Send participants on a soundscape scavenger hunt – creating unique beats using field recordings from their surroundings
Music is everywhere and the sounds in the world around us can inspire an original beat or song. Found Sound Sampling Projects can get participants to critically listen to their surroundings and use those sounds to create music that is unique as they are. These projects also empower participants to utilize the technology they bring with them everyday in innovative ways as an alternative to traditional instruments.
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How to…
Equipment needed:
Smartphone or tablet
Note: Recording in stereo is essential for capturing ambience – Starting in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, you can now capture stereo audio using the built-in microphones on supported devices
Plan your Found Sound scavenger hunt – Send participants to explore sounds in various settings like:
In your building
Outside or in nature (take a field trip!)
At home or at school
Around town or in the city
Encourage them to go to a location and sit in silence and just listen to their surroundings or experiment by interacting with everyday objects in uncommon ways
Discuss and explore different environments and textures and how those sounds will influence the beat and those creating it. For example:
Sounds from nature vs. sounds of the city
Sounds from machinery vs. organic sounds
Sounds made using your body (e.g. stomps, claps, sound effects, etc) vs. sounds from an object
Sounds from everyday objects that played like instruments (e.g. touched, plucked, struck, etc)
Consider a found sound checklist – e.g. collect sounds that sound like:
Drums e.g. Kick, hi-hats, snare, toms, cymbals, shakers, etc.
Pitched samples e.g. taping on a glass or blowing into a soda bottle
Vocal samples e.g. people talking in a room or someone shouting outside, etc.
Risers e.g. doppler effect of a car or train passing by, etc.
Bass drops e.g. sound of an elevator or engine
“Seasoning” e.g. anything out of the ordinary or unique
Load samples into Sampler apps and start creating
Encourage participants to use their creativity to come up with unique sounds
Experiment with effects to manipulate the sound (e.g. EQ, reverb, chorus, gates, transposition, panning, reverse effects, pitch correction, distortion, chopping samples, etc.)
Finalize the project with ideas like:
Create a custom drum kit or sample pack and share among youth participants
Write lyrics that fit the mood that inspired the beat
Share your participants’ creations!
Optional project:
Consider starting with a premade beat (especially for younger or beginner participants)
Ask them to find samples that sound like the following:
Kick Drum
Snare Drum
Hi-Hat
Percussion
Etc.
Replace the samples and play the altered beat
Tweak the mix, effects or record new samples until participants like the sound
