M21 — Music 21st Century — Germantown Academy

ENJOY APP **ON CAMPUS** AT GERMANTOWN ACADEMY, FORT WASHINGTON, PA

VERSION 1.0 - LISTEN IN PAVILION

The Sounds of Self-M21 mobile app is a hybrid of:
location-based Bluetooth technologies
location-aware Digital Music Composition

The process began with Upper School Honors Music students composing Aleatoric, or “chance” music, creating layers that can be combined in infinite possibilities. For version 1.0, students used specific locations on GA’s campus as inspiration for their compositions. Currently, the Pavilion and Connor Quad are musically mapped.

Wearing headphones while the app is running, the user will move through the space, listening to the unique musical composition that develops. Depending on where and at what speed the user is moving, specific music tracks and dynamic levels change. Since no two users will move through the space exactly the same, the listening experience will be one-of-a-kind.

The App Development team of Perry (class of 2022) and Scott Fraser implemented Bluetooth technologies that communicate through extensive code and cloud-based platforms. Music composition elements are pulled down from the cloud as Bluetooth triggers are relaying information between the mobile device and wireless beacons, thus offering an innovative listening and app experience.

Ultimately, the goal of the project is to provide a new aesthetical dimension, providing an aural and physical experience that is unique to each individual. Additionally, the hybridized elements of code and composition celebrate innovation through M21: Music in the 21st Century.

M21 is a cross-divisional GA Performing Arts initiative that provides cutting-edge, real time musical experiences, expanding traditional classroom opportunities. Employing winds, brass, percussion, strings, voices, and technology, young musicians synergize, exploring and creating interactive soundscapes. M21 seeks to better understand what motivates and engages the 21st Century Music Learner, ultimately creating more opportunities to stimulate the play instinct. Projects include the One School Pump Up the Jam Band, iPad integration in performing ensembles, vocal improvisation, Themed Pop Assembly electrifying strings, jam sessions, pop-up performances, and location-based music composition mobile App.