with
electronic music and multi-media technology, voices and instruments in
live performance
The
object of these Pilot Projects is to develop – in collaboration
with a number of experienced composers and teachers of music in schools
and colleges – a repertoire of effective and enjoyable pieces of
live music or music/multi-media theatre, which
•
explore the use of electronic music and multi-media technology in live
perform-ance - in combination with whatever vocal or other acoustic
or electronic instru-mental resources are available within the class
or group;
•
are designed, in the first place, to be developed, prepared and performed
live during, say, 12 half days, of a single school or college term,
by a whole class or similar group of Primary or Secondary school or
College students and their teacher(s), in collaboration with the composer
– during the course of, say, 12 half-day workshops in a single
school or college term;
and which, subsequently,
in their finished form,
•
will be suitable
for publication and distribution for rehearsal and performance by other
schools and classes - with published score, ‘parts’, samples
and any other sound or visual components, together with Teacher’s
Notes and a video recording of the performance for reference purposes.
In
particular, they should be designed to
•
explore contemporary electronic means for live music-making, in real
time – sensors, samplers, sound processors, sound modules, keyboards,
sequencers and other sound processing technology;
•
combine these
with whatever vocal, instrumental, acoustic or electronic resources
are available amongst the students in the class – eg. voices,
guitars, keyboards, recorders, brass, wood-wind and percussion, either
as soloists or in groups;
•
include a substantial element of improvisation;
•
involve, in
some cases, collaboration with specialist members of staff in other
disciplines and electronic arts (Dance/Performance, Video, Graphics,
Drama, Art, English, Tech-nology and Design, for example), or the collaboration
and commissioning of writers, poets, or creative artists in other fields;
•
also, perhaps, include work on the design and construction of switches
and other items by pupils interested electronics, metalwork, engineering
and design;
•
are suitable for performance in ‘integrated’ mainstream
schools and colleges admitting a proportion of students with special
educational needs.
Commissions
to Composers
Each Pilot Project
will be the subject of a commis-sion to a composer to work with a class
or group of Primary or Secondary School or College students and their
teacher(s)
•
to devise/design/compose
– possibly in collaboration with other artists - a piece for development,
rehearsal and performance by a whole class or other group of students,
involving them in the exploration of electronic music technology in
live performance, as well as participation as narrators, dancers, singers,
or as whatever other instrumental and/or vocal soloists or groups (acoustic
or electronic) may be available within the class or group..
•
to collaborate
with teachers and students in the realisation, preparation, rehearsal
and performance of the piece during a number of periods (typically,
perhaps, 12 half days) during a single school or college term –
to include supervising the de-velopment by the students of some of its
components, eg sound samples, words and drawings or other graphic or
video contributions for presentation as part of the performance.
•
to present
a written form (or performing score) of the final piece, so that it
can be published (by arrangement with the composer and a publisher),
and subsequently performed by other groups and schools. This may require
the devising of new forms of graphic notation by each of the composers
(and their collaborating students and teachers) in order to define the
contributions of the individual players and voices at the performance.
Aims
for Students
Our
aims for students participating in the Projects are
•
to
give each one an enjoyable experience as a member of the group collaborating
in the creative development - and performance to an audience - of a
piece of live music or music theatre;
•
to
foster their musical, technical general educational and social skills;
•
to develop their perceptions and understanding of the basic elements
of music - pitch, interval, harmony, timbre, pulse, and musical structure;
•
to
develop their abilities to listen with concentration, and to analyse
critically and constructively what they hear;
•
to give them the experience of hands-on exploration of contemporary
electronic music – and multi-media – technology;
•
to enable them to enjoy a substantial share in the creative responsibility
for the piece.
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