Body Percussion App
Rhythm is the foundation of life, and of music.
Observing a sleeping mammalian being is an amazing experience. Regardless if watching a cat or a baby, we observe the periodic movement of the belly due to the complex neuro muscular activities required to ensure proper lung ventilation. Such movement is smooth and periodic, and it is controlled from the part of the brain stem called "medulla oblongata".
In absence of pathologies, heart during the sleep phase is contracting and relaxing at regular rate, generated by a homogeneous population of pacemaker cells. Again an example of rhytmic movements "embedded" in human beings and not entirely under their control.
Well known are the cyclic changes that happens in mammalian females during their reproductive age leading to periodic release of oocytes in their woumb. A very complex process that involves neuroendocrinological components located in the part of the brain stem called hypophysis, as well as the ovarians and other organs not directly connected with the brain.
Alteration of those rhytmic processes often results in biological outcomes largely deviating from common behaviors (e.g. interrumption of the heart beat, lower reproduction rates).
Human's hearing system is extremely complex, and the "natural" mechanism of aural perception is everything but not simple. At its foundation, hearing requires that electromagnetic waves repeat themselves a minimal amount of times in order to be recognized as "meaningful" e.g. not being classified as "noise". Several parts of the brain are involved in the decoding and translation of the incoming sound signal into emotions, and much of those details are still source of active research. It is currently accepted that Rhythm is perceived through the belt and parabelt regions of the cortex, and when creating rhythm the cortex and the part of the stem called "cerebellum" are involved both.
Different cultural exposures might further classify the "sound" as "pleasant" or "ugly" (some people like Metal rock, others like Classic music, others Atonal music ... , but they all recognize the source as "music" and not as "noise").
From the above thoughts, is easy to convey that life and music are connected through Rhythm - and its importance as primordial, core element for life. As any primordial element, rhythm can at best be "felt" through our own body, with our own body. Surely one can then "formalise" such experience e.g. through time codes and or other forms of notations. In order to be able to play music, it is essential that one does not "count the beats" but that instead that the Beat be internalised and stored/recalled from the core of our primordial functions.
Body percussion as brain training activity
Body percussion is likely as old as human being. It developed in all cultures of the World and in different ways. In the creation of Rhythms with Body percussion is own body used as sound generating device. In the Hip-Hop music, that started in the late 1970s, the "Beat-Boxen" brought Bodoypercussion and Body-Music to wide popularity. Rhythm is an international, universal language that is easily understood across human languages and therefore ideal to build natural bridges of understanding and fun.
"Body percussion is a highly effective pedagogical intervention and learning support for teaching rhythmic patterns and meter. Rhythms can be accessed in echo exercises, call-and-response exercises, and these learned rhythms can be transferred into an image or note value, which are also read aloud. In this way, learning takes place on many different sensory levels. Body percussion is a highly effective pedagogical intervention and learning support for teaching rhythmic patterns and meter. Rhythms can be accessed in echo exercises, call-and-response exercises, and these learned rhythms can be transferred into an image or note value, which are also read aloud. In this way, learning takes place on many different sensory levels. Body percussion training aims to improve the communication system between the limbs and the brain and as a result of that, also directly entrain cognitive and motor skills. Body percussion training develops individual sensitivity of the nervous system, knowledge of rhythm in relation to time and space, and individual self-expression. It also entrains auditory, visual and kinaesthetic concentration." from J. Riikka Ahokas Master Thesis, 2015. "BRAIN AND BODY PERCUSSION; THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTOR AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS"
The app "Arno Pfunder Bodypercussion" as digital rhythm training helper
To facilitate learning rhythms through Body Percussion, I designed, developed and distribute for free the App "Arno Pfunder Bodypercussion". The app is basically a digital 3D version of the method that the percussionist Arno Pfunder developed and published in printed form, and it relies on his body percussions icons and learning progressions. Therefore I decided to name it according to him, since all what I did was "simply" to transform his approach into a simulation of a human being executing his exercises, with difficulty progression as developed by Arno.
It is developed for iPhone / iPad only since the technology that it uses involves both 2D and 3D, and making it cross-platform (e.g. for Android / GoogleStore) would have required the use of commercial platforms (e.g. Unity3D) to which I did not have access.
This app is uses a "game" approach to learning, through which the different rhytmic patterns are spread across a maze, that the user can progress only if s/he executs at least 10x each pattern. As reward, the user's icon moves then to the next place in the maze. The Maze has 5 different levels, for a total of about 50 exercises. Each "station" is not simply a movie, but instead is truly a 3D live simulation of body movement - that the user can rotate and zoom as needed (something that embedding a movie would have not allowed).
In order to avoid cultural or linguistic barriers, the puppet adopted to simulate the instructor is not a human, its skin is of a non-naturally occurring colour as well as any of its appearances. There are no words in the user interface, and in this way no language skills are needed either.
Through avoidance of a specific "puppet" all topics such as gended / race are avoided, as well as those from religious communities that prohibit the visualisation of a person. Its just a puppet and if you follow it, you will get your brain trained to more complex patterns. The app can be used by 2 persons at the same time, playing at different levels but "together" too.
While requiring Xcode and Swift good programming knowledge, in order to extend the app with additional levels and exercises is quite simple, since these are defined through JSON with defined grammar. For example, following is the configuration used to generate the first exercise: Unit 1, Step 1, with standard speed 100 bpm, and at least 10 repeats. It consists of 2 measures in 4/4,
where the puppet claps the hands and stamp the right foot, then pauses, claps hand and stamp foot, pauses - and so on.
I will eventually extend the app with new exercises and new features, as times and ideas permits.
{
"properties": {
"unit": 1,
"step" : 1,
"title": "1.1",
"bpm": 100,
"minRepeat":10
}
,
"measures": [
{
"id": 1,
"quarter": 1,
"hand": "HK",
"foot": "FOR",
"speech": "P"
},
{
"id": 1,
"quarter": 2,
"hand": "P",
"foot": "P",
"speech": "P"
},
{
"id": 1,
"quarter": 3,
"hand": "HK",
"foot": "FOR",
"speech": "P"
},
{
"id": 1,
"quarter": 4,
"hand": "P",
"foot": "P",
"speech": "P"
},
{
"id": 2,
"quarter": 1,
"hand": "HK",
"foot": "FOR",
"speech": "P"
},
{
"id": 2,
"quarter": 2,
"hand": "P",
"foot": "P",
"speech": "P"
},
{
"id": 2,
"quarter": 3,
"hand": "HK",
"foot": "FOR",
"speech": "P"
},
{
"id": 2,
"quarter": 4,
"hand": "P",
"foot": "P",
"speech": "P"
}
]
}