Soundcapes to make us think

Please see these resources if you haven't already:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/20/artist-creates-deepfake-birdsong-highlight-threat-dawn-chorus

https://cardiffmiller.com/installations/the-killing-machine/

https://www.kaffematthews.net/project/in-clean-air-we-fly-2009

For your production practical element of this project, you have been asked to create a protest piece or a soundscape that makes the listener think about the issue. A lot of the techniques learned from composing, band workshops and film project will help you.

You are likely to have a lot of samples already that you created in various classes with me.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/eve3xz/healing-properties-music-frequencies-therapy - info about solfeggio frequencies

Zero dB campaign against music for torture - https://pavt.co.uk/zero-dB

Listening to our environments

 

IN-CLASS TASK:

Get your headphones and phone. Choose a space where you can be still and undisturbed if possible - ideally outside or near an open window. Other spaces might be in a stairwell, empty room...

With your headphones on/in, record a voice memo.  Just listen to what you can hear. Aim to record 2-5 mins of sound. We are listening for unintentional, environmental sounds. How is listening through headphones different?

Send yourself the voice memo and import it to a track in bandlab. Look at the waveform - are there any particular peaks? What are the sounds in the peaks? Is there a general low level noise? What is it?

Listen to the recording at least 3 times, making a note of different levels of sound. Perhaps you can imagine it as a multi track recording - what would the different channels be?

Upload the recording from your phone to classroom. Also upload a short doc listing the sounds you heard if you get time.

When we come back together, we will discuss what we noticed about our environments.

Extension task: 

On a piece of paper, try to draw what you hear on a timeline to create a simple graphic score. You can add this to the task if you like so we can compare them - they will all be completely different and will represent how you interpreted a specific moment in a specific location.

Optional extension resources:

https://open.spotify.com/album/3EmUGs6NPCzWB4JOMsmyk7

https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/

If you want to know more about graphic scores...

The Gender Gap

Are men and women different? Should any differences mean different opportunities, treatment or reward?

If a man and a woman with exactly the same education and qualifications are doing exactly the same job, should they be paid the same salary? Do you think they are likely to be paid the same salary?

How are women and men portrayed differently in hiphop?

When journalists report about musicians, is there a difference in their focus depending on the gender of the musician?


Amanda Palmer made an excellent response to a tabloid newspaper when they mentioned her body rather than her music in a review of her performance at Glastonbury - http://blog.amandapalmer.net/20130713/

Is there a gap in the way genders are treated in business and the media or is it far more widespread than that?

This is an interesting experiment where a woman re-enacts instances of everyday sexism but as a woman to a man, rather than the other way around.

VIDEO

Women - how familiar is this scenario?
Men - how would this have made you feel?




It can be said that we live in a patriarchal society, one that is ruled by men rather than being equal. What do you think would happen if we lived in a matriarchy?

Do you find what happens to the man in this film shocking? What difference does it make that it's a man?

How effective do you think this film is as a protest? How else could you protest about the lack of equal gender rights?

Which of these songs do you think are effective and why?
http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/arts/gender_songs.html

Freedom of Speech debate

What is freedom of speech?

https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/human-rights/free-speech-and-protest




What do YOU think?

Charlie Hebdo

In January 2015, there was a shooting in Paris that caused the world to re-examine freedom of speech and expression.


translations of Charlie Hebdo covers



TASK: Use the resources below as a starting point to research the following key questions.

• What is Charlie Hebdo and what is it about?
• Who is claiming responsibility for the shootings?
• Why did they attack?
• What was it about Charlie Hebdo that caused such offence?
• Do you think the incident broke Freedom of Expression laws?
• Do you think the shootings were an act of terrorism or protest?
• What do YOU think about the whole situation?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Hebdo_shooting
Liberty, Freedom of Speech & Protest
Guardian, Freedom of Expression
Guardian, Salman Rushdi's opinion
The Telegraph, is Charlie Hebdo that clever?
The Independent, George Galloway's opinion

What 'Je Suis Charlie' has become
Charlie Hebdo site
Charlie Hebdo attack wiki
The killers
Secularism in France
Reactions to the first issue after the attack

KEY WORDS/PEOPLE

Charlie Hebdo
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Expression
Satire/satirical
Terrorism
Protest
Laicite

UK satire examples:

Private Eye (UK satirical political magazine)

Je Suis Charlie? Intro to project

 What is happening in the world that you feel strongly against? Does it affect you directly? Does that matter? What do you do if you see that something that is happening is just wrong? What are you going to do about it?

Who is Greta Thunberg? What has she been doing?

Interview with Afrikan Boy about his recent involvement in the 'Jungle' in Calais.

Task: find out what 'Je Suis Charlie' means and why people adopted it as an avatar on social media for a time.

L2 Extension task - voices

EXTENSION/ADVANCED PREP TASK: record or find some spoken word, perhaps reading news articles or headlines. Add them all to individual bandlab tracks. Move and arrange volumes so you can hear them individually to start with and then all joined up and difficult to hear.

Tools to use:

cut

panning

volume

pitch shift

playback rate

automation

What effect does it have when you hear clearly audible snippets of different spoken lines?

What effect does it have when you hear them all together?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news

https://www.independent.co.uk/