Performing with the music paint machine: provoking an embodied approach to educational technology
Luc Nijs, Marc Leman · Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) · 2014
From existing literature overviews (e.g. Webster, 2002, 2011; Frankel, 2010) and from a growing number of books devoted to technology in music education (e.g. Finney & Burnard, 2009; Manzo, 2011; Rudolph, 2005; Watson, 2011), it becomes clear that computer-based applications are playing an increasingly important role in the field of music education. Software and hardware developments have led to numerous explorations and implementations within the music curriculum. The recent development of motion controllers for the gaming industry gives rise to a growing number of interactive technologies that afford new forms of musical expression. By providing a rich and engaging learning environment, such applications have the potential to empower learners in their pursuit of musical creativity and expressiveness. In this chapter we describe our work with the Music Paint Machine, an educational technology that allows a musician to make a digital painting by performing on a musical instrument while moving in various ways. The system, through which learning to perform becomes an embodied interactive experience, introduces a novel approach to the use of movement and visual feedback in instrumental music education. After presenting an overview of the system, we discuss the Music Paint Machine’s pedagogical background, based on a combination of the theory of embodied music cognition and educational constructivism. Next, we discuss embodied interaction and monitoring as related to the characteristics of the system. These characteristics are then elaborated on with regard to the systems potential of inducing an optimal experience (flow). Finally, we discuss these aspects in the context of a longitudinal case study in which 12 children (1st & 2nd grade) learned to play the clarineo. We present an overview of the main results and discuss them in the light of the presented background.