Sound#Hack (2015). Credit: Kevin Grist

From Garageband to Guitar Hero, music technology is more accessible to young people than ever before. But what does this mean for music educators? Are they having to playing catch up? Is it genuinely opening a world of new possibilities for the traditional music classroom? 

Sound#Hack was a live learning event for secondary teachers and young people from Medway held in June 2015. It was hosted in studios at the Centre for Music and Audio Technology, University of Kent, on the Historic Dockyard Chatham. It featured exploratory workshops by leading music artists and educators working in digital music, live production and sound design.
 
Artists included DJ Skitz from AudioActive, live coder Rosa Fox and interactive technician Louis D’Aboville. Teachers and young people were able to co-learn and co-create pieces of music, with final works performed to an industry-style panel for feedback. The rotating workshops helped teachers build confidence using advanced music technology to compose and perform. 
 
Artist workshops:

• Spatial Sound & Ambisonics with Tommaso Perego, University of Kent
• Sonic Pi - Live Coding with Ross Wilson and Rosa Fox, Sonic Pi
• Build your own MIDI controller from tin foil, vegetables and game consoles with Louis D’Aboville, AudioActive.
• Live vocal looping with Ollie Finn, AudioActive
• Professional beat-making using Logic with DJ Skitz and Rich Carzana, AudioActive

Sound#Hack was co-produced by SparkedEcho and Ideas Test, as a commission from Royal Opera House Bridge.

Post-event, organisers Kevin Grist and Jon Pratty were invited to take part in a live YouTube debate on music technology and cultural education, hosted by Royal Opera House Bridge. The full broadcast can be viewed below.​

Gallery

Production notes

Sound#Hack was a SparkedEcho and Ideas Test production (2015)

Producers: Kevin Grist, Jon Pratty

Assistant Producers: Janet Moore and Ideas Test team

Keynote speaker: Alan Mash

Artists: DJ Skitz, Rich Carzana, Louis D'Aboville, Rosa Fox, Ross Wilson, Ollie Finn, Tommaso Perego

YouTube debaters: Kevin Grist, Jon Pratty Michele Gregson, Cliff Manning

​Partners and supporters: Royal Opera House Bridge, University of Kent - Centre for Music and Audio Technology, AudioActive

Videos

Participant responses

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It was great that musicians and coders were able to understand each other's work. My highlights were seeing Sonic Pi in action, watching music being made from vegetables, using Arduino boxes, and hearing really good rap music performed in front of me.
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Student

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Do not change anything - the dedicated sessions were great, giving enough time to really play and learn about the technology we were using. 
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Teacher

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Fabulous environment, facilities and staff - loved it.
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Teacher

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Highlights of Sound#Hack - seeing some innovative uses of Music Technology and getting to try out new ways of making music.

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Student

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I will now be able to teach a module using Sonic Pi.
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Teacher

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Funders & supporters