An inquiry into sounds of different objects and different surfaces associated with our everyday life by Nikita Asrani

Process inquiry - Paper

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-11 08:31:02 UTC

We often consider paper with the view of writing, creating a list, craft (Pacini-Ketchabaw, V, Kind, S & Kocher, LLM 2016) etc, but I wanted to see what kind of sound does paper make in the process of creating something.

I wonder if it sounds the same when a piece of paper collides with another piece of paper. I wonder when they touch/bang each other, does it even make a sound?

In the process of inquiry, (Please listen to the audio while reading from here) when I picked the paper up for the first time it made the cracking kind of sound. So I ended up doing it faster to see if there is any change in the sound and noticed that the sound was faster and even louder, the frequency was high. I took another sheet of paper and crumpled it into a ball and this was even a heavier crackle.

Then I folded it and rubbed the two surfaces of the paper together only to hear it rustle. I then rolled the piece of paper and it was a screeching sound. I pressed the paper hard to make layers of it like a roll without vaccuum and it gave me a very heavy crackling voice. This piece was like a stick so I used it to hit to on the other piece of paper which was in the air. I kept the same paper on the table and I hit the paper twice and the table twice so it gave me the same sound. I realised that the paper on the table did not make any difference as the sheet was thin, it was the same like hitting the table. I tried tearing the paper up which was a ripping sound. I did different things with paper to explore it, like folding it, tearing it from the sides or in the middle, rubbing it, squeezing it. I did the same with the tissue paper however and it was very softer and different than the sounds of normal paper to which I realised that, the thicker the paper, the heavier the sound. Movement of paper was - rhythmic, repetitive (Pacini-Ketchabaw, V, Kind, S & Kocher, LLM 2016) as well as natural changes in frequency which made the material more vibrant to explore.

I understood from the above, that when you press the paper in layers it sticks to each other and when you make a ball out of it, it does not change it's shape - I, then put together all the pieces of the papers and put the ball up on the top and ended up making a paper mic (a mic to sing into)

Image - Paper (process)

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-11 08:34:30 UTC

Image - Paper Mic (final artefact)

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-11 08:35:06 UTC

Process inquiry - paint

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-11 10:06:13 UTC

When we were going to start exploring paint in class, I did not have any paints at home, so I created one from the spices I had - Coriander powder for brown, red chilly powder for red, turmeric for yellow, ketchup tomato sauce for a different shade of red and a green leaf from my plant which I wanted to check if I can extract paint out of it.

I started off by first thinking on how to make the spices liquid. The first thought was water. I poured water drop by drop on the spice. I started to hear the process at this stage. I heard the 'tip - tip - tip' of the water droplets. I mixed the spice and water with a spoon slowly where I heard the screeching sound of the spoon colliding with the plate. I repeated this process for the red chilly powder.

I wondered what would happen if I mixed oil into this, which I did and noticed a different consistency. I started applying these colours on the paper. I was so excited to try this on to which I noticed due to different consistencies, water paint spread slowly and inconsistently. I heard the brush's rough sound while scrapping onto the paper whereas oil paint spread faster, thicker and smoothly and the sound was also smooth and sweet. When I touched the paint it was damp and gave me a sticky sound.

I could not unfortunately get the colour from the leaf, instead I used it to create the leaves of the tree I made in the final product - a scenario. . I had smashed avocado and used that into the final product for the green colour.

More than the actual sound, I could hear the picture that I created (the artefact). I made some grass on which some mud/soil, a tree, 2 mountains and a sun. I could hear as if the wind is gushing and the leaves are moving due to wind. As if someone is walking on the damp soil giving a squeeky sound.

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-11 10:06:35 UTC

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-11 10:06:57 UTC

Process inquiry - Water

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-12 05:55:31 UTC

Thinking of water firstly, I switched on the tap of my kitchen sink and the water gushed out of the tap and went straight into the sink making the zzzz sound while hitting the base of the sink with a lot of pressure, so with all excitement, I turned the pressure down and the lesser the pressure was the sound became lower eventually when the drops of water were dropping it went like - 'tip, tip, tip'. When the water was continuously flowing with the minimum pressure, I could also hear the vaccuum air echo from the pipe where the water flows down through. A very different experience to discover that the echo sound was reaching out to me because of the low pressure.

I then tried filling water in one of the glasses. I filled the steel glass full and kept it on the kitchen bench, it gave me a heavy sound, so I wondered what if I drop some water out, will it give me a light sound just like above? I dropped half of the water and the sound of the glass was louder instead. I repeated it again with 1/4 water and no water and the sound of the glass went louder.

I though what if I fill different glasses with full, half, 1/4 and no water? Will it create a rhythmic sound? I did not have enough glasses so I used bowls and tried to touch a spoon to the edge of the bowls. It all gave different sounds. I explored that different volume of water creates different sounds and it was so extraordinary for me to create an instrument just with basic items.

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-12 06:07:58 UTC

Please note: I did not use the original sound of the video because it was recorded during class and everyone from class is having a discussion. I recorded the sounds again in the below audio.

Process Inquiry - Soil

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-12 07:13:37 UTC

In the first assignment, I wanted to explore clay and unfortunately did not have access to any clay so I replaced it with soil. It was such an interesting concept for me as we as children have always played in the mud, sand, soil, etc but have never consciously made an effort to explore the differences in its form or to add different kind of objects. Since I had the opportunity to inquire into the material, while exploring, I also heard sounds of the material - in its natural form, in mixture forms and while moulding the material into something.

I touched the soil and it was dry and powdery so it created rough sound. That rough sound itself made me feel, I should do something to make it smooth. It was my immediate instinct to add water. It made the soil damp and the sound was as if someone is walking on the puddle. I also mixed it with liquid soap and the sound became even more prominent and the consistency became watery, which gave a dripping sound when it fell on the base.

My final artefact is the soil cake that I made with some leaf toppings (as seen in the video)

Puddle sound

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-12 07:26:49 UTC

Process Inquiry - Lentils

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-12 09:25:28 UTC

Please watch the video for the entire process of material enquiry and exploration (I have edited the video to only the parts where I explored something new)

Final artefact - I initially looked at it as if it was a Kaleidoscope but then I realised it does not have mirrors inside haha, so I covered it with cling wrap on both ends eventually and made it a toy, somewhat like a tambourine.

Process Inquiry - aluminium sheet

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-13 01:46:27 UTC

Whenever we say aluminium sheet we think of the foil wrap in out kitchen. However, as a part of my loose part for placement purposes, i had another aluminium sheet with me. Also, with the purpose of comparison, I used both the sheets to explore the material inquiry.

As soon as I unfolded the aluminium foil sheet from its roll, it was already sounding as if something is crackling up. That sound was so exciting to hear that I then tore a piece off and mashed it into the shape of a ball. The outer layer of the ball is not smooth so even if I touched it lightly, it started to crackle up. I touched it with the spoon, rubbed it to see if anything happens.

It gave me a mushy sound. I threw it on the floor, it was as if I’m throwing down a crackle. It gave me the same sound when I opened the ball up or tried to tear the foil up. Just like paper, I rolled it into circles, long rolls and different shapes. My final product I came up with is a Robot.

Similarly, I used the other aluminium sheet, however the making if this sheet is different, it looks like aluminium foil but it is a soft sheet covered with bubble wrap so I could actually fold it, squeeze it, wrap it very easily with no sound. I took it in the balcony and kept it in the sun for sometime, the foil started to crackle up because of the sun rays and gave a reflection on the roof of my balcony. When the wind blew the sheet blew as well.

Art communicates in a non-linguistic and in an expressive matter according to Roy, D, Baker, WJ & Hamilton, A (2015) and I felt it because when I was trying to roll the sheet or squeeze it or tear it, any kind of shape took me to an imagination of creating a design just like a robot because of which this was my exploration about the aluminium sheet.

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-13 02:20:00 UTC

Expression of creativity and imagination in form of an activity is the talent art according to me. Art makes humans look and interpret beyond the literal and interpret meanings, it could be visual, vocal, written or performing arts (Roy, D, Baker, WJ & Hamilton, A 2015). Further to this, it is important to know the importance of art in an early childhood setting. However, until the teachers themselves do not explore what art is or at the least explore the process of art through inquiry-based practices, they will not be able to see through the children's eyes which is filled with curiosity, expression and creativity (Pelo, A 2016). In this padlet, I will be exploring different every day materials and the sounds associated with those materials. We feel and think from an different and unfamiliar perspective when we speak in the language of art. This freshness of expression allows us to ﬁnd our way to insights and understandings that we would not consciously recognize (Pelo, A 2016). The 6 artefacts created are as follows:

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-13 02:49:58 UTC

In conclusion, it was so exciting and interesting to see my own creativity and what kind of ideas I came up with I never realised until I was consciously into this process. Exploring sounds is tricky but when you have the right attention to the right timing, you go deeper into the process automatically. As Victor Wooten (2013) in his TEDx talk says that no one really teaches you music, interpret sounds or language, you just know it when you are in the process, experiencing it yourself which is what I have done in this Padlet. As a part of learning process for me, sound is such an important part of children's development, there is a real focus on singing, dancing, listening and music at child care that as an educator I would like to explore different sounds with children, talking about contrasting and rhymes, feel vibrations, make echoey sounds (care for kids, 2019) because I have myself explored it and would like the children to explore and enjoy as well.

nikitaasrani96 — 2022-03-13 02:53:17 UTC

Care for kids 2019, The role of sound play in early childhood services, viewed 12 March 2022, <https://www.careforkids.com.au/child-care-articles/article/312/the-role-of-sound-play-in-early-childhood-services>

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V, Kind, S & Kocher, LLM 2016, Encounters with materials in early childhood education, Routledge.

Pelo, A 2016, The language of art: inquiry-based studio practices in early childhood settings, Redleaf Press.

Roy, D, Baker, WJ & Hamilton, A 2015, ‘excerpt from A vision for the arts in education’, Teaching the arts: early childhood and primary education, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, VIC

Victor Wooten 2013, Music as a Language: Victor Wooten at TEDxGabriolaIsland, YouTube, 30 May, TEDx Talks, viewed 12 March 2022,