Students in Mr. Lee’s Music Technology 3 class recently explored wild possibilities in audio editing and processing! Students were given a microphone and a blank sheet of copy paper (8.5 x 11). The assignment was to create something using ONLY sounds recorded from the paper (e.g., ripping, crumpling, flicking, etc.). This was an exercise in creating original music out of the everyday sounds of a mundane object (copy paper): to elevate the ordinary into something more extraordinary — that is, musical art!
This was a 2-day activity, so short drafts of musical fragments were expected. But even in a couple of periods, students demonstrated significant skill and imagination in manipulating audio production software to shape sound in amazing ways.
Some examples of audio manipulations include:
* Cutting sound samples into smaller pieces; arranging those pieces in musical rhythm
* Filtering sound samples through audio effects, such as reverb
* Time-stretching sound samples
* Moving sound samples higher or lower in musical pitch
* Generating tonal sounds (i.e., sounds with sustained duration and pitch, as would be heard from a horn or piano) and mapping those tonal sounds onto the keys of the piano; then, performing harmonies and melodies (all from the sheer sound of copy paper!)
Check out some samples below!
This was a 2-day activity, so short drafts of musical fragments were expected. But even in a couple of periods, students demonstrated significant skill and imagination in manipulating audio production software to shape sound in amazing ways.
Some examples of audio manipulations include:
* Cutting sound samples into smaller pieces; arranging those pieces in musical rhythm
* Filtering sound samples through audio effects, such as reverb
* Time-stretching sound samples
* Moving sound samples higher or lower in musical pitch
* Generating tonal sounds (i.e., sounds with sustained duration and pitch, as would be heard from a horn or piano) and mapping those tonal sounds onto the keys of the piano; then, performing harmonies and melodies (all from the sheer sound of copy paper!)
Check out some samples below!