About the project

Building bridges through collaboration: MetamorPhonics as an approach to socially engaged music making.

Various socially engaged and participatory music projects work with diverse communities, such as people in detention and health care settings, and with people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. These projects can be seen as a testament to the belief that music and music making can bring about positive experiences, impact and even change to people’s lives. This research project aims to comprehensively investigate MetamorPhonics’ (MP) community music practice and its impact on participants. It ecompasses multiple aspects, including understanding the profiles and motivations of MP band members, exploring the principles and beliefs that guide MP, and comparing them to other community music practices. The projects also delves into the core pedagogic approaches utilized by MP, investigating the strategies, methodologies, and instructional techniques that shape its practice. It examines how the social context and characteristics of participants inform the musical approach and leadership within MP. Additionally, the project explores the significance of the MP experience for band members, including the personal, social, and musical impact of participation and potential spillover effects on participants’ lives and engagement with broader communities. Furthermore, it supports the skill development of practitioners, develops research methods tailored for community music projects, and ensures the wide dissemination of research findings to academics, practitioners, and stakeholders.

Byggjum brýr með samstarfi: MetamorPhonics sem nálgun á samfélagstengdu tónlistarverkefni.

Til eru margvísleg samfélagsmiðuð tónlistarverkefni þar sem unnið er með fjölbreyttum hópum og samfélögum, t.d. einstaklingum í haldi eða skjólstæðingum heilbrigðisstofnana, einstaklinga á ólíkum aldri, með fjöllbreytta kunnáttu og bakgrunn. Þessi verkefni endurspegla þá hugmyndafræði að tónlist og tónlistariðkun geti haft jákvæð áhrif á fólk og jafnvel breytt lífi þess til hins betra. Meginmarkmið þessa verkefnis eru að rannsaka MetamorPhonics (MP) sem er dæmi um samfélagsmiðað tónlistarverkefni. Tilgangurinn er að skilja margvíslega þætti MP, meðal annars bakgrunn og áhugahvöt þátttakenda, hugmyndafræði og leiðarljós MP og bera saman við önnur samfélagsmiðuð tónlistarverkefni. Þá verður kennslufræðileg nálgun MP rannsökuð og sérstaklega skoðað hvernig listræn stjórnun og ákvarðanataka fer fram. Þá verður jafnframt greint hvernig bakgrunnur þátttakenda hefur áhrif á tónlistarlega nálgun. Auk þess verður skoðað hvaða áhrif þátttaka í MP verkefnum hefur og hvort hún hefur einhver varanleg áhrif á hljómsveitarmeðlimi og þeirra líf utan við verkefnið. Í verkefninu er einnig lögð áhersla á að þjálfa tónlistarleiðtoga til rannsókna á eigin starfi, þróa rannsóknaraðferðir sem snúa að samfélagsmiðuðum tónlistarverkefnum, og tryggja fjölbreyttar miðlunarleiðir á rannsóknarmiðurstöðum þar sem rannsakendur, hag- og fagaðilar fá aðgengi að niðurstöðunum.

Context

Investigate the profiles of MP band members in terms of their self-reported motivations, social-demographics, and musical backgrounds, understand how the band’s stated and unstated tenets are manifested in their activities. Furthermore, this objective is to explore the self- reported principles or beliefs that guide or inform MP and examine the similarities and differences between this practice and other community music practices.

Musical Doing

Identify and understand the core pedagogic approaches utilized by MP by exploring the strategies, methodologies, and instructional techniques that shape its practice. Provide insights into the pedagogical framework of MP and assess its effectiveness in facilitating music learning. Additionally, the objective is to investigate how the awareness and understanding of the social context, abilities, and vulnerabilities of participants inform the technical musical approach, leadership, and pedagogy within MP.

Reverberation

Investigate the significance of the MP experience for band members. To understand the personal, social, and musical impact of being a part of MP by examining the transformative aspects, the skills acquired, and the overall meaning and value attributed to their participation. Additionally, the research aims to uncover potential spillover effects and explore how these experiences may extend beyond the project itself, impacting the participants’ personal lives, musical journeys, and engagement with broader communities or future musical endeavors.

Research Design

A mixed-method approach will be used, applying participant observation in rehearsals, Semi-structured qualitative interviews, and surveys and focus groups will be used.

A Practice as Research strategy will be used to critically consider understanding intimately located within musical doing to learn more about MP’s music-making through music-making.

Additionally, a documentary film led serves as both a research tool and deliverable. The film provides a visual narrative of the collaborative music-making processes and participants’ experiences.