Video/New Media Workshop Lesson Plans (part two)

Capturing the Sound of Percussion for Video

Objective:

To learn about how sound for video is captured, to be exposed to sound equipment, to learn about composing rhythms, make connections between sound and mood, to be exposed to different cultures that utilize percussion instruments in music.

Materials:

Pots, pans, spoons, rice, beans, rhythm sticks, toilet paper roles, wax paper, rubber bands, string, ribbon, stapler, pie tins, nuts, bolts, plastic Easter eggs, sand, rocks, coins, micro phones and recording equipment, view sonic projector, final cut pro, video from previous week, Mac book pro, body sound recorder or a stethoscope, snare drum, bongo, mic. Drums.

Motivation/Inspiration:

What is my favorite type of sound (music, voices, air conditioner, air planes, motorcycles, animals, ect.)? Where do sounds come from? What do sounds look like? Do certain types of sound affect my moods or the way that I feel? How is sound used in the movies that I watch? If my character had a sound/theme/song or rhythm associated with him/her what would it be? What are some sounds I hear in a field? What are some sounds I hear in a neighborhood? What are some sounds I hear in the city? What sounds does my body make? What does sadness/ happiness/ anger/ excitement/peace/sound like? What is the fastest sound that you have herd? What is the slowest?

Warm up:

Room noise exercise: participants will close eyes for 30 seconds to one minute being silent in a silent room. The participants will be prompted to listen to silence.  After the time period is over participants will be asked to comment on what was heard in a silent room. No instruments needed exercise: Talk about sounds that can be created with ones body (clapping, stomping, teeth chattering, mouth noises, ect.) We’ve got rhythm exercise: participants are asked to follow a series of rhythms created by the instructor.

Activity:

Participants will view the exquisite corps video from previous week. With the video and their character in mind the participants will create or obtain a few percussion instruments of they’re choosing. These instruments will be created with everyday household items. After the procreation of instruments the class will compose a series of rhythms. Participants will practice the rhythms and then perform the composed rhythms for a recording devise. After class the sound that is recorded will be applied to the exquisite corps video by the instructor. The final video will be screened during the next class.

 Follow up:

Personal art experience journaling exercise: Participant should write one to ten lines about their experience in class. Sample questions to answer: What was my favorite thing about today’s class? What did I not enjoy about today’s class? What are 3 things I learned? What are 3 things I am proud of? How did I feel after today’s class? Is there any thing that I want to state about my art piece? Note: if the child is not developmentally capable of writing it is encouraged that the child draw a picture or verbalize what they would like to be written and it be transcribed by a volunteer.

Historical /Conceptual Notes:

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. The term usually applies to an object used in a rhythmic context or with musical intent.

Anthropologists and historians often speculate that percussion instruments were the first musical devices ever created. The human voice was probably the first musical instrument, but percussion instruments such as hands and feet, then sticks, rocks, and logs were almost certainly the next steps in the evolution of music.

Many caves in France, near Caberets and Grotte du Pech Merle, are believed to have been inhabited by early human communities. In those caves, anthropologists have observed red dots, which appear in most places where other carvings/paintings appear. It is believed that the dots/markings were formed by people who would tap or hammer those parts of the rock which have obvious acoustic significance; tapping those particular places causes tones which resonate throughout the cavern (like the echo of voices in a giant cathedral or drums in a large hall). This may be proof that humans were aware of the acoustic properties of percussion instruments and resonating chambers as early as 25,000 years ago; through much speculation suggests that humans likely used percussion instruments long before that.

As humans developed tools for hunting and eventually agriculture, their skill and technology enabled them to craft more complex instruments. For example, a simple log may have been carved to produce louder tones (a log drum) and instruments may have been combined to produce multiple tones (as in a 'set' of log drums).

Percussion instruments play not only rhythm, but also melody and harmony.

Percussion is commonly referred to as "the backbone" or "the heartbeat" of a musical ensemble, often working in close collaboration with bass instruments, when present. In jazz and other popular music ensembles, the bassist and the drummer are often referred to as the rhythm section. Most classical pieces written for full orchestra since the time of Haydn and Mozart are orchestrated to place emphasis on the strings, woodwinds, and brass. However, often at least one pair of timpani is included, though they rarely play continuously. Rather, they serve to provide additional accents when needed. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, other percussion instruments (like the triangle or cymbals) have been used, again relatively sparingly in general. The use of percussion instruments became more frequent in the twentieth century classical music.

In almost every style of music, percussion plays a pivotal role. In military marching bands and pipes and drums, it is the beat of the bass drum that keeps the soldiers in step and at a regular speed, and it is the snare that provides that crisp, decisive air to the tune of a regiment. In classic jazz, one almost immediately thinks of the distinctive rhythm of the hi-hats or the ride cymbal when the word "swing" is spoken. In more recent popular music culture, it is almost impossible to name three or four rock, hip-hop, rap, funk or even soul charts or songs that do not have some sort of percussive beat keeping the tune in time.

Because of the diversity of percussive instruments, it is not uncommon to find large musical ensembles composed entirely of percussion. Rhythm, melody, and harmony are all represented in these ensembles.