Sound Lab

Assignment 1: Stamp Music

Assignment 2: Reflection on Body Mapping

This week, we learned about body mapping in our class this week, which has prompted me to consider my actions in relation to my body. One instance in which I really noticed a difference is through playing my instrument. While playing in rehearsals and personal practicing, I put more thought into my posture and the positioning of my body. I learned that how I presented myself directly affected my sound, technique and playing. I noticed that when I sat up on the edge of my seat and allowed my skeleton to maintain its natural position, my breathing and air flow improved. When I aligned my shoulders and my hips, I was able to intake more air, which allowed me to play longer phrases, more musically, and with better articulations. Also, another misconception that I used to have was with the atlas-occipital area. I tend to place my stand in a position that forces me to dip my head and look downward. However, I began to realize that this was not good for the alignment of my body, so I raised my stand and also raised the degree of my AO area. This seemed to improve my playing as well. In conclusion, this lesson has taught me to reflect and discover how my body parts directly impact my daily activities.

Assignment 3: Body Percussion to Music!

Assignment 4+5: Reflection on First Nations Music

The piece that I found is called 'Home to Me' and is sung by a group of youth from the Grassy Narrows First Nation. This song was written about their land being poisoned by external factors. The main subject of the song reveals that there was mercury contamination in the water reserves on their lands, which led to many medical issues. They created this song to go along with their protest at Queen's Park in Toronto in the effort to get the government to step forward and help them out. The culture behind this music, shows the effects that people have on the First Nations that live all across Canada. Companies carelessly dumped toxic waste into lakes with no regard for the people that still utilize the lands. In fact, they were originally the first people that inherited the land, so they should be showing more respect and carefulness towards them. The government was also aware of the problem, yet refused to do anything about it, so people needed to take action. It came to a point where youth had to get involved. The song also begins with a traditional drum being played by a First Nation player. It then switches into more contemporary instruments and beats. The youth are also showing the public where they live daily and the conditions that they are forced to live in. This is their natural lands and their homes that are being affected by everyone else. They are protecting their lands for the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgaYz8YWsO8

Assignment 6: Reflection on Personal Activities

• One area that made me reflect this week was through basketball
• My coach is constantly giving me reminders/ his own opinions on what I should be doing
• I don't always see what he is saying because it's different when you are playing the game vs when you are watching
• What I felt about my own actions were different from what was actually being performed
• I learn to take advice and put myself in other people's perspectives to see the bigger picture
• I also took note that he said these recommendations as facts rather than in his opinions because it is meant to instill his values and philosophy for what to do while playing
• One instance where the word, "but" was used was during my basketball team's game.
  • I had just been subbed off and was on my way back to the bench when my coach gave me praise but also gave me recommendations for what to do in certain situations. For example, he said to make sure to box out before going for the rebound. This was used in the hopes of advancing the game and being able to win the game. The use of "but" gave me positive feedback as well as negative feedback, but was presented in a way to get better rather than put me down.
• Similarly to the "Golf in Mind" article, I tend to go through the same procedures while playing basketball. I need to clear my mind and think about the future outcome while playing. For example, I need to visualize and think about the ball going through the net while shooting or else the chance of it going in will be drastically lower.

Reflection #7: Group Exercise

The idea I have for the class is to do a team building exercise. In this exercise, I will get the class to stand in a circle and connect hands with someone else that is not beside them. Each hand must be connected with a different person. The objective of this activity is to be able to untangle the circle so that everyone is beside each other in a circle. This exercise focuses on team work as everyone is trying to untangle the circle. This puzzle cannot be solved if everyone is thinking individually and working only for themselves. Everyone must be able to get their ideas across and be listening attentively for all the ideas that are given.

Reflection 8: Systems

This week, I have been trying to achieve my goal of curling my upper lip into my mouth while playing the oboe. It has been a recurring problem that I have, which holds my improvement back. It would greatly improve my embouchure and my ability to control my tone. I find that near the beginnings of my lessons and practice times, I am very aware of the placement of my lip. However, I find that when I either get tired or more involved in the music, I lose perception of this body system and it usually relaxes and goes back out. Whenever I intend and consciously think about curling my upper lip, my body reacts and it happens, however, I want to get it to a point where I won't need to keep thinking about it. Another instance in which I was aware of my system was during my band rehearsal. I tend to slouch or lean on the back of my chair while playing, but I have realized that sitting up and maintaining good posture improves the air capacity and sound quality that is produced. When I intended to sit up, I had good posture and it could be heard in my sound, however, when I was not paying attention to this specific action, I was not doing it.

Reflection #9: Reflection

Today, I am reflecting on the article about music behind bars in Kingston, Ontario. In this article, I learned about the music making program that has been set up inside the prisons, called Pros and Cons. This program provides people in institutions with the tools and equipment to make music. The institutions in Kingston tend to implement the use of self-isolation as a punishment and this program begins to unravel the damage done by this by encouraging the inmates to communicate and showcase their talents. I think the public knows so little about the incarceration system because no one really cares about the people that are behind bars. Due to societal norms and pre-existing views, the public holds negative views on the people in correctional facilities. People would rather turn a blind eye than care about them. However, I believe that if the public was more informed about the people inside and their views, they would be able to see the perspective of inmates as many of them want to be reintegrated into society and not feel useless. I believe that all people should have access to art/music due to the many positive impacts it has on emotions. For example, if everyone in prisons had access to it, they could all feel the sense of being able to contribute to society. Without it, they feel useless and they continue to look down on themselves.

Reflection 10: Kellie Walsh

This week, Kellie Walsh gave us a presentation on Zoom. I was very interested in this topic due to the fact that I was able to relate to a lot of what she was saying to us. I volunteered with several special needs camps, mainly through sports. I was able to relate to many of the ideas that were brought up in the presentation. For example, I recognized many of the areas of focus that she keeps in mind during her rehearsals, such as self-esteem, leadership, and socialization. I had to keep a positive attitude all the time and always encourage my athletes and it was always heart-warming to see them progress through these activities. Our team of coaches had to get the group to stay focused to we did our best to keep everything engaging and fun for the students. We also made them feel that they belonged and gave each person their time to shine. Inclusion of everyone and teamwork is one of the most important aspects of having a team/ensemble and that was what stuck with me the most from the presentation. Keeping an open mind to those that are different helps to eliminate the stigma that usually surrounds special needs people.