When science and music collide, be prepared for some remarkable creativity, such as a recent workshop on DNA and music that was part of a 3-month Strike a Chord exhibition.
On March 26, Gary Cass, a scientist from the University of Western Australia, wowed dozens of high school students from SMA 8 in South Jakarta with music generated from DNA.
“This is so fun, so creative. I never thought there was such a thing,” said high schooler Irfan Nurhadi.
Cass developed the iDNAtity software to blur the line between art and science and to make learning more fun.
“Through this iDNAtity, you’re not only reading about your DNA but also ‘hearing’ it,” Cass said.
His software application pairs each trinucleotide sequence, or codon, with a certain frequency. The application later produces certain sounds which combine with various types of sound effects.
To determine the sound of their DNA, students were asked several genetic questions including the color of their eyes and hair, and their type of skin tone.
Cass also showed the students how to extract their own DNA using water, soap, alcohol and a paper clip.
“You can put your own DNA on a necklace, or keep it then pass it to your grandchildren, or just brag about it to your friends,” he said, drawing laughter from the students.
Irfan said he was excited to learn that extracting DNA could be that easy, and to pick up on science not taught in his regular classes.
Strike a Chord is an exhibition just wrapping up at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah that merges science and music.
The 3-month interactive project was organized by the Information and Technology Exhibition Center (PP-IPTEK) in cooperation with Questacon, Science Center Australia and the Australian Embassy.
The first exhibition in Indonesia ran from December last year and closed on March 31. It featured 14 interactive tools from Australia, related to sound and music.
Musical World was one popular display. It was a map of children’s nursery rhymes from around the world. Listeners elect countries then tune in through a phone earpiece and a cup.
In a corner, some boys had found the fun in Music Factory. The interactive assemblage has a library of sampled sounds. Users select snippets and mix drum, guitar and bass sound
effects.
“I really love music and this tool is awesome. I feel like I have my own band,” said Dwi Fardisia from SMA 54. He was visiting PP-IPTEK to work on a physics assignment.
The physics of sound and mathematics of music are always engaging links between science and art. Good Vibrations lets people feel musical vibrations through different parts of their bodies, not just through their ears.
Drum Dance creates moving patterns generated from the frequency and the light of drumbeats; Mozart’s Dice Game introduces chance and probability. Listeners select bits of music through rolling dice.
The exhibit was more than displays and interactive tools. Indonesian and Australian scientists also teamed up to offer hands-on workshops for high schools and college students during the three months.
