Soundscapes
instructional design
Soundscapes is an interdisciplinary workshop that teaches children to use environmental cues, language, and personal reflection to inspire a collaborative musical composition.
inspiring lifestyle through music
Soundscapes course was born in 2018 in collaboration between a NYC – based pianist and educator Racquel Borromeo, architect, founder of Silvermuse Daniel Silver, and Feldworks We all were connected by a wish to help children be inspired by what surrounds them, every day – and freely express their unique identities through music and the arts, encouraged by fellow artists.
Soundscapes was launched in summer 2018 hosted by Silver Music NYC music school, in course of which the participants created collaborative audio-visual concept albums under the guidance of creative mentors, experiencing all stages of the creative process from start to finish. The course had a big success amongst the students and their parents and has so far had 4 different focus themes:
Music and Multimedia
Music and Film
Soundscape, Emotions and Environment
Music and Architecture
exploring inter-and intraconnections through collaborative artistic creation
In the process, we started by exploring the connection between emotions, the body, and creation. We asked basic questions like: what is music? Is it something inside us already, or something we shape outside of us? We also thought about how music and creativity connect people and how they can be shared.
From there, we looked at collaboration. What does it really mean to create together? How do you set simple rules around a creative process so people can work well together and solve conflicts when they come up? These questions helped shape how we worked as a group.
We also focused on attention and focus—how to stay present in the work—and how to present ideas in a clear and honest way.
Another important part was learning how to navigate freedom. At times, having full creative freedom can feel overwhelming or even scary, especially when we are used to being told what to do. We learned how to handle that openness, trust ourselves more, and still find structure within it.
In the end, the process became about understanding not only what we create, but how we create it, and how that shapes the way we connect with others.
contributors
Feldworks, Daniel Silver, Raquel Borromeo - experience design and curriculum
In collaboration with Silver Music