IMPACT Conference 2017

In this experiential session we will work through a series of exercises with the end goal of creating “sonic signatures”—micro-compositions of just a few seconds that represent the individual as a musical being, broadly defined. Creating a sonic signature is typically associated with marketing (consider for example, the “Mac sound,” or the “Intel sound”), but engaging in this exercise can also serve as a way for teachers and learners to: (1) reflect and share on how they experience and make meaning from music in everyday life, (2) consider how these experiences shape their respective personal identities, and (3) create representations of these identities through the visual and sonic arts. As facilitators of this session we will guide participants through three exercises. In the first exercise, we’ll examine how we perceive ourselves as musical beings using storytelling and visual collage strategies. In the storytelling approach, participants, in small groups, share personally meaningful anecdotes from their lived experiences engaging with music. The collage approach takes a different tack by having participants construct a visual representation of their musical identity by cutting/pasting images from magazines and other print-based media (or doing the equivalent digitally using online image archives and Google slides or Prezi). Building on these initial exercises, we’ll then work together in small groups to distill the essence of our identities to 1-3 concise “identity statements” (e.g., “music is a way for me to enter into another space”). Finally, participants will individually create a sonic signature that serves as a representation in sound of their identity statements, composed within a DAW context (no previous experience necessary) by manipulating and organizing found or newly created sounds. To conclude the session, we’ll share with each other our sonic signatures and the meaning(s) behind them.