A Flowering Tree=
Phase Three: Beats in a Box
Introduction
“’Cause my world just gave me a unanimous maybe...”
This rhyme from freestyle rapper Juice Lee reminds us how hard it is for young people to feel a sense of worth and belonging within their community and society in general. It is especially hard for young people living in poorer neighborhoods like San Francisco’s Tenderloin District that is literally walled in by a world of exclusivity: Neiman Marcus to the East and the Lamborghini dealership to the West, Nob Hill to the North and Civic Center to the South. Like BeatCrazy and BeatNation, "Beats in a Box" brings musical instruction to young people and helps them break down those walls and take control of their world through artistic creation.
International Inspiration—Local Action
The inspiration for "Beats in a Box" came from the Loreto Day School in Calcutta, India. The sudden arrival of 10,000 migrant families who “moved in” under the Eastern Bypass (a highway that leads traffic out of the city and towards Bangladesh) led to the creation of Principal Cyril’s “School in a Trunk” program. With their parents out looking for work during the day, thousands of homeless children began roaming the city. Never one to pass up a challenge, Principal Cyril and the teachers of the Loreto School filled metal trunks with paper, pencils, books, and accessories and made their way across the city. Within one week, every child had a teacher and was in “school.” Principal Cyril’s vision takes on a literal sense of the phrase, “if the child can not come to school, bring the school to the child.”
This is the spirit behind “Beats in a Box.” It builds upon the work of the BeatNation Club at the Tenderloin Community School. This program gives an empowering voice to young people through musical composition. The difference with “Beats in a Box” is that the music class can go wherever it needs to go and return as often as it’s wanted!
Two Semesters or Two Hours
The portability of "Beats in a Box” allows us to design projects that are tailored to any organization or school. These projects could span an entire school year or a single afternoon.
The Two-Semester Program is designed to provide an artistic voice for young people as they learn the grammar and structure of a musical language that many of them already listen to with great fluency, but are unable to speak. Early in the meeting process students will begin a written journal of sounds as well as a lyrics (poetry) journal. We will talk about sounds that trigger certain emotions, associations, etc. Students will bring in their favorite songs and tell us what they like about the music and the lyrics, and how these two elements come together to make an artistic whole. We will break down the rhythm and harmony of their songs and try to re-create the different elements. Students will then begin composing by learning how to organize and layer pre-existing rhythms, loops and samples to create fun, new and exciting textures. As we continue to meet we will analyze their music to determine what makes it interesting and successful. We also ask what kind of lyrics they imagine fitting their newly-formed beats.
A crucial shift takes place as they take recording devices into their homes and into their lives, sampling sounds from personal experience. When they return with recorders full of sound and life, they process them, create samples, and compose beats for use as a foundation for their own songs. So, the foot-stomping of the upstairs neighbor becomes a bass beat, the sirens outside become the melodic hook, and the homeless person on the corner the repeated chorus. This process helps young people find ways to take control of their world and make it an object of artistic creation.
An important final element of this curriculum is performance. And while it is important to provide a venue for their pieces to be seen and heard, and crucial that these young people receive acknowledgement for a performance “well-done!”, it is absolutely vital that their life experiences, told in a language that holds so much meaning for them, are recognized as worthy and deserving of applause.
Each class meets for approximately 90 minutes.The Two-Hour Program is an intensive exploration of the possibilities of sound and is intended for middle and high-school students. Because of the focused nature of the workshop, the ideal number of participants is from five to ten. The setting also becomes very important. So, while holding the workshop in a classroom is possible, “Beats in a Box” is most effective in a place where musical sounds are unexpected, or at least under-appreciated. Prior to the class we will agree on a nearby, highly trafficked location like a city square or a BART or MUNI station.
The course will begin with a live performance of John Cage’s 4’ 33”. This work of “silence” instantly ignites discussions about the nature of music (just look at the 3,516 comments on just one version of the piece on youtube.com!). From there we will look at and listen to various examples of how composers have reconsidered and reconfigured sound, new and old, with interesting and often breathtaking results: Common’s I Have a Dream, Thru-You’s I’m New, Playing for Change’s Stand By Me, Flobots’ Handlebars, DJ Qbert’s Drumming.
If there are more than five students, we will split into two groups. The first group will be given ipod recorders and sent out to find sounds while the second group receives a quick tutorial in sound editing software (Garage Band in most cases). Once both groups have had the opportunity to record sounds they will work in pairs to upload the sounds from their ipods to the laptops. They will continue to work in pairs with one student assisting the other as each song is composed. The teacher will move from group to group, offering guidance and advice.
Needs for 2009-10
Five 13” MacBook computers at $999 per unit. Five iPod Nanos at $150 per unit. Five Belkin TuneTalk Stereo recording devices Five pairs American Audio EB 700 Pro Earbuds Five 3.5mm Jack Universal Earphone Five 3.5mm Aux Retractable Cables at $2.03 One Trunk Custom Foam interior One 20’ extension cord One power strip One pair of Bose Companion 2 Series II
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$4,995 $750 $250
donated $351.67 $8.99 $6.99 $99.95
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A final grant report will be submitted after the conclusion of the Beats in a Box series, approximately in June 2010. The report will provide a narrative account of the overall series, along with the music recordings, photos, and video documentation from individual workshops.
