Students and participants from AHRC gathered for the fourth week’s session, which focused on adding beats, rhythm, and instrumentals, building on the words and lyrics that were created from last Tuesday’s session. Marcos, a Music Corps member with experience in theater exercises, started off the session by gathering everyone in a large circle. “We are going to create a machine,” he said, asking every person to go around making a noise reflective of the chosen machine theme of “submarine.” As usual, we started this session off by creating an atmosphere in which everyone could be open and at ease with one another. Marcos facilitated this by emphasizing that it was okay to feel silly, and together in a circle, we all began to make funny sounds: some stomped their feet, others made vocal “whoosh” sounds, and others snapped their fingers. It was another chance for everyone to introduce themselves and as Marcos described, “have fun.”
As the group finished up, they were encouraged to take the freedom and interactive nature of creating beats and rhythms into the next section of the session, where Gideon presented some short slides on how to add beats and instruments. He played “The Cups Song” as a demonstration of how easy it was to create a song with just vocals and a beat, which was received with a wide round of applause and cheer. Everyone was itching to try out the beats themselves! Next, Music Corps member Sebastian shared his own process of using music production software, Ableton Live, to create songs. He looped in various tracks and sounds, and some AHRC community members joined in to rap over the tracks.
In small groups based on the students’ site placements, they continued working on their songs. One group went to the piano keyboard to start putting their words about family and inspiration to melody. In another group, a guitarist started a sequence of chords, while the group began singing words over the chords: “The time is coming / summer is loving / there’s something in the weather / the sun is shining.” It was impressive how the AHRC members were confidently singing and sharing with everyone, both during the group working session and also during presentation, such as by rapping over the production tracks. In another table in the back of the room, Sebastian was working one-on-one with an AHRC community member to create a gospel rap song.
One of the themes that surfaced during the session, and which student participants reflected on during the last reflection and discussion section, was the similarities and differences between oneself and his community members, those with developmental disabilities at AHRC. Students described how they were encouraged to be less inhibited in the presence of the AHRC members. They saw how easy it was for AHRC community members to sing aloud with group, noting that they, the Corps Members, often felt like perfection was required before singing or sharing with a group. As Corps Member Kabi said, “They have a confidence in their ability that I struggle to have.” Others noted how although they would always be limited by the bodily experiences of another, there was a shared sense of humanity and what it means to be human when working together in sharing stories and songs. Reflecting upon her experience working with her partner, one member stated, “I’m sure she and I have differences, but the differences are a little less exciting. We are different the way any two people may be different from each other. It’s the similarities that bring us closer.”
Humans in Harmony 