Music Lesson - Week 5

Inspire me … seascapes

▪ What will I learn? In these 3 lessons, you will be inspired by music and art to:

▪ learn about environmental issues

▪ create artworks with meaning

▪ compose music through sounds. Today you will:

▪ create a seascape artwork based on a musical soundscape and plastic waste

▪ Before you begin You will need:

▪ paper, pencils, paint, paintbrush, textas

▪ scissors and glue

▪ small plastic objects to add to your artwork

▪ Reflect In January 1992, the cargo ship ‘Ever Laurel’ was caught in a North Pacific storm,

spilling overboard 28,800 duck bath toys. The ducks have since scattered and

washed up on beaches all over the globe and even been sold on eBay. Scientists

and oceanographers have studied their travels and been able to better understand

ocean currents, wind patterns and ocean debris.

Look at the next page to see how people have used this event as inspiration for

their creation of artwork and music.

Australian artist, Matthew Quick, was inspired to paint the seascape below.

'Intrepid Travellers', 2011.

▪ What is a ‘soundscape’ A soundscape is an atmosphere or environment created with sound.

Australian composer, Katy Abbott, was inspired by this artwork to create her musical

soundscape called 'Introduced Species'.

It also depicts the grittiness and the devastation of the ocean garbage patches.

• Watch the orchestra play ‘Introduced Species’ in 360 degree video here:

https://digital.artsunit.nsw.edu.au/music/introduced-species-360/watch

Complete these questions:

▪ How would you react to seeing thousands of rubber ducks floating past you?

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▪ What was the fate of the plastic ducks? Swallowed by a whale? Captured by an

octopus? Rescued by a mermaid? Let your imagination float! List the possibilities.

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▪ What impact does our plastic waste have on the environment?

__________________________________________________________________________

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▪ Listen Listen to Katy Abbott's 'Introduced Species' symphony performed by the Sydney

Symphony Orchestra while you create your seascape.

• Which aspect of the sea do you think each instrument represents?

- rubber ducks floating, tangled rubbish, ocean garbage patches, wind whooshing.

Instrument I think the sound represents…

bass drum

french horn

violins

cymbals

flute

saxophone

glockenspiel

▪ Create Now it is time for you to create a seascape artwork. A scape refers to a wide view.

• Use a larger sheet of paper and your pencils. Try to finish colouring in the time it

takes for the piece to finish (about 20 mins)

• Follow the next instructions to create your own sound inspired seascape.

Step 1: When you hear something interesting in the ‘Introduced Species’ soundscape, add it to your artwork. For example, the heavy bass drum could represent large waves.

Step 3: Share your seascape artwork with your teachers or display it for people in your household. Can you describe the sounds which inspired your painting?

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Music Lesson – Week 6

Inspire me … city soundscapes

▪ What will I learn? You will:

▪ listen to an example of a soundscape

▪ create music sounds and sources which reflect the visual stimulus

▪ compose your own soundscape

▪ record your composition.

▪ Before you begin You will need:

▪ a large piece of paper

▪ coloured pencils or textas

▪ a variety of sound sources – anything which makes a sound

▪ a device to record sound.

▪ 1. Listen A soundscape is a musical composition of sounds which reflect a particular environment,

scene or situation.

Describe the sounds of the thunderstorm: __________________________________________

In the example on the next page, the composer has used graphic notation – shapes and

symbols – to visually represent the sounds of the thunderstorm.

As the hand moves around the clock, the shapes that it touches make sounds.

Imagine you were going to perform this

thunderstorm graphic notation on the left.

What instrument could you use for the:

• circles: ________________________

• swirls: _________________________

• yellow ovals: ___________________

• triangles: ______________________

• rectangles______________________

• What happens to the size of the symbols used around the clock face as the

soundscape gets louder and softer? _______________________________________

▪ 2. Create Imagine you are in a city.

Make a note of all the sounds you imagine you could hear in these busy city streets.

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Choose 8 of the sounds that you heard.

▪ Using a piece of paper, draw or fold the paper so that you have an 8-space grid.

▪ In each grid-space, draw a symbol to represent one of your sounds. Look at the

image below for some examples.

Create a sound for each symbol using your voice, body or objects. For example:

▪ your voice as a car horn

▪ walking on gravel

▪ tapping your hands on a table

▪ rustling paper

▪ shaking a jar of rice

▪ shaking a bottle of water

▪ tapping on a glass (empty or partly full).

▪ 3. Compose Arrange the symbols in a way to represent the city sounds by numbering the boxes in any

order to create your composition.

You can also add these symbols below in the boxes to indicate that you will make the

sound get louder or softer.

Experiment with your soundscape by:

▪ repeating the soundscape: quietly the first time and louder the second.

▪ changing the order and volume of the sounds.

▪ adding more boxes and symbols for more sounds.

Make changes to your soundscape until you are happy with how your composition

represents the sounds of the city.

Create a title for your soundscape.

▪ 4. Perform Record your soundscape.

You could use a phone or laptop to record your soundscape.

Share your recording with someone and see if they can understand what scene your

soundscape represents.

You can complete your city soundscape graphic notation here:

Music Lesson – Week 7

▪ What will I learn? You will:

- compose graphic notation on a musical stave (5 lines) - remix an existing melody.

▪ Before you begin You can choose to complete this task online or offline. You will need:

- Online:

https://danielx.net/composer/#api-xz8rW8re7kaOrTsbtdUcSirmDi4JoEr2UY00OLDknTI

- Offline: a pencil, eraser, and the following worksheet page

▪ Your Task Online: Use Mario Paint Music Composer to remix an existing melody. See my example below: https://danielx.net/composer/#api-AOKpYgXemp0US1StcVlBMdBOLegiSFdm4TSbJtML03E

Note: If you get a pop up, click away and it will disappear.

Key: Ice cream: melody (Twinkle) on keys Beach ball: drum Star: hi-hat Option 1: Remix this Twinkle-twinkle melody. Can you finish the ice cream tune? Option 2: Input your own melody, then remix it.

▪ Offline 1. Write a key: below each symbol you want to use, write down the instrument it will

represent. 2. Draw symbols on the stave: turn your page horizontally. Add sounds from left to right. 3. Title your composition: perform your piece with vocals/instruments/found objects.

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