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Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE)
203 N. Wabash, Suite 1720, Chicago, Illinois 60601-2417
312/870-6140 fax 312/870-6147
DIGITAL PLAYGROUND CHICAGO STYLE, 2004
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This ground breaking experience brought together young people of all ages (from 6 years old to high school) and experienced adult musicians in an environment in which they could freely improvise, perform and record new music together. Students came from a variety of public schools and charter school and after-school programs. The Michael Cain Group formed the core of the adult musicians throughout the week, joined by a range of local players from renowned jazz saxophonists to gospel artists and music educators.
Two musical environments were provided to the participants. One was the theatre stage equipped with a large variety of acoustic, electric and electronic instruments as well as microphones for vocal performance and for recording the music. The second environment was a small recording studio adjoining the theatre. This, too, was equipped with various instruments, computers and digital workstations running composition, sequencing and recording software. During the week adults and young people moved freely between the two areas working continuously to find new sounds and rhythms, compose lyrics and melodies, and combine elements into a whole. Though some young participants had musical and technical training of various kinds, many did not have any formal training.
Digital Playground Chicago Style grew out of the teaching work of New York-based musician, composer and educator Michael Cain and Chicago-based teacher, musician and audio engineer Nick Jaffe. Cain's Digital Playground program at the Hoboken Charter School has pioneered new methods in teaching music, emphasizing from the very beginning the essential intangibles (rhythmic sense, deep listening, and improvisation as part of a group) that are at the core of great musicianship, but are often ignored in traditional music education.
For several years, Nick Jaffe has been teaching and integrating music, technology, science and writing curriculum based on recording studios run by kids. Most recently, he taught Recording Arts and Sciences as a full-time program at the Chicago Choir Academy elementary school.
In this program, 4th through 8th grade students composed, produced, performed and engineered hundreds of original recording projects and several videos. During these processes students learned about a wide variety of subjects, from composition to the physics of sound, from digital technology to planning and group collaboration. The emphasis in Nick's program is on student creative and technical control, and making music that has never been heard before.
Digital Playground Chicago Style is only a small example of what is possible when young people are afforded a context in which they can freely create, refine and learn as they transform their creative impulses into live and recorded music for an audience. As more such contexts are created in schools and community centers, we will see more deep learning and innovative thinking by youth in many fields, not just music.
To listen to some MP3 tracks from the CD Digital Playground Chicago Style, click on the links below.
Sierra Freestyle 1:03 This live freestyle by Sierra Garnett (5th grade) over a groove by Teddy Jackson (drums-5th grade) and Mike Gamble of the Michael Cain Group (bass).
People are Dying 3:18 This track began as a layered improvisation with beat composed by Keith Redmond (8th grade) and several 9th graders who walked in from off the street. An unknown 4th grader freestyled the rap.
This music was recorded in a studio and engineered by students. Most were completed in less than an hour, often without the participation of students who had experience doing any recording work. The lead engineers were Marco Cano and Cassie Hawkins (7th Grade).
© 2004-2008 Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE)
203 N. Wabash, Suite 1720, Chicago, Illinois 60601-2417
312/870-6140 fax 312/870-6147 www.capeweb.org
If you have come to this page from a search engine, here is a link to CAPE's Home page.