[Activity 1] The First Music: In the Studio 

Supplies:

  • Laptop
  • Kapwing Audio Editor
  • Google (HPS student) account
  • At least one object to make noise
  • Quiet recording space
    • I.e., Different rooms or large enough spaces for different groups to work to have their own “studio.”
  • (Optional) Headphones

Myth: This activity is based on the African myth on how music came to be. I will start the lesson with this 5-minute video: The First Music: A Folktale from Africa (Animated Stories for Kids) which shares the story of the African myth of The First Music. The myth goes that in the forest of Africa, all the animals were talking, filling the air with many sounds. But then there was a thunderous noise that caused all the animals to stop talking. It was an elephant beating a log making a beat like a drum. This caused the monkey to dance which made rattling sounds through the leaves. These two sounds came together and other animals joined until all the animals joined in different ways adding different melodies. Except the frogs said they couldn’t join because their arms and legs are too short to dance. For 6 days, all but the frogs continued playing their music. Then on the 7th day, the animals decided to rest, but then, the frogs began singing and the animals joined in on this new beat making even more music. The frogs realized that “everyone has something to add when it comes to making music.” Thus, this activity focuses on collaboratively creating music.

Activity – In the Studio: After sharing the video, the students will be divided into groups of 4 and each person in the group will make a beat in their own unique way using their voice, body, and/or objects found in the classroom. Using https://www.kapwing.com/, they will record each beat individually and layer them to create their group’s 30 second song and make a cover photo with a title and their names. 

Directions to prepare and record audio: 

Five minutes:

  1. Decide on how to make your sound for your beat. This may include using two books to hit together, markers and desk, or whistling etc. to create a beat.
    1. Each group must use at least 4 different types of objects or parts of the body, trying not to repeat the strategy another student uses. 

Five minutes:

  1. Find a place in the classroom or in the hallway to use as your “studio.” Make sure that the space is relatively quiet. 

Ten minutes:

  1. Using one laptop from the group, open https://www.kapwing.com/ and log in through Google using a group member’s HPS student login.
    1. Exit out of any Kapwing ads for buying premium. 
  2. Press “Create New Project” 
  3. At the top left corner, rename “Untitled Project” with a title of their choice.
  4. Click “Audio” on the left column. 
  5. Record group member #1’s beat for 20 seconds. 
  6. Repeat step 6 for each group member. 
  7. Click “Text” on the left column. 
  8. Write out “[Title] by [Group member names]”
    1. Play with size, colors, and text designs.
  9. Press “Export Project” on the right upper hand corner.
    1. Keep default settings for format, resolution, and compression.
  10. Press “Export as MP4” and download to the computer.

5 minutes:

  1. View, listen and share projects with other groups!

Workspace will look similar to this (above).