Sound Manipulator

Sound Manipulator is a software application for exploring and manipulating audio for sound composition. It has been designed, developed and tested through action research in collaboration with secondary school music departments in the North of England. This forms part of a PhD research project investigating the role of technology and composing within the National Curriculum for England, in Music at key stage 3 (11-14 yrs).

Download first beta release of Sound Manipulator software (Mac OSX)

Download first beta release of Sound Manipulator software (Windows)

Further learning resources and video tutorials available here soon….

Are you interested in participating in this action research in the future?
Any music teachers who would like to discuss the action research project with a possible view to including their music department as possible participants in the future, should contact Al McNichol a.mcnichol@hud.ac.uk at the University of Huddersfield.

 

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Staff

Al Al McNichol
a.mcnichol@hud.ac.uk   01226 644255 (direct), 01226 606262 (reception)

 

 

 

 

PhD studies
Al is currently a PhD student at the University of Huddersfield, under the supervision of Professor Michael Clarke and Dr. Lesley-Anne Pearson. Al’s studies have entered the latter stage of a PhD researching the role and development of music technology within 11-14 compulsory music education.

University of Huddersfield staff
Al is a senior lecturer in the Department of Music and Drama, based at University Campus Barnsley.

Other Professional Experience
Al graduated from the University of Sheffield, UK with a first class Honours degree in Creative Music Technology. On completing his PGCE and becoming a Fellow of Higher Education Academy, Al went on to teach music technology in a variety of settings including community, Further and Higher Education. Al also has a varied history as a freelance music practitioner in both performance and production over the past 30 years. He is a member of the Performing Right Society as a writer and manages a music production company undertaking commissions for broadcast, professional ensembles and independent artists.

Research Outputs

A range of outputs have resulted from this research. These include published academic materials discussing the concept, theory and methods, video and audio data collected from the action research and learning resources used in the classroom. It is intended that some of these outputs will be developed into a learning pack for music teachers. The aim of the learning pack is to encourage accessibility of modern technology, including the Sound Manipulator software, to the music classroom.

Academic Materials
McNichol, A. (2008) ‘Music Technology in the Key Stage 3 Music: an opportunity for creativity?’. In: University of Huddersfield Research Festival, 25 Feb -13 March 2008, Huddersfield, England.

McNichol, A. (2009) ‘Music Technology In The Key Stage 3 Music’. In: University of Huddersfield Research Festival, 23rd March - 2nd April 2009, Huddersfield, England.

McNichol, A. (2010) ‘Technology in the classroom: an opportunity missed?’ In: Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), New York, N.Y., USA, 1-5 June 2010.

McNichol, A. (2012) ‘Exploring an extended sound universe for composing in 11-14 music curricula’ In: Electroacoustic Music Studies Network Conference (EMS12), Stockholm, Sweden, 11-15 June 2012.

McNichol, A. (2012) ‘ Modern technology and creativity: an approach to composing at 11-14 years’, In: Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Ljubljana, Slovenia, 9-14 September 2012.

Audio and Video Materials
Video of live screen capture demonstration of Sound Manipulator software at a recent International conference (EMS12, Stockholm, Sweden)

Projects

Action research has been implemented since 2009 in collaboration with four secondary school music departments in the North of England. Early materials and results from two of these were published at a previous ICMC 2010. Since that time three further cycles of action research have been implemented in two other secondary schools.

The schools wished to integrate modern technology and practice with the National Curriculum by increasing the use of technology in music at key stage 3 (11-14 years) particularly for composing music. Suitable hardware resources were available in the form of a networked PC lab. General IT technical support was available to assist in the deployment of resources across the available hardware systems.

Part of the action research has involved developing learning resources to support the teaching of a composing project using modern technology consisting of three distinct stages: digital sampling of natural sound; appraising and manipulating digital sound and; structuring digital sound.

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Learning resources include schemes of work, lesson plans, teaching materials, video tutorials and dedicated sound processing software, Sound Manipulator. This dedicated software is intended to encourage and facilitate pedagogy in stage two of the project; sound manipulation.

Each stage of the project is progressive and incorporates modern practice in the use of music technology for music composition. There are ‘n’ sub-stages within these stages where pupils are able to progress at differing paces achieving a range of learning outcomes as they do so.

Data has been collected during and after each stage through a variety of methods including digital video, digital soundfiles, still photographs, observations, verbal discussion, aural audition and feedback questionnaires.

This action research is ongoing and is planned for continuation in academic year 2012-13 and beyond.

Would you like your school to participate in this action research in the future?
Any music teachers who would like to discuss the action research project with a possible view to including their music department as possible participants in the future, should contact Al McNichol a.mcnichol@hud.ac.uk at the University of Huddersfield.