DIY Instruments in Schools

Building on the techniques developed in actions “DIY instrument hacking”, a pilot program will be implemented to schools in Greece and the UK.

The idea is to work with children and artists on the creation and use of new musical instruments demonstrating different ways into DIY culture or hacking. The premise is that children, who are actively involved in the creation of music, are more connected to and engaged with music and are more motivated to learn about the craft.

The project will involve artists who design new instruments, using digital technologies combined with traditional instrument building. The children will build their own instruments, working within the OCC / DMU experts where they learn more about digital fabrication and programming. After having made their instruments, they rehearse and compose new music together. And of course they perform their work for parents, teacher and others.

This project closely relates to Interfaces’s other educational projects which are based on the idea of ‘learning by doing’ and working on modern digital literacy. This project is a chance to research these educational principles in collaboration with artists, combining digital and technical skills with creativity and art work, it is ideally suited to the Interfaces consortium.

Resources:

Workshop PDF: Click Here

Workshops:

DIY Electronics, 23-24 April 2018
Cyprus

Music Workshop: “Making music with sounds” & “DIY Electronics”, 23-24 April 2018, Cyprus

Creat-a-Con, 21 October 2017
Queen’s Building, De Montfort
University

In October 2017, members of Dirty Electronics (John Richards and Jim Frize) provided a drop-in workshop on Motor Music: hand-cranked synthesisers and noisemakers, powered by kinetic energy!

All ages were welcomed, with children as young at seven engaging with the various instruments that John and Jim brought along

Media: Motor Music @ Creat-a-con 2017

Electro-Cricket, 26 July 2017
Phoenix Square Art Centre, Leicester

A free event aimed at children and families, Electro-Cricket will allow participants to make complex beats, rhythms, pops, clicks and chirps with a DIY musical instrument. Working together, an orchestra of ‘relay-based oscillators’ will be created, using everyday objects to amplify and change the sound of the instrument.

Electro-Cricket Workshop, Phoenix Square 26/07/2017