Deep Sea Dwelling: Creation Stories, Wave Patterns & AI Music Making

This project uses STEAM learning to explore Afrofuturism through electronic music, AI art, and storytelling, which is inspired by Drexciya, an electronic music duo that was based in Detroit, Michigan. Afrofuturism refers to creative works at the intersection of African-American history and culture with the development of science, technology, engineering, art and math or STEAM. Drexciya are electronic dance music and STEAM pioneers who created an interesting creation story based on the idea of a thriving, musical 'Black Atlantis'.

In this project, students will:

1. Learn about Drexciya and their connection to the history of electronic dance music
2. Write a creation story graphic novel and/or make an AI-generated character and share it
3. Make music using an AI Music Generator
4. Analyze and interpret the data of wave patterns and their properties by playing with their scape, proportion, and quantity
5. Make sound wave art
6. Make the creation story graphic novel interactive

AI Music Generator such as Udio

AI Image Generator (Adobe Firefly, Deep Dream Generator, OpenArt AI

Listening to Waves' online sound tools: Signal Generator, Oscilloscope, Spectogram

Music visualizer tools such as WaveVisual or Flourish

Creation Story Worksheet (attached)

Creation Story Idea Cards (attached)

Graphic Novel Template (attached)

Markers and/or colored pencils

Thin craft sticks (ex. balsa wood, skewers, pipe cleaners, straws), scissors, and glue

Makey Makey circuit board and kit (cable and clips)

Conductive materials (ex. paper clips, metal brads, Electric paint) and posterboard or card stock

Detroit-based Drexciya was a well-known collaboration between James Stinson and Gerald Donald who became immersed in electronic music production throughout the 1990s into the early 2000s. Drexciya embodied Afrofuturism in a way that closely connects Detroit electro (and techno) dance music, which makes use of different electronic devices and software to make sounds.

Drexciya created an origin mythology that tells the story of an undersea civilization (wave jumpers) with roots in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade through futuristic electro music. When making songs the duo would imagine themselves in a submersible at the bottom of the ocean, with sounds you can experience through your speakers or headphones.

Take some time to play/listen to the music of Drexciya here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBEKAtRskn8

Also, you can read the graphic novel The Book Of Drexciya by Abdul Qadim Haqq.

Note: The Drexciyan concept and story aligns with diverse characters such as Mami Wata, a water spirit and African spiritual tradition that is celebrated in many parts of Africa and the African diaspora.

This video explains the mythology behind Drexciya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgG-QiChiA8.

Drexciya immersed themselves in a world of their imaginations. Abdul Qadim Haqq was inspired to create a graphic novel based on Drexciya's creation story. This is an example of agency that refers to the sense of control that someone feels about their life, their capacity to influence their own thoughts and behavior, as well as having faith in their ability to handle a wide range of tasks and situations. This creation story is also an example of self-concept that refers to someone who understands who they are in the world.

Stories are important for developing a sense of self. This includes mythology or a culture’s set of stories that provides explanations of phenomena such as natural events and how we came to be. They can feature deities and other creatures. Most cultures have some type of mythology. Creation stories explain the beginnings of a natural or social aspect of the world. There are many well-known stories such as the Big Bang and Mami Wata, a mermaid, water spirit, and/or goddess in folklore across the African diaspora.

For this step, students can pair-up and watch two of these creation story/myth videos:

1. The People Could Fly
2. Cherokee Creation Story
3. Ainu Creation Myth
4. Egyptian Creation Myth
5. Hindu Creation Story

Next, complete the Creation Story Worksheet (attached); work in pairs to discuss what could go the empty boxes.

Artist Alan Oldham created a 20-page comic and creation story about Detroit techno and this work inspired this project.

Choose any subject, natural element, culture or region of the world or use the Creation Story Ideation Cards (attached): individually or in pairs choose one card of each color that represents three categories: subject (green), place (blue), and element (red).

Use the categories and words to write a text prompt (see attached image).

Next, do one or both of the following tasks:

1. Use the Graphic Novel Template (attached) to write a creation story based on the chosen cards/categories.
2. Use one of the AI Image Generator tools (see Supplies) to create a character based on the prompt.*

For #1, follow these steps to make a Graphic Novel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgS-HK6rnk0&list=PLbW-Od5u8l6DJ7TGuoHVEuYH9gUY3c7cI

For #2, the tutorials for each AI Image Generator tool can be found here:

1. Adobe Firefly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt4k9lVnS1Y
2. OpenArt AI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-qIIrve1v0
3. Deep Dream Generator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XyFApj7Kco**

*Have students write and use prompts from their creation stories, especially from the categories and add modifiers for art styles and other unique descriptors (see attached image).

**Pro Tip: Take time to practice using the tool(s) before teaching it to students. Also, choose a tool that works best for you/your students. Most AI image generators have free trials but are not free to use after the trial is over.

You must face the power of the black wave of Lardossa before you become a Drexciyan Wavejumper.

In Drexciya's creation story residents are called wave jumpers, a concept that links to sound engineering and science terms such as wave patterns. The sounds produced by Drexciyan wave jumpers are transmitted through the air, then captured and manipulated using electronic machines.

For this step, students can use Udio to compose music based on their creation story. Udio is based on a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model that produces music based on simple text prompts. Students (users) input lyrics, define a melody, and Udio’s AI creates a song. Here's how it works:

Create an account on Udio.

Navigate to the input field at the top & click on it and write a prompt. Here’s an example prompt you can use:

immersed in an under water Black Atlantis, electro, techno, funk, dance, electronic, trance, atmospheric drum and bass

This prompt combines elements of electro, drum and bass and other electronic dance music elements, creating a nostalgic and introspective atmosphere.

Find more information on how to use Udio in this tutorial: https://www.aimusicpreneur.com/ai-tools-news/udio-tutorial-learn-how-to-create-the-best-ai-songs/#aioseo-how-does-udio-work

Note: If you can't access Udio or other AI music generator tools a sample MP3 has been provided as an attachment.

Music and physics intersect through the study of sound waves, frequencies, and harmonics, specifically how sound behaves and interacts with different environments (acoustics). For example, when we hear music, what we actually perceive are sound waves traveling through air, interpreted by our brain based on frequency (pitch), amplitude (loudness), and waveform (tone quality).

By using 'electronic' tools your students can be like the Drexciyan wave jumpers. Playing songs generate vibrations that travel through the air to make objects such as microphones vibrate. An oscilloscope allows students to see how the objects are moving, which reflects the shape of the sound wave or waveform. Waveforms have basic properties such as wavelength, frequency, amplitude and speed (tempo).

After generating and downloading a song from Udio, students can use VEED or WaveVisual to visualize their song(s), or try out Listening to Wave's web-based applications or tools to explore the "science of sound."

VEED will animate the sound waves based on the sound frequencies of the songs. Students can add dynamic visual effects, as well.

WaveVisual lets you upload audio and use a sound wave maker to create sound wave art.

Listening to Waves is a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation that seeks to inspire students to develop a deeper appreciation of science and sound. You can find their sound tools here: https://listeningtowaves.com/sound-exploration and the tutorials are here: https://listeningtowaves.com/tutorials. You can also find lessons here: https://listeningtowaves.com/lesson-plans.

In addition to analyzing wave patterns using science, it is possible to look at waves mathematically because a wave's shape repeats itself over a consistent interval of time and distance. This behavior mirrors the repetition of a circle. Try drawing a circle on a piece of paper. Now imagine drawing that same shape while your friend slowly pulled the piece of paper out from under your pencil – the line you would have drawn traces out the shape of a wave. One rotation around the circle completes one cycle of rising and falling in the wave, as seen in the attached image.

Mathematicians use the sine function (Sin) to express the shape of a wave. The mathematical equation representing the simplest wave looks like this:

y = Sin(x)

This equation describes how a wave would be plotted on a graph, stating that y (the value of the vertical coordinate on the graph) is a function of the sine of the number x (the horizontal coordinate). See attached image as an example.

In pairs or small groups, display and discuss the attached diagram showing different wave patterns (sine waves, square waves, sawtooth waves, etc.). Discuss and answer the following questions:

1. How would you describe these patterns mathematically?
2. What do you think these waves might represent in terms of sound?
3. Can you identify any similarities or differences between these waves and your sketches?

After 3-4 minutes of discussion have a whole group share out: encourage students to use mathematical terms like amplitude, frequency, and wavelength in their descriptions.

Next, introduce the concept of scatter plots as a way to represent wave data. Display the attached examples.

A scatter plot is a type of mathematical diagram that uses Cartesian coordinates to display values for two variables per set of data (eg., time and amplitude). Students can use MS Excel or Flourish to make their own scatter plots.

Play a short audio clip of a Drexciya's Wavejumper. Have students close their eyes and visualize the music as physical waves. After 30 seconds, stop the music and have them quickly sketch what they imagined on graph paper. Artists from around the world have been inspired by sound waves, or wave patterns that can be seen in their works.

Look at Dennis Oppenheim's public sculpture entitled Wave Forms that references the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The sound wave pattern is featured in granite under the bells.

Look at paintings by North Carolina artist Jon Tarleton who took inspiration from scatter plots.

After looking at these examples, have students use Flourish to generate scatter plots and they can use their AI-generated artwork as a background (see attached).

Students can use thin sticks of balsa wood or other materials (ex. skewers, pipe cleaners, colored straws) cut to different lengths to create sound wave art. They can generate the model using WaveVisual (save a screen shot).

After collecting the sticks, have students color them with colored pencils or markers and line them up by following the sound wave model (ex. using WaveVisual). Use glue to adhere the sticks to paper like in the example (see attached).

In Step #3 (above) students created their own creation stories using the Graphic Novel Template. They also created AI-generated music based on prompts.

This step follows the previous Interactive Music Poster project, steps 4-7. After mounting one of the graphic novel pages on stiff card stock or poster board:

1. create the electronic sensors using conductive materials (paper clips, paint, etc.)
2. prepare the circuit board (you can replace the Touch Board with the Makey Makey)
3. connect the alligator clips to the circuit board and conductive paint patches on the graphic novel page
4. test the connections

Here's a tutorial on how to use the Makey Makey: https://makeymakey.com/blogs/how-to-instructions/lesson-six-interactive-story-city-diorama-or-poster

This project is an artifact of Culturally Relevant Math Expressions created with Lesley STEAM Learning Lab at Lesley University and made possible by the generous support of Takeda US CSR & Philanthropy.