Introduction

Begin by recapping last week and how different sounds created different moods and feelings. We created pictures to show how the sounds made us feel or places that they made us think of.

This week we are going to start with a picture and create our own sounds for that place. Lay out a selection of the percussion instruments and any other items you have collected for making interesting sounds.

Take a look at the images in the lesson slides (or choose some of your own). Go through each one individually asking them what sort of noises would you hear in this place? How could we make similar noises with the instruments and items we have? Take a few suggestions for each one.

 

Main task

Tell them they are going to be working in groups (as big as is appropriate and manageable in your class) to create a sound sequence to one of the images.

They will be allowed to use the instruments and items you have collected as well as their voices and bodies, but they must all be involved and must practice and be able to repeat their soundtrack when asked.

Some ideas:

• Town - Horns honking, people chatting, engine noises (with voices)
• Farm - coconut shell hoof noises, cowbells, farm animal noises (with voices)
• Beach - Shakers/rainmaker being tipped for wave noises, sandpaper rubbing, gentle finger chimes, seagull squawks (with voices)
• Countryside - Kazoo for ducks, whistling for birdsong, scrapers for insect noises, water noises

They could try and  find a way to write down their sound sequence order and one of them should record it on paper with either words or simple pictures.

 

Recording the sounds

They may need to find a quieter space to record their soundboards so they don't pick up all the background noise of the classroom.

There are a couple of apps you can use for the children to really easily record and play back their sounds, but both of these require a tablet. We'd recommend Keezy if you have it, but this is sadly no longer available to download from the app store. So a great alternative is Noiseee which offers very similar capabilities as a sound sample board.

 

Keezy

 

Noiseee

 

Introduce the app you choose to use. Both are simple yet powerful audio trigger apps that uses sound boards. The main screens consists of rectangles, each of which represents a different space to record a sound into. In Keezy there are some pre-set sound palettes, which you can use to create your own jams, but both apps' main function is that you can record any sound you like into each button so they can be played back to create your own musical instrument or soundscape.

Noiseee also comes with a few demo sounds on the board. You can delete these by tapping the three lines at the bottom of the screen, then tapping the occupied square and then 'delete'.

To record a sound on either app, simply press and hold your finger down on an empty box and play, sing, speak or make any kind of sound you like.

 

 

Other controls in Keezy:

Press the black circle in the centre to:

• Create a new soundboard
• Pick a sample soundboard
• Reset a soundboard
• Delete individual sounds from your soundboard
• Record a jam of you playing your soundboard - This can be exported to other apps afterwards
• Settings

Keezy is really easy and intuitive to use, but take a look at this video for a detailed explanation of all of Keezy’s features:

 

Other controls in Noiseee

Noiseee has 8 barcharts that allow you to adjust the sound you have recorded by adding or removing effects.

 

 

It also has three other functions at the bottom of the screen.

The three lines let you delete or export sounds from your soundboard. Tap the square you wish to delete or export and then confirm when prompted.

The loop tool lets you repeat your sounds so when you tap them (once recorded) they will keep playing again and again.

The third 'Hold' option plays the whole sound in a sound box even when you just tap it. Without this option selected the sound will only play while you hold down a finger on a box.

 

 

Plenary

Ask each group to perform their sound scape back to the class. If possible have the image they are pairing their sounds with on the board while they play.

Ask the class did they make a good collection of sounds to fit with the image? 

Ask the group that plays to explain some of their sounds and what they represent.