Soundkeepers
Engage with local communities, nature, and history through the use of sound! Collect soundbites from a chosen theme to submit them to the World Heritage Archive project, led by the Global Sound Movement and Interstellar Foundation.
For this activity you will need:
- A device that can record sound (such as a smartphone with a recording app)
- Microphones
- A site relevant to the chosen theme (Permission to access said site where necessary)
Activity process
- Planning (online-friendly): Scouts will form teams to identify a topic from the themes given in the project description. Scouts will choose a topic based on relevance to their interests, availability of the target site to the scouts, and importance to the movement.
- Recording (on-site): Scouts and mentors (Rovers or teachers) will go to the target site to collect sounds. Scouts will also collect relevant information such as site name, time of day/month/year, location, and identifying characteristics (animal type or people names) as appropriate.
- Selection (online-friendly): Scouts will assess the sounds collected and select the best sound to represent their particular mission. The selection criteria and method are to be defined by the scouts, but recommended factors to consider are: quality of the sound, rarity/uniqueness of the sound, significance of the environment (special time of year, etc.), and availability of relevant information.
Themes
- Theme One – Nature: What are the sounds of flora and fauna, birds, bees, trees, water from your location? How are they unique to your geographical position? Share them with others on this planet and beyond.
- Theme Two – Culture: What is unique in your culture that can be captured in sound? Could it be a unique language, dialect, phrases, sayings, songs, poems, or musical instruments? Can you surprise us and others now and, in the future, and find something special to record as a team? Maybe a campfire song?
- Theme Three – Lifescape: What sounds are with you every day? What do you hear on your way to school or when out and about with your friends playing? Do you walk through a city, above or below ground, what do you hear and what noises are in the background? How can you capture and record these, so that others can share in your lifescape sound files?
At the end of the activity, Scouts should have 2-5 sound bites selected to present to a wider audience, and a short ‘TikTok’ style video that explains each sound bite. The video should identify the Scout members involved in the three-step process, the theme(s) the sound represents, and how it is unique and valuable for acceptance into the World Heritage Archive project.
After the activity, Scouts can self-lead a discussion (or Rovers can moderate the discussion) on the learnings from the projects. Focus on:
- In a visual-centric world (of social media and mass advertising), what is your impression on the importance of sound and auditory senses?
- Do you feel more connected to your community? Do you feel more aware of your country and culture? Did you learn anything new about your history or natural wonders? What are the new knowledge and insights gained from this activity?
- “Data collection and analysis” is an important skill in the 21st century digital economy. What were the criteria you set in selecting the sounds to present? Did you learn new methods to analyse and select data from this activity? How do you prioritise between different criteria, or evaluate different factors influencing each other?
Frequently Asked Questions
How to record sound on a phone?
- Open you voice recording app (Apple and Android both have these).
- Point the microphone (that you usually speak into) at the sound that you wish to record.
- Try to make sure there isn’t lots of unwanted noise in the background.
- Check the recording will be the right volume – Not too loud, not too quiet.
- Press record and keep the phone still, don’t move position.
- When you have finished, save the file.
How to save the files?
- Once you have the best recording of your theme you must save the file and title it with your troop name, and a short description of the sound. For example, if Preston scouts recorded a campfire song that they sing on camp, it would be titled preston_campfiresong1.mp3.
- Please save the explanation video with the same name so they can easily be put together
Activity Partners
Interstellar Foundation
World Heritage Archive Project
Global Sound Movement
Challenge Code