Supporting Creative Confidence in a Musical Composition Workshop: Sound of Colour

Abstract

This paper explores and illuminates the work in progress of the ‘Sound of Colour’, an interactive musical installation, used to introduce musical concepts to children. Participants work in a collaborative manner to throw, roll, spin and bounce, coloured balls (typically found in children’s ball pits) to create an original generative musical composition, whilst learning the basics of pitch and volume. Through qualitative analysis and observations, the research discusses how a playful, colour based table top interface, affects the way that children interact with basic fundamentals of music, and how the interface affects their creative confidence when learning musical concepts. This study provides insight into how children interact and engage with a physical musical interface, in comparison to other tangible interfaces (button based controllers and mobile devices). In particular, when these instruments are used in a workshop setting, the research reveals novel methods for interaction with children to encourage and open up access to music composition.