hschung-LookingOutwards-11

My LookingOutwards-04 was more about uniquely produced music, so I am taking the opportunity to explore sound art.

As I was searching for computational sound art, I came across a website for EarSketch- a program used to teach students about computer science through coding music. Students are taught to code in Python or Javascript, and learn how to use loops, compose beats, and add effects to make music.

EarSketch hosts a national competition every year to encourage students to code music creatively. I liked a winning submission from the 2017 competition, titled Mid Day Parade Competition Song, created by student Robert Marcez. I thoroughly enjoy his song because it actually sounds good, like a real song. It’s full of complexities, crescendos, and even a beat drop of sorts, that make it feel like a full song. More than that, I’m impressed that this high school student made a song from scratch via the medium of code, which is something I actually haven’t thought much about before. He was able to manipulate different components of the song, make his own functions to easily manipulate them, and creatively exercise his knowledge of code. It reminds me there are many ways to blend the fields of science and art.

Robert’s coded song- press the play button to listen! It’s quite good.
https://earsketch.gatech.edu/earsketch2/#?sharing=2K1nSohUQd3YaLpD4Zvohw

A list of the winners from 2017. Robert’s song is posted first, and there’s a blurb from him about what he was thinking as he created his song.
https://earsketch.gatech.edu/landing/#