Music in Everyday Life：Create music using everyday objects.
Summary
This is a creative Open Toolkit designed for open learners, aiming to guide participants to rediscover the often-overlooked sounds in our daily lives. The ticking of a clock, the rumble of the subway, the noise of the street, or the wind blowing through a window crack—these sounds, usually regarded as “noise,” are in fact part of the “soundscape” that shapes our everyday experience. These elements, too, form an essential part of what we call music.
A Short introduction for thisToolkit(5 minutes):
OR
text version（3 minutes）：
5 steps to create music using everyday objects:
Step 1: Close your eyes. What do you hear? Can you describe what is making the sound? (1 minutes)
Step 2: Find a place you think is quiet. Listen carefully. Do you notice any sounds you usually ignore, such as the hum of an appliance or the ticking of a clock? (2 minutes)
Step 3: Look at the objects around you. What are they? What do you think would happen if you tapped them with your fingertips or knuckles? What sound might they make? (2 minutes)
Step 4: Now tap the objects around you. What sound do they make? Is it the same as you imagined? What does it sound like? Can you discribe it? (2 minutes)
Step 5: Record a short video in 3 minutes. Tap the objects around you freely and create a rhythm. It can be completely random. Just enjoy the joy of creating rhythm and beats.(3 minutes)
· If you find this a bit difficult, you can also refer to the audio below. It’s a very short melody that loops continuously. Based on this melody, you can use any instruments you find around you to enrich it：
Sample Video(1 minutes)：
Supplementary reading:
The following is supplementary reading material, provided for additional reference only and not included in the designated reading time.
Bill Fontana: Sounds as Sculpture
Fontana believes that sound itself is a malleable “sculptural material” that can be repositioned, extended, or translated into new spaces to create an “acoustic intervention.” His core idea is that space is never silent—it is always speaking—and the artist’s role is to make it heard. This is also what I’m trying to help participants understand in Step 1.
John Cage: 4’33”
John Cage was a major composer in American avant-garde music, known for his belief that everyday environmental noise can also be considered music. In his most famous work, 4’33”, the performer does not play any notes throughout the entire piece; instead, the ambient sounds heard by the audience become the “composition” itself.
This work inspired my toolkit: I hope learners will focus on the unnoticed sounds in daily life and create their own music through listening, collecting, and experimenting with the objects around them. Music does not come only from instruments—it emerges from our surrounding environment at every moment. What matters is not what the music expresses, but how we listen.
Evelyn Glennie
Evelyn Glennie is a renowned deaf percussionist who introduced the concept of “whole-body listening,” perceiving sound through vibrations in the body rather than through the ears. Her practice made me realize that sound is not limited to being “heard” but can also be experienced through the body, touch, and emotion.
This has also inspired my toolkit: I hope participants can use their bodies to produce and feel sound, making music a more open and embodied form of expression.
more information：
Bill Fontana：Sounds as Sculpture
Evelyn Glennie:whole-body listening
