Award win for Computing’s Soundlab digital music collaboration

SoundLab – a pioneering project to help people with learning disabilities express themselves musically – has been named Best Special Educational Needs Resource at the annual Music Teacher Awards for Excellence.

 

SoundLab is a collaboration between the EAVI group in the Goldsmiths, University of London Department of Computing, award-winning creative arts company Heart n Soul, and Public Domain Corporation, a company providing interactive experiences and technology for the games and digital arts sectors.

The Music Teacher Awards for Excellence 2016 took place at the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel, Knightsbridge on Thursday 25 February, attended by some 280 industry guests including teachers, hub leaders, musicians and VIPs – representing the best and brightest in performing arts education.

Shortlisted alongside Soundlab in one of thirteen award categories were projects such as Moog Theremini, the Skoog, and the Alphasphere – chosen as outstanding resources for the education or music therapy sectors that combine current research with practical application to allow students with special educational needs and disabilities to engage with music.

From music apps that let you compose, DJ or play countless instruments with a fingertip, to those that make a voice sound amazing even if it’s not quite in tune, the SoundLab researchers have rigorously tested iPhone/Pad, Android and web programmes that can help people with disabilities make the music that they want to make.

Dr Mick Grierson, Reader in the Department of Computing at Goldsmiths, is lead Soundlab researcher, working with Mark Williams from Heart n Soul (project owner), Justin Spooner from Heart n Soul (project lead), Casper Sawyer from Public Domain Corp (technical director) and colleagues, including Goldsmiths’ Dr Simon Katan and Dr Rebecca Fiebrink.

In November last year the group hosted a sold-out event at Nesta, where participants could experiment with top musical technology, talk to the developers who make it, play in a digital pop-up band, and watch live-performances.

SoundLab has been funded by the Digital R&D Fund for the Arts, an initiative created by Nesta, Arts Council England, AHRC and the National Lottery.

Find out more at www.makeyoursoundlab.org