da Vinci (Canada)
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SOUNDSCAPES RECORDED BY THE DA VINCI PROGRAM 2009 Listen to the experiments by the teenagers in the da Vinci program below. The 24 students worked in groups to collect the sound samples on portable recorders, edit and add effects, and mix them together into pieces. The soundscapes responded to their ideas of place, to the experience of being in the da Vinci program, and their relationship to the Arboretum parkland where their classes were held.
BACKGROUND TO THE DA VINCI PROGRAM The da Vinci secondary school program is a unique interdisciplinary program. This program is offered by John F. Ross CVI and is open to all grade 11 students from the Upper Grand District School Board in the Guelph area, Ontario, Canada.The program explores the arts and science at the J.C. Taylor Nature Centre in the Arboretum of the University of Guelph. The Da Vinci program is a great creative alternative to a standard grade 11 semester. Students obtain a number of credits. They also go on many field trips and get unique access and connections with the University Campus. The emphasis is on independence and creativity most of all, adaptability in dealing with challenges and new experiences. Visit the da Vinci website here. Fantastic videos made by students about the program. Click here.
DA VINCI AND COMMUNITY SOUND [E]SCAPES The 2009-2010 class were drawn from a number of secondary schools around the Guelph area. These 16 year old students took part in Community Sound [e]Scapes in December 2009 through participating in a number of workshops in sound recording, sound art, editing and mixing. They explored the Nature Centre and the Guelph Arboretum through sound and created a number of fantastic 2-5 minute long soundscapes made out of their collected sounds. These soundscapes were later played on CFRU Radio in Guelph, and some of the students spoke about the project on air. See our gallery of photos from the workshops at the bottom of this page. A gorgeous thankyou card the students sent in. Click here.
THE SOUND QUILT The da Vinci class also produced a Sound Quilt, a fabric art and multimedia installation which was displayed at their final art show in January 2010 at Ed Video, in Guelph. The installation included 24 fabric squares, each with a painting representing a student's favorite sound, drawn from the places around them and linked together into a hanging fabric art piece. The quilt was displayed above a synthesiser keyboard where each white key was linked to play a recorded sound in place of a note. Audience were encouraged to don headphones and to play the musical keyboard in different ways, listening to the many ways the sounds could go together, inspired by the visual art in front of them.The students’ individual soundscapes could also be included in the mix or listened to separately. The Sound Quilt was also displayyed at the launch of the Community Sound [e]Scapes website at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre in September, 2010. ONLINE VERSION OF THE SOUND QUILT This is the online version of the Sound Quilt. In the original gallery installation, users played a synthesiser keyboard attached to a laptop, in this version you can just use your mouse/touch screen to play with the quilt. Click on the pictures on the quilt to hear the sound that inspired them. Click in any pattern to combine the sounds together. Have fun!
GALLERY OF PICTURES FROM DA VINCI SOUND WORKSHOPS 2009 Slide show will automatically start, or click through using the arrows     01/24    
THIS IS THE LOVELY CARD SENT INTO COMMUNITY SOUND [E]SCAPES BY THE 2009 DA VINCI CLASS. THANKS!
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