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Take on Technology - Episode 12

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SoundTechnology used in the recording of sound is ever changing. In this program we begin with a familiar scene of sound recording - the telephone answering machine. From here we visit a post-audio studio to investigate the use of computers for adding recorded sounds to television programs.

Children put on a school performance, complete with recorded sound effects, demonstrating the use of computer programs to manipulate sounds they can make with their voices and musical instruments.

Meanwhile, Dodly puts his writing and singing skills to the test by entering a song competition. He goes to quite a bit of trouble to record his entry on a compact disc - but will his efforts be rewarded?

Focus Questions
What are the different ways we can record sounds?
Why do we use telephones?
What does sound help to create?
In the TV program we see Lachlan recording a message on the telephone. Why did he do this?
Martin created sound effects for a TV program. How could he have created the sound for wind blowing through trees?
How did Martin use a microphone in the TV program?
Where else are microphones used?
What ideas did you get from this TV program?
In the TV program we see Tessa wearing a hearing aid? How does it work?
Imagine if you were like Tessa and had a teacher who lived a long way from your house. What are some good or bad things about learning like this?
What are some new inventions in the TV program used to record sound effects? How are they used?
How is a compact disc recorder similar to a tape recorder? How are they different?

Task Ideas

  • View a sequence from the TV program. Watch the same sequence again with the sound turned off. Talk about how sounds enhance the overall effect of a TV program or play like the one in TAKE ON TECHNOLOGY.
  • Compose and record a message on an answering machine.
  • Make different instruments from reused junk materials. Find as many different ways as you can to create rain sound effects.
  • Ask students to tape-record different sounds around the school or at home. Play the tapes and ask the students to list what made the sounds. Include things like sirens, birds, and bus and train noises. Categorise the recorded sounds into those created using electronics, natural sounds, human voices etc.
  • Look through newspapers and sales catalogues to find pictures of different sound recording and listening devices we use in our daily lives. Group and sort them in different ways. Paste them onto a large graph, chart or mural.
  • Choose one sound recording device and find out when it was invented and what it is used for. Children can come up with a presentation to the class about their research into a recording device.
  • Design and make sound effects to accompany a poem, puppet play or piece of music.
  • In pairs ask students to recite a popular nursery rhyme to their partner, without speaking aloud. The other person has to guess which rhyme they are reciting by lip reading.
  • In pairs ask children to create as many different sound effects with their voices. They can record them as well.
  • Make a collection of different tape recorders. Explore how they work inside and outside. What are some of the problems with using these devices if you want to record sounds outside, e.g. frogs croaking.
  • Use a piece of string and two empty cans to make a model string telephone. Record how you made this device and how it can be used.
  • Use a computer program to record and play back sound effects. Explore ways to change the sounds.
  • In the TV program we see cellophane being used in the play. Experiment with different types of materials using everyday objects, e.g trays of sand, water, and stones, rice. Paint a picture to match one of the sound effects you have created.

Questions for Students

  • How does your design work?
  • What materials did you use?
  • Is there anything you would change on your design, to make it different or better?
  • How were sounds recorded in the past?
  • What did people do before telephones were invented?
  • How does sound travel?
  • Why do we need to record sounds?
  • Which sounds are the easiest to record?
  • How does the location change the sounds you record?
  • What if we were unable to use sound recording and listening devices in our homes?

Further Investigation
  • Find out how the ear works. Look at a hearing aid and describe how it helps a person to hear sounds.
  • Sounds travel differently through different materials. Design an experiment to show how the same sound travels through different materials, e.g. cardboard, fabric, wood, and sheet of metal, paper, foam, glass, and water.
  • Design and make a megaphone from a large sheet of stiff paper or cardboard. Test it outside to see how far the sound of your voice can travel.
  • Make a collection of different sound recording devices. Discuss who would use them and why.
  • Collect different types of telephones; mobile, cordless, push-button, old fashioned. Consider any advantages or disadvantages of each design.
  • Join in an environmental frog-watch program and record frog calls and identify them.
  • Record a TV commercial without sound effects. Ask the students to compose and record a sound track to accompany the television commercial.
  • Listen to sounds created on an electronic keyboard, a music computer or a sampling keyboard. Identify and compare the sounds. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of synthesised sounds.



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