AURAL STRUCTURES: MUSIC AS A TOOL TO DESCRIBE CRYSTALS AND THEIR ORIGIN

Aural Structures is a project aimed at producing musical models of crystals for educational applications. Traditionally, music has been used in STEM teaching to help memorising scientific concepts. However, music (without lyrics) can also be considered in itself as an interesting way to explore and explain the complexity of both natural and artificial structures, guiding learners of any age towards the deep understanding of the concept of molecular order. Our model of crystal structures was used to give an aural representation of crystals to improve memorisation and learning through emotional involvement. All sound parameters (pitch, duration, timbre, and dynamics) are based on physical, chemical and structural properties of the atoms involved in the crystal. Possible applications of this novel educational approach will be illustrated with practical examples about some relevant topics of mineralogy (e.g. solid solutions, polymorphism). We are currently designing a software that, given the chemical composition and the space group of a given crystal, automatically carries out our approach to generate its musical model. Starting from a file describing the crystal's chemical features in standard format, it will extract the crystal structure parameters and scan the structure in order to obtain the musical score and play it. Such a software might be extended to change the sound rendering of the structures based on additional parameters, in order to fit different educational purposes. In parallel with the development of the software, we are currently exploring the possibility of using aural models as a blueprint for producing original musical compositions. We performed such compositions with a 12-element orchestra in front of an audience of high school students (K10-12), within a format including seminars and a final concert. Musical conduction directly involved the students in the performance, namely in the sonification of crystallization/fusion/vitrification processes. Music, in association with pictures and short movies shown during the musical performance, proved an interesting way to explore and explain the complexity of natural processes for understanding the concept of molecular order/disorder.