It was during the lecture in week 8 when it finally clicked. I finally had an idea for my Technology in Music Education project! Within the next 10 minutes, I found myself with a partner (Lucy 😊) and an idea of where we wanted to take the project. But let me tell you, it wasn’t that easy up to that point.
When I initially began this class, I had a thorough read of the Unit of Outline page as any good student would and oh boy, was I overwhelmed. Not only did I not know much about technology but I was also required to start a big project which was somehow connected to technology. And then present it to an audience of over 300 people! 😲 Let’s just say that I wasn’t really excited, especially because, as weeks went on, I still didn’t know what project I wanted to tackle. I didn’t even know if I would be able to find a group who was on the same wavelength as me. And then week 8 came along and I learned about the Maker Movement. It’s funny how it can be just one event which leaves you spiralling with ideas. And that for me was that week after listening to Phil Nanlohy’s amazing work he does in one of the primary schools in Western Sydney.
I have already written in more detail about the Maker Movement (and Reverse Garbage) in my week 8 blog post so if you feel like you need a reminder, have a read here 🙂
What I haven’t discussed in this blog post, however, is that Lucy quickly messaged me during our online Zoom lecture after I have expressed my desire to explore the Maker Movement to James, our lecturer. Her and I have done another assignment in a different class so we both knew we could work really well together. And we were both on the same page: we wanted to make stuff! 😀 So first things first, we arranged a video chat that same week Friday to discuss our ideas and where we were hoping to take this project. However, Lucy was extra excited and has sent me a video detailing some of her ideas the same night after the lecture:
So yes, we have decided to make instruments. At first we were debating on whether to go down the computer programming road and create midi instruments. However, that would’ve required lots of time and more people than just the two of us. So instead we decided to try and create instrument designs which students would be able to build themselves. Oh and did I mention that I don’t have any previous knowledge in making instruments? Should be easy, though, right? 😅
This is my video response I quickly sent to Lucy on the same night:
After just one day, we knew where we wanted to go with our project. But we also knew that we needed to include some technology into the whole process so one idea I suggested was to create an interactive PDF alongside the instrument. On Friday that same week, we reviewed some of the topics we discussed and decided to make a Google document where we could write down all our ideas and plans while also allocating jobs to make the research easier. This is how our page looked after the first meeting:
Though it was just quick a few quick notes and there was still a lot of work to do, we were both very excited! However, I’ll be honest – it was worrying that I didn’t know much going into this project. Lucy had some previous experience with building things so she got straight down to making some reeds out of plastic! I used this opportunity to try out making her designs myself as a way of practising instrument making. You know how you need to start with small things in order to build self-confidence? Well that was me, I desperately needed that confidence! 😅
I have already written about the whole process in my week 8 blog post linked above but let’s just say that I really struggled at first, mostly because I knew nothing about reeds… Haha, and oh boy, this was going to be a long process. Nonetheless, I managed in the end with lots of help from Lucy of course. By the time I have finished my little plastic reed, Lucy was already on her third plastic flute prototype she has been experimenting with. And this is what I have ended up with in the end:
To be fair, I was quite proud of myself because I never made anything like this before. And it’s been a while since I got to sit down, take my stationary items and do crafts. I have to say (and maybe it’s social distancing and isolation talking) but I had soo much fun just building something, even as simple as a plastic reed. The sense of pride in creating your own little instrument, even if it sounds like the kazoo’s uglier cousin, felt great! And then I knew that no matter how intimidated I felt with the amount of work waiting for me or the fact that I knew literally zero percent of things to be known about instrument building, this project was the right choice. In a way, choosing this project reminded me of my young days where I would spend hours creating and building objects out of clay or paper or legos. And best of all, this project would also work really well with reverse garbage philosophy where you can either recycle or use biodegradable materials. In fact, the video that inspired me to consider the Maker Movement and instrument building in the first place was the one I mentioned in my video to Lucy, except the country I was thinking of was actually Paraguay. It left a strong impression on me when I first saw it a few years ago and it still leaves me in awe of how it’s possible to create learning materials even from actual items find in a land field.
So there you go, this is how Lucy and I began our instrument building journey. And who knows where this project will lead us, whether towards success or failure, but we are both very ecstatic nonetheless 😊
Also, go here and check out Lucy’s blog post! She goes into more details about how she designed and experimented with some of the reed building and plastic flutes. 🙂
Exploring Technology in Music Education 