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How can we create musical pictures?

Musicians create musical pictures by making soundscapes.

A soundscape is where we use musical instruments to recreate the sounds of a particular place or situation, such as a city or a thunderstorm.

Unlike a lot of other music, soundscapes often don't have a pulse running through them. Instead the sounds used are mixed together to help the listener to imagine they are in a different place.

A cartoon countryside scene with Dame Evelyn Glennie. A cartoon boy and a girl are thinking about the sounds they can hear around them.
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What is a rainforest soundscape?

Join Dame Evelyn Glennie to learn how instruments can make the sounds of a rainforest.

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Using instruments to create a soundscape

See how we can use instruments to create soundscapes in this short video.

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Activities

Create your own soundscape

A cartoon girl thinking about what she can hear. A train is moving behind her and bird flys in the air.

Now it's time to create your own soundscape.

Go outside and listen to the sounds around you.

Make a list of five or six different sounds such as the birds, the wind or a train passing by.

Now try re-creating the sounds on your list. You can do this using musical instruments, your voice or even objects around your home.

A cartoon of composer Nitin Sawhney.

Ask yourself questions about each sound you hear.

  • How high or low is the sound?
  • How fast or slow is the sound?
  • Does the sound change?

This will help you decide which instruments or object is best for each sound. It will also help you decide how to play it.

With your family or friends, try combining some of those sounds to create a soundscape.

A cartoon of composer Nitin Sawhney.
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A cartoon of two young people having fun floating around space in spacesuits.

Mix your own soundscape

Have a go at mixing your own soundscape with the .

It has a mixer you can use to layer sounds that you like.

Search through sounds recorded all over the world, including lots of animals.

Maybe you can create the sound of the desert, space or even the deep, dark jungle.

Ask a trusted adult to help you get started.

A cartoon of two young people having fun floating around space in spacesuits.
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Quiz

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Glossary

Here's the meaning to some important words.

Soundscape - The use of musical instruments to recreate the sounds of a particular place or situation.
Pulse - The steady beat that runs through the music.

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