Listen Up!
Listen Up! is an environmental sound workshop for kids that introduces new ways of interactive with the natural world through sound. Designed and delivered by Finley Wegener, the workshop builds on Fin's experience as an educator, facilitator, and sound artist working with the environment. Fin hops that by perceiving the natural world in new ways, we might learn to appreciate nature's subtleties and aspire to better protect our natural spaces. Over the workshop, students are introduced to field recording, guided through nature by exploring its sounds, and then shown how natural sounds can be used to make interesting new kinds of music. Each workshop finishes with a group performance of improvised music using favourite sounds of the day.
Growing out of interdisciplinary collaboration between Fin and the Sunshine Coast Surfrider Foundation, this workshop explores how kids can have fun and express themselves creatively while interacting with the natural world in new ways. Workshop participants are introduced to field recording with microphones, hydrophones, and contact mics to discover a world of hidden sounds in the environmental everyday, learning along the way how their actions might impact even the smallest ecosystem.
Every workshop finishes with an all-in jam, where kids turn their natural sounds into drums and melodies with music technology. Contact mic systems turn trees and branches into instruments as well, transforming play in nature into musical exploration.