Have you ever wan­ted to create your own music/multimedia art­work, but couldn’t figure out where to begin ? While crea­tion can seem inti­mi­da­ting, it can actual­ly be sur­pri­sin­gly acces­sible, and more impor­tant­ly, FUN !

The Para­morph Col­lec­tive (Kim Far­ris-Man­ning and An-Lau­rence Hig­gins) has put toge­ther a series of five exer­cises to guide you through vocal and sound impro­vi­sa­tion, home­made video crea­tion and crea­tive wri­ting. You can use one or many of these exer­cises in order to help guide the crea­tion of your own ori­gi­nal art­work. The series also contains one brief over­view on sound and video edi­ting.

This series of exer­cises was ori­gi­nal­ly crea­ted by com­po­sers and mul­ti­me­dia artists Kim and An-Lau­rence for a com­mis­sio­ned pro­ject with the vir­tual com­mu­ni­ty choir SING THE NORTH, lea­ding to the crea­tion of “sud­den­ly I was alone/d’un trat­to ero sola” (2021) with 49 sin­gers from high-school age to reti­rees based in Cana­da, the USA, the UK, Aus­tra­lia and Ita­ly. Watch the final video below.

This series of exer­cises is meant to be used by self-direc­ted indi­vi­duals or groups. Exer­cise mate­rial can be used by faci­li­ta­tors upon request. If you wish to col­la­bo­rate with Kim and An-Lau­rence, or hope to orga­nize a simi­lar pro­ject as a faci­li­ta­tor, please get in touch at kfm.alh@gmail.com.

Remem­ber that the true value of impro­vi­sa­tion lies in the pro­cess, not in the end result.

✧･ﾟEXERCISES ･ﾟ✧

Links to all audio examples are lis­ted at the bot­tom of this page. You will find pdfs of each exer­cise in the score sec­tion below.

Exer­cise 1 : Drone, Magnet Tone | Vocal impro­vi­sa­tion

Ex.1 : Create a drone online !

Exer­cise 2 : Sound Tex­tures | Ins­tru­ment- or object-based improvisation

Exer­cise 3 : Har­mo­ny | Vocal impro­vi­sa­tion

Exer­cise 4 : Video | Recor­ding a home-made video

Ex.4a : Came­ra frames and angles !

Ex.4b : Came­ra movements !

Exer­cise 5 : Spo­ken Word | Crea­tive wri­ting and spo­ken words

Ex.5 : Spo­ken word example !

Sound and Video Edi­ting : Overview