Creating a sonic experience for infants

This research began as an inquiry into resonances between the artistic practice of an experimental improviser on the guzheng and young children’s musical play. In Singapore, it had been generally observed that musical experiences for the very young tend to be commercial provisions or fall within proscenium modes of presentations that clearly distinguishes between performers and audience. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing number of arts presentations for babies known as “theatre for babies” with immersive and multi-sensory features. Yet, most of these experiences are driven by the artforms of dance or theatre. There were no such experiences created for babies that used sound as the primary impetus. Thus, the aim of this research is to critically examine the creation and presentations of a sonic experience for infants 18 months and under, with the following 3 research questions: (i) What are the fundamental theoretical/philosophical underpinnings and creative processes to consider in creating a sonic experience for babies 18 months and under? (ii) How do babies and their parents respond to a sonic experience for babies 18 months and under? (iii) What is the role of parents (&/the family) in a sonic experience for babies 18 months and under? Through a case study methodology that employed tools of reflective practice, data were collected from August 2018 to February 2019. This study explained how a sonic experience created for babies 18 months and below, “Nadam”, was grounded in conceptual underpinnings inspired by experimental music practices. Theoretical musings included the blurring of boundaries between sound, noise and silence (e.g., John Cage, Luigi Russolo, R. Murray Schafer), and locating resonances with ancient Chinese philosophies of sounds in Nature, particularly a state of harmony between Nature and human as achieved spontaneously, through effortless action. This research study asserts that the nature of babies’ beings is primarily multi-modal and multi-sensory, as supported by their developmental milestones, where they make meaning through play that is improvisational in nature. Parents play an instrumental role in their babies’ meaning-making of sonic environments, where sounds not only serve basic survival functions (e.g., attachment theories by John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth) but also socio-emotion functions through their innate intersubjectivities (i.e., Colwyn Trevarthen) that are foundational and quintessential to the performing arts (i.e., Ellen Dissanayake, Daniel Stern, Stephen Malloch). These key findings implicate that a sonic experience for babies and their parents should firstly give ample time for the audience to immerse in the created environment; secondly, be designed such that all objects placed within the environment result in emergent soundscapes as intended by the artist through audience play and interactions; thirdly, to consider the thoughtful facilitation of parents and finally, to consider the experiences of rhythm and modes of the creative piece in the audience’s experiences. These implications can be extended to the early childhood classroom as well as home environments.