing lentils all over their classroom.
I really enjoyed how something as simple as a keyboard could become more fascinating by physically showing what was happening to the air when a sound is made.
We then mixed up cornflour and water and placed it on clingfilm on top of the speaker. This made the cornflour leap around in a very strange way http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zoTKXXNQIU and as the intensity increased it began to take a life of its own.
Some people were intrigued by it and others just wanted to touch it and feels it move. A few members were really focused and present with the mixture of senses, having things to touch seemed very important to them and the stimulus really brought them into the session. And by having strong sensory stimulus it became easier to interact with them and to share their experience. They didn't feel so distant in their existence, it became much easier to connect and share and also they had control over the intensity of the experience. They chose how loud, when to play, when to touch etc.
We then started to explore what other things did in the speaker, one member started collecting things from round the classroom to see what would happen when the jumped. This could have been explored for alot longer with more materials, and also with more sounds, even using a microphone so people could have seen the effect their voice had on the speaker. This would have been great to boost vocalising and self advocacy for quieter members.
So we had explored computer synthesis with a visual/tactile interface, and physical sound making and made it into a tactile visual activity i then thought it would be good to see what a simple instrument would be like to play.
I have a deep love for instruments and i like to play all kinds of them as they all have different characters and different physical interactions. I brought in 2 cellos for the group to explore. Cellos are usually kept away from non musicians as they are in the classical family where usually you have to play them properly and play other peoples music (usually dead peoples music!!).
But they are wonderful instruments as you wrap your entire body around it and then as you bow them they really resonate and you can really feel that through your body.
The group were very excited by them, and they all quite patiently waited to have a turn. Bowing is quite difficult but everyone seemed to get it very quickly maybe because of the physical feedback. Some people were intrigued with just playing a note and feeling it, others were almost play acting being a classical cellist and were very dramatic and fluid in their playing style, others wanted to play more notes and extend their technique but they all seemed to really connect with them.
At the end of the session there were people playing with the spectral synth, people playing the cellos and also using the microphone.
I had brought the polystyrene cubes back from the week before and as soon as they became visible one member became very feverish in her construction of cubic constructions, they were different from the week before more regular shaped but again the focus was really strong and the enjoyment and satisfaction at the end of building was very apparent.
The week was a great success in lots of ways, i think i really showed how mixing senses is really important for young people, the group had played with the synth before on its own but by adding the physical feedback it became more intriguing and easier to sustain and play with. It also showed that even with very new technology about that an 'old' physical instrument is still valid, and can sustain playfulness and focus.
I embrace technology alot but i think that its easy to forget that instruments are technology from the past, someone thought up and created the cello and refined it, and it can offer alot of stimulus that an ipad cant, and that physical stimulus is vitally important for young people especially with autism as it is a way to bring them into the room, it is a way to vie with their inner world and offers moments when you can share in the present and this connection is gratifying for both parties.
The microphone and sfx was also here for the session and it always has an attraction, people are comforted by their voice and again by amplifying it and having physical control over it it makes people very present and also allows them a space to be playful with their voice. It is much more acceptable to be silly and playful over a microphone and people will watch and respond to it as a performance. Mics are amazing and deeply under used by schools. They can have profound effects on people and can really help balance a group that can be dominated by louder personalities.
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