Written by Joy Grant-Khan
What do physics, Jamaican culture and your favourite songs have in common? Math Thru Music is helping students make the connection with their latest tool, The SoundClash Kit.
Math Thru Music offers education with a spin through empowering and affirming students’ creativity, talents, and interests through their unique, hands-on curriculum. Students across the country have enhanced their understanding of numeracy, entrepreneurship, coding, social justice and now, physics, through Math Thru Music’s one-of-a-kind integration of Hip-Hop culture and DJ’ing, to traditional teaching methods. Their various assemblies, kits, workshops, and events excite, educate, and empower future generations of innovators, leaders, and creatives. The most recent addition to their arsenal, The SoundClash Kit.
Through The SoundClash Kit, students engage with Culture, Physics and Confidence. The journey begins in 1950s Jamaica, an era laden with classism and controlled access to music. Students learn of the social injustices imposed upon lower and middle-class Jamaicans as musical performances were reserved for tourists and the upper-class. What seemed like the stifling of Jamaica’s live music scene, was in fact the opportunity for innovation, creativity, and the love of music to reach global success. The renowned Jamaican Sound System, ska, reggae, and later, Sound Clash culture, was forged through decades of classism and systemic oppression. Through learning how Jamaicans navigated the tough times meant to silence the voice of the underclass, students are encouraged to activate their own resilience in personal experiences, and approach learning with critical social justice lenses.
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“Through The SoundClash Kit, students build a Bluetooth speaker, learn how it works, and discover the roots of Jamaica’s influential music and culture.”
-Joseph Khargie, President of Math Thru Music
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The SoundClash Kit promotes student engagement through incorporating hands-on learning as an integral part of the Sound Clash experience. Through building and customising their own speakers, students are introduced to the physics of sound. Guided by instructional videos and written resources, they explore the elements of fully functional Bluetooth speakers and build one of their own from the inside out. When paired to a compatible device, students can even play their favourite songs on their new SoundClash Kits and compete with their peers like traditional Jamaican Sound Clashes. Students are then encouraged to get creative by customizing their speakers through painting or wrapping them!
The SoundClash Kit inspires curious learners. The experience educates about the historical, cultural, and oppressive roots of Sound System and Sound Clash culture before its rise to acceptance and popularity. This challenges students to uncover the origin stories of musical genres and customs they enjoy today, and approach learning with a social justice informed analysis. Additionally, The SoundClash Kit empowers students to learn physics alternatively through engaging their personal interests in music, building and creativity.
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More on The SoundClash Kit from President Joseph Khargie,
“I wanted students to know how music brought communities together and out of that, came many more opportunities. I believe that The SoundClash Kit falls into the values of MTM — to excite, educate & empower students. As we rally around culture and physics, we aim to show the simplicity, yet sophisticated dynamics of sound.”
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The Sound Clash Kit by Math Thru Music launched on February 1st, 2022 and is currently available to order via their website: https://www.maththrumusic.com/soundclashkit/
For more updates on Math Thru Music, follow their Instagram page, @MathThruMusic.