Stop, Look, and Listen...

Authors: Claire Niederberger, Kathryn Blake, and Sarah Christianson – 5 minute read

Sound waves measured on an oscilloscope (https://academo.org/demos/virtual-oscilloscope/)

Pause for a moment. 

What do you hear right now?

Birds chirping...cars driving by...the laundry machine running?

Whether what you hear is enchanting or mundane, these sounds can tell a story! A story about this one minute, about this entire day, or even about your whole life.

Think about which sounds you hear every day, like the sound of your instrument or the TV, and which ones you hear less often, like the laugh of a friend who lives far away. How do these sounds relate to the stories for those days?

For many years, composers have looked to their environments to find inspiration for the sounds they put in their music. In classical music, we frequently hear references to the natural world (bird calls, wind blowing through trees, ocean waves, to name a few), and also to the folk, traditional, or popular songs of the time. For example, hundreds of years ago, Beethoven was inspired by his walks in nature to write his Symphony No. 6, the “Pastoral.” More recently, composer Valerie Coleman wanted to depict the sounds of urban life in her trio Rubispheres, for flute, clarinet, and bassoon (you can hear this piece on our upcoming concert on May 28!). Similarly, in pop music, the group MGMT used the sounds of children playing on a playground in their song “Kids”. Musicians are constantly looking to their environments and non-musical sounds for inspiration.

In this day and age, with our busy, technology-infused lives, we are constantly surrounded by sound. Within our homes, we may hear the sounds of many electrical objects: the TV on in the background, a smartphone dinging, a kitchen timer going off, computer keys clacking, or a clock ticking, to name a few. Outside of our homes: dogs barking, the warning beeps of construction vehicles, cars honking as they drive by, or loud music playing at the restaurant down the street. These sounds can all tell a story––what kind of story do they communicate?

Right now––stop reading. What do you hear happening around you?

Our resident composer, Kathryn Blake, has recently been experimenting with different methods of composing. She listens to the sounds around her, observes and records them, and then layers them all together to create a new piece that tells a story about her life. Kathryn was inspired to experiment with sounds in this manner over the course of the past pandemic year, as it allowed her to express herself in a new way. Check out Kathryn’s composition below:

Now it’s your turn to be a composer and storyteller! Appreciate the sounds you hear throughout your day and don’t take them for granted. Even the most annoying sounds are important! Your noisy neighbor or the construction work across from your office can show the intersection of your story with someone else’s. Take advantage of all of these sounds to tell the story of who you are today.

APPLICATION SUGGESTIONS 

Non-musicians – As you go throughout the day, use your phone to periodically record some of the sounds you hear. Maybe it’s your footsteps as you walk to work, or the sounds in your kitchen as you make dinner, or snippets of your conversation over Zoom with a friend. Upload those files to Bandlab or something similar, then experiment with layering and lining up your sounds so they tell an expressive story about your day. Congratulations! You’re a composer now!

K-6 – Record 5–6 sounds throughout your day using your phone or your parent’s phone. Maybe try to record 1–2 sounds before school and 3–4 sounds after school. Any sound will work! Then with the help of a parent or teacher, upload your sounds to Bandlab or something similar. First listen to each sound by itself, then to all the sounds together, and then experiment with moving the sounds around in different patterns. What kind of story do these sounds tell? Do they tell an exciting story, or a sad story, or a funny story? Write your story down in 3–5 sentences. You can draw pictures of it too!

Musicians – As you go throughout the day, periodically record some of the sounds you hear. You can include a mix of musical sounds (rehearsal or practicing) and non-musical sounds (walking, talking, watching TV). Upload those files to an audio workstation (such as Audacity, Bandlab, or GarageBand) and experiment with layering and lining up your sounds so they tell an expressive story about your day. Finally, use this composition as a backing track for improvisation that communicates your story.

Upload your piece as a video to Instagram and use #ACed to share your piece with us!