The first Media Lab class started today with nine CMW students ages 9-17!

Betsey Biggs (standing on the right), an electronic music composer currently in residence at Brown University’s Cogut Humanities Center, started the class by leading us on a “sound walk” into the never-before-seen Media Lab space.  After a discussion about listening (what we heard on our walks/the different ways we respond to sounds/how much we notice when we actively focus on listening, etc), we talked about the ways we might use this new space and work together over the next six weeks. We then got on the computers and, with the help of teaching assistants Henry Kerins (on the left) and Micah Salkind, dove into our first Logic pieces. We did a quick “intro to the Mac” session and then explored Logic’s tools by using pre-made loops to create short projects.

Angie and Alana
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/day1_AngieAlana.mp3|titles=Angie and Alana ]

Christian and Josh
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/day1_ChristianJosh.mp3|titles=Christian and Josh ]

David and Kirby
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/day1_DavidKirby.mp3|titles=David and Kirby ]

Jesse
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/day1_Jesse.mp3|titles=Jesse ]

Paloma
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/day1_Paloma.mp3|titles=Paloma ]

Paul
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/day1_Paul.mp3|titles=Paul ]

Today we were fortunate to be visited by composer and viola wizard Mike Kelley:

“A prize winner at the Primrose International Viola Competition at the age of 18, Mike has been performing and teaching internationally with the Apple Hill Chamber Players for over ten years. An active composer and electronic musician, he has been a Teaching Fellow in Electronic Music at The Juilliard School, and has created scores for various projects at Yale University to the acclaimed disco group Metro Area.”

In front of a live studio audience (see photos here), Mike collected sound from CMW student musicians and created this extraordinary piece:

[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/cmw-krew.mp3|titles=Mike Kelley Twinkle Remix ]