Interesting article about the fundamental contributions made by a musician named Raymond Scott, whose creations from the 1930s were used as musical riffs underscoring classic cartoons, and whose work laid the foundation for all sorts of developments in electronic music. This is something that one just doesn't think about -- the sounds that are such an integral part of something as basic as a Tom and Jerry cartoon. It becomes part of your memory bank at such an early age that it's kind of like the sound of the wind outside or the sound of cars passing by. If you don't actually try to create a cartoon yourself you would probably never think about how the effects are created, exactly how the story is told. And a lot of it happens with sound and music.
Music and the Brain -- Norman Weinberger
I was especially interested in this article because when my daughter was in elementary school, she actually took a class called Music and the Brain. It was an experimental curriculum designed to take advantage of the benefits of musical training, which was supposed to relate especially closely to the development of math skills and "numeracy." The class was simply a class in keyboarding skills and reading music on a pretty basic level. I think it was for 2nd and 3rd graders, and the idea was that learning musical skills would help kids learn math skills. I don't recall the class making any special impact on my daughter, but would be interested in finding out whatever happened to that program and if they ever proved it to increase mathematical intelligence or skills.
This article covers a lot of ground in exploring the role of music in human life, history and development, particularly as it relates to the human brain. Modern imaging technologies have made it possible to study what happens in the brain when a person makes or listens to music. Studies have shown that exposure to music and musical training change the way the brain responds to music. They have also shown that music activates the same parts of the brain that are involved in the response to food, sex, and addictive drugs. The way that music affects emotions has also been explored. Music is a powerful form of communication, and the article discusses how it makes its impact.
Playing by Ear: Creating Blind-Accessible Games by Gavin Andresen in Gamasutra.com
Another topic I never would have thought existed -- computer games for the blind, and how they use sound to replace the information that graphics usually conveys to the computer game player. This article describes the creation of a game designed to enable both sighted and blind people to play together. This involved creating audio navigation cues so that visually impaired players would receive the same information as sighted players. Text and menus were read as well as displayed. Sound cues were devised to convey where the player was in space and what was happening. Audible landmarks were created to help orient players. The sound design required for this is intricate and complex, and not all problems were immediately solved.
The point was made that designing products for people with disabilities often creates advances in design for people without disabilities as well. The innovations in a program like this can be used to enhance any computer game with more interesting and communicative sound.
Grooving to the Rhythms of Language from The Multiple Intelligences of Reading and Writing by Thomas Armstrong
The close relationship of language and music is the topic of this chapter. The author shows that it can be advantageous to consider the rhythmic and musical properties of language in the teaching of reading and writing. Different types of writing can be related to different types of music and choosing an appropriate type--one that appeals to a young reader -- is one way to excite more interest in the written word. In addition, there are many literary works that deal with music in one way or another, and these can be lively additions to classroom reading. In this way musical intelligence or aptitude can be put to work in the service of developing literacy.
What's interesting here is the sort of cross-pollination of various types of intelligence. By now, we are used to hearing about the different types of intelligence, but we don't necessarily think about their interrelationships. The implication is that strength in one type of intelligence can be leveraged to help develop another type that may be inherently weaker in a learner.
No comments:
Post a Comment