Over The Digital Horizon

Over the Digital Horizon connects music educators with ideas and innovations from around the world that are likely to shape our sector in the coming months and years.

Commissioned by Wiltshire Music Connect, the then music education hub for Wiltshire, and curated by Ben Sellers, the Over The Digital Horizon project brought together leading practitioners in music education technology from across the world in a series of webinars, articles and presentations. These resources offer a grounding in the major tech themes on our horizon including extended realities and the metaverse, computer game music, new instrument design and tech as a tool of inclusion.

This collection of resources includes an introductory article by Ben Sellers, the findings from an action research project with an accompanying video and 6 webinar recordings.

The Article: Why Do Music Education Professionals Need To Look Over The Digital Horizon?

In this article, Ben Sellers, curator of Over The Digital Horizon, explains the programming of the webinars and offers three priciples to consider as we move forward into an ever more digital world.

‘It’s fair to say that there are both utopian and dystopian elements in there, and in order to serve our young people we need to ‘grasp the nettle’, acting swiftly and boldly to create spaces that allow our young people to grow into musicians able to rock our worlds – both real and virtual – for decades to come.’

Read the Full Article

The Action Research Project: Can You Learn To Play An Instrument Through A VR Headset?

Following the Over The Digital Horizon programme, Ben Sellers and Wiltshire Music Connect teamed up with Music Hubs in Norfolk, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire, and the Royal College of Music, to deliver a joint action research project, which explored how augmented reality might help people learn to play music. 6 experienced piano teachers and 32 beginner piano pupils took part in a programme of piano tuition, blending face to face lessons and augmented reality technology.

The research identified key areas of challenge and potential for Music Hubs, technologists and individual tutors who are interested in using augmented reality as a teaching tool.

‘We found that the extended reality technology was particularly useful for those pupils who might find it difficult to engage in traditional lessons. We as music educators need to have a seat at the table with the developers of this technology.’

Explore the research project’s findings in the Executive Summary.

Read all about the research project in Music Teacher magazine.

The Webinars

The Future Of Instrumental Tuition? with George Waddell

A fascinating presentation by George Waddell, Performance Research & Innovation Fellow at the Royal College of Music. In this webinar, he explores:

• How smart glasses and watches can gather data in the practice room that can help improve technique and avoid playing injuries
• How VR simulations of auditions and performances can help overcome performance anxiety
• How technology can be used to supplement, rather than replace, human tuition

This work was featured in a 2024 episode of BBC’s Click.

‘We can’t focus on everything at once. Technology can. Technology can focus on everything at once, but then give you the freedom to isolate which thing is important to you at the time.’

Virtual Reality As A Tool For Inclusion with Stefania Seraphin

Stefania Seraphin from Aalborg University in Copenhagen, Denmark, explores a variety of VR-based musical experiences, from djembe drumming to joining in with a circus to singing with the Danish National Children’s choir. The webinar focuses particularly on solutions for pupils with autism and social anxiety.

‘Immersive virtual reality gives us the unique ability to step into the shoes of another person than oneself.’

New Instrument Design with Mike Butera

Mike Butera argues that the historical ‘signal chain of music creation’ – buy an instrument, get lessons, learn music theory, practice, perform – is no longer the reality for many of today’s creators. He demonstrates the instruments he has designed that emphasise accessibility, multi-sensory media, collaboration and interaction with objects in the real world. The webinar considers the far reaching consequences of this approach for how future generations play, listen to and even think about music.

‘Making music doesn’t have to just be about sound… it really can be about creating content and that might be the main motivator.’

Networked with Ed Hughes

Ed Hughes explains how he brought together a team of educators, technologists and musicians to develop Syncphonia, a free iPad app that supports beginner ensembles to stay in time, self-differentiate, and increase participation. An incredibly useful tool for anyone leading school or community ensembles.

‘The process has got to be musical… it can’t be driven by the machine, you’ve got to have a situation where the machine is serving the music.’

The World Of Video Game Music with Gina Zdanowicz and Sean Devlin

This extended presentation brings together Gina Zdanowicz, the author of a seminal textbook on video game music, with one of her pupils, Sean Devlin, to offer an insight into the what, how and why of teaching composition and sound design for video games.

‘The player is going to control your sound, trigger when a piece of music starts to play, and be in control of how long that piece of music plays so dynamic game music uses code and data and it tracks all that is happening and changing inside the game.’

Technology For Social Change with Phi Pham

Phi Pham discusses how his organisation, Building Beats, moved from delivering DJ and production workshops in New York city to creating free online resources for budding musicians across the world. He shares some of these resources and discusses how other educators and organisations can build on their work.

‘We’re envisioning NFTs to be badges in a way. So they complete our Soundtrap course and get the Soundtrap NFT badge for them to mint on their wallets. We see Web3 as a really big potential space to change how the internet is going to look.’

Affordable Home Production Set-ups with Luke Crook

Quality home set-ups for young people interested in producing their own music have become more affordable. In this presentation, Luke Crook draws on his encyclopaedic knowledge of software and hardware to share options for schools and pupils who want to invest in quality on a budget of less than £100.

‘Young people come to music projects and get to use some really good stuff, but when they get home, they have nothing to use, which is really difficult. So what do you need to produce music and how can you do that as affordably as possible?’