Musician and sound designer Steve Wright shows me a children's drawing of a caterpillar under a round, happy sun. When I look closely, I see it is a piece of music, although it is not written in a musical staff. The creature has notes for feet and even the sun's rays are rendered in music.
"This picture might sound like this," Wright said, as he plays around on some of the electronic performing and recording equipment in his new studio he's calling The Sound in Sechelt.
He plays a few notes of this graphic score to represent the sun, then rumbling bits for the insect's feet and a higher note for the wagging tail. It's fun and it's what happens when children are let loose at one of his sound workshops that he'll be holding at the studio after school hours and on Saturday afternoons.
"I get creative ideas for my own music from working with the kids," he said.
He explains that when a beginner is asked to create a tune he or she will produce an original, naïve free expression that is often more interesting than the work of an experienced musician.
Wright provides the space, the gear, some direction and acts as a facilitator rather than a teacher for kids and adults who want to experiment with sound.
"I recognize the potential in the moment," Wright adds.
He's helped by the changes in technology.
"You used to need an expensive studio to make a recording," he points out, "but now it's instant. They can make their own recordings, put it on their iPods and be walking around listening to their favourites the next day."
He demonstrates by packaging a few moments of sound into one interesting live mix using his equipment: it includes random dialogue from Forrest Gump on DVD, two vinyl LPs on the turntable - one describes how to sew and the other is an Ofra Harnoy recording -captured on a loop, along with other beeps and chimes from an iPod Touch app. He might have added a bit of circuit bending from an audio toy or ambient sound from the street. The result is a surprisingly harmonious soundscape. Don't be too worried if it's not working, he advises. Just listen and if it seems to tell a story then go with it.
Wright has always worked with young people ever since his arrival on the Coast more than six years ago. He considers it part of his trajectory as a musician. As the child of a musical family, he started piano at the age of five and learned guitar in his teens. He played with a touring band and attended recording college in London, Ont., to learn sound design. He took some of his ideas about musical programs for youth to Kinnikinnick Elementary School in Sechelt. In a series of six-week programs, children explored guitar and turntable, but even better, they had a chance to think outside of traditional music lessons and appreciate pure sound. The program was so successful that the children put on a musical "flash mob" performance, a seemingly spontaneous rendering of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.
In Wright's role as president of the Sunshine Coast Arts Council, he offered programs for youth at the Arts Centre, but the sessions required hauling gear to and fro. Also, as a working musician he needed more space so he moved into a centrally located studio that he shares with video documentary artist Jessica Gates. Here there's room to expand - to have a place for his band's mannequin, Anna, who once modelled T-shirts for the group, and his prize possession, a turntable made of bullet proof glass, illuminated by a ring of light at its heart. He hopes the studio will become a hub for music on the Coast.
The Sound is having an open house this Saturday, March 19 from 1 to 3 p.m. specifically for people interested in registering for guitar lessons, DJ turntable workshops and kids' programs. The address is 5536 Wharf Road, upstairs. Find out more by clicking on: http://www.soundandmusic workshops.com.
