Its safe to say that the workshop didn’t go as I envisioned, but it was a huge learning experience. In hindsight, taking on such a big idea all on my own was a task in itself and I feel as if I focused on the technical side of things a little too much. As a result the structure of the workshop felt a little loose, something I’m now realising is not always the best thing when working with children. The aim was to both introduce the students to soundscape studies, leading onto an exploration of animal phenomenologies and communication using various midi controllers. I think my mind ran away with me a bit here, attempting to record an entire group soundscape composition. Cristina helped immensely in leading the somatic activities, but without enough clear dialogue between us it became more of an exercise to keep the children entertained/ busy until it was their go to explore the Ableton push. I think through this workshop I’ve discovered that the more active bodywork was, though attractive, not entirely necessary. Attempting to tie this in with soundscape composition and the study of animal communication watered down the overall takeaways of the workshop. Sometimes less is more! If there is another opportunity soon I now know to focus solely on one of these aspects to give a more enriched and focused experience. Technical difficulties played a part too, with the Ableton project malfunctioning, resulting in the Push becoming unresponsive. The resonator midi control was also not quite obvious enough in its touch receptivity. I think I planned the workshop from the standpoint of my own compositional aesthetics, as opposed to putting myself in the shoes of young students with no experience of electronic music making. Feedback issues with the microphone used to record found sounds also posed an issue and so this station had to be discarded. The idea was grand, but I overlooked the reality of the logistics. On a plus note, during the second session I immediately adapted and simplified the workshop, focusing solely on the Ableton push, without attempting to record anything – more so to familiarise the children with midi controllers and animal phenomenologies at the same time. This was quite effective. I wonder what exercises I could create using this. Perhaps crafting compositional instructions using those field recordings. This would require a fair few Ableton pushes, and most probably would have to be a series of longer workshops. Something to think about! On the whole a very necessary experience. Back to the drawing board…
