ABSTRACT
The 1960s and 1970s saw an explosion of possibilities with music technology, and a number of composers created works at the then cutting edge of sound manipulation. John Paynter was not alone in his interest in the educative possibilities of these new tools, and writers such as George Self and Brian Dennis also devised projects for schools that used technology to open ears to the possibilities of music built from sounds rather than notes. The class needs to decide on a theme for a soundscape – some aspect of the natural world works very well – and prepare different sound sources that may feature. The water cycle started with rainfall on high ground, and rain sounds were created with small shakers and rainsticks. The rain percolated into the soil and gathered in underground lakes: for this, the sound of dripping was needed, which was attained by a gentle tapping of two fingers into a palm.
