Sounds of Science
Dates: July 15th-26th
Cost: $1,200
Sounds of Science module is designed for students who are curious about sound, music, and scientific discovery. This module allows for scientific and musical exploration in a hands-on workshop setting. It is a combination of taking things apart to see how they work and building new musical instruments while gaining an understanding of basic electronics, physics and acoustics.
Creativity and exploration are major parts of this module and all sorts of musical activity can take place at any time during the module. Ultimately, the students in the Sounds of Science module create an electro-acoustic composition for performance at the end of ASRA (so far, we’ve only killed four furbies!). We have also built three atari punk consoles, made several successful drawdios and much more.
Typical examples of Sounds of Science activities include:
circuit bent furbies
drawdios
atari punk consoles
completely wiped out, ruined experiments that always teach us something
pvc marimbas
KORG KP3 processor & Kaossilator
Garage Band, MAX MSP, and Audacity
recording technology
therimin
arduinos
tons of time making music and playing disc golf
lunch and Chuck Norris jokes
acoustics, physics, ooblek, and anything students wish to pursue within the capabilities of the module
Instructors
Vincent Cee
Vincent teaches undergraduate courses in music education and jazz at UAF. He holds music education degrees from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (B.Mus), Arizona State University (M.Mus) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (Ph.D.)
Prior to doctoral studies, Vincent taught general music, elementary orchestra and high school orchestra in Mesa, Arizona. In addition to teaching, Vincent served as a clinician, adjudicator, presenter and guest conductor for various community and statewide musical events.
While working as a graduate teaching assistant, Vincent taught arts and music courses in the University of Massachusetts Amherst General Education curriculum. He also designed and developed online platforms for web-based arts courses, and is currently developing pilot courses for the UMassAmherst Outreach, University Without Walls. As a graduate teaching assistant, Vincent received a University of Massachusetts Amherst Distinguished Teaching Award in 2008.
Vincent’s research interests range from examining musical activity within institutions to issues in policy, curriculum and philosophy. He has published reviews in American String Teacher and is currently conducting research on the role of improvisation in the context of public school institutions.
Bobb Lockwood
Bobb is the Music Director at Randy Smith Middle School. Ever since he was a child, Bobb has been asking the question "What is music?" Fascinated with sounds, he has performed with various musical ensembles since the age of twelve, exploring many different ways to create noise/music. The search for new sounds led Bobb in the direction of "circuit bending", a hobby where small toys and games are disassembled to explore new ways of rewiring them to produce interesting noises. Check out Bobb's latest circuit bending project on YouTube HERE. Bobb also enjoys photography, cooking, and camping.