Rhythm of Life Logo

Paul McManus
paul-mcmanus@msn.com

Kathleen Borsos-Wooley kwooley@mail.sdsu.edu

John Alexander
johnalex92@hotmail.com

Benefits of drumming image

 

Overview | Instructional Objective | Learners | Context | Scope | Object of Game | Design Details

Competing Products | Motivational Issues | Design Process | References

Overview

The essence of human life is the pulse, or the rhythm of the heart. Rhythm is also the pulse or the foundation of music, and is very often supplied by a percussion instrument, such as a drum. Many cultures have had long and distinct musical traditions of using drumming to celebrate the energy and vibration of life.

Drum circles gather people into a circle for the purpose of making music with various percussion instruments. Others participate in drum circles through interpretive dance, using the drummer’s rhythm as their guide. Drum circles work because of a principal known as “entrainment”, meaning that when a strong rhythmic pulse exists, other rhythms naturally fall into place around this root rhythm. The Greek word for rhythm is flow; and drum circle participants through the rhythm of music often reach a Csikszentmihalyi state of flow, whereby an individual becomes so involved in an activity that they arrive at a higher state of consciousness.

The Rhythm of Life Drum Circle invites all Second Life residents to learn how rhythm can be used as a language to build community, promote fellowship, reduce stress, and to have fun while making music with others. Through the use of embedded informational notecards, sounds, and gestures, residents will have the opportunity to explore and experience a drum circle.

Instructional Objective

The objective of this game is to acquaint learners with the goals, benefits, materials, procedures, and rhythms associated with drum circles.

Learners

The learners are any residents of Second Life who desire to expand their horizons, reduce stress, improve confidence, meet new people, learn something new, or just simply have fun. This game is not a competitive venture. There are no barriers of age, gender, or culture; all are welcome to participate.

Context of Use

Game play takes place entirely within Second Life, therefore all players must be Second Life residents and have access to a computer capable of supporting Second Life with the program installed. The Rhythm of Life Drum Circle is located in an all access, non-mature area of Second Life, which allows any resident to play from any location that has an available broadband internet connection.

In addition to personal enrichment, educational uses for this game could include individual or whole class activities for introductory college courses in anthropology, Native American studies, music, or sociology. In a corporate training environment, this game could be used to create a sense of unity and build team spirit, as rhythm often succeeds where words fail.

The game supports and encourages multiple users. There is no set limit to the length of time or number of times this game may be used. All players are welcome to stay as long as they wish, and return at will.

Scope

The Rhythm of Life Drum Circle takes place in the center of a room, which has numerous informative notecards adorning the walls. Notecard topics include different types of percussion instruments, benefits of drum circles, how to tips for drum and dance, and general drum circle practices.

Residents will meet facilitators Ivan and Cat Ganache, who will host the drum circle. Ivan, the drum circle facilitator, will tap out a short rhythm drum call, which invites others to answer the call on an instrument of their choice. Dance facilitator Cat will demonstrate interpretive dance moves, for others to follow. As with real drum circles, participants in the Rhythm of Life Drum Circle may stay as long as they wish, and return at any time.

Object of the Game

The goal of the Rhythm of Life Drum Circle is to provide Second Life residents with an opportunity to build community and social ties through participating in this drum circle. Residents who chose to visit and participate in the drum circle will gain awareness and an appreciation for the associated benefits and common elements of drum circle culture and practice. Ideally, participants in the Rhythm of Life Drum Circle will transfer some of their new drum circle knowledge, insights, and experience, acquired in Second Life into their “first” lives.

Design Details

This is the heart of the document. It will serve as a blueprint for those who actually develop the game. The more specific you can be here, the less backtracking and expensive confusion there will be later.

Universal Elements

Describe and provide illustrations of the overall look and feel of the game. What style of graphics and sounds will be used? Cartoonish? Photorealistic? Wacky? Business-like? Colorful? Muted?

The graphics will be a combination of photorealistic and rendered GIFS. The drum circle pictures were taken in Second Life and the notecard images were made in Photoshop.

Specific Elements

The specifics from this point on will vary depending on the format of game that you're using.

For adventure games, provide:

  • an overall map of the simulated world, showing its boundaries and major feature.


    Our three avatars drumming in SL

Ivan and Paul drumming

Cat and Paul drumming

Cat Ganache drumming

Note Cards

Drum Circle Benefits:

Six notecards are provided offering brief descriptions of some of the benefits of participating in a Drum Circle. These cards are designed to give the participant enough information to feel comfortable when they come to the Drum Circle. The first notecard is shown here with links to the other five.

Drum Circle Benefits No. 2
Drum Circle Benefits No. 3
Drum Circle Benefits No. 4
Drum Circle Benefits No. 5
Drum Circle Benefits No. 6

Drum Circle Practices:

Six notecards are provided offering brief descriptions of some drum circle practices. The first notecard is shown here with links to the other five.

Drum Circle Practices No. 2
Drum Circle Practices No. 3
Drum Circle Practices No. 4
Drum Circle Practices No. 5
Drum Circle Practices No. 6

Drum Tips & Techniques:

Six notecards are provided offering brief descriptions of drum tips and techniques that might be helpful for the beginning drum circle participant. The first notecard is shown here with links to the other five.

Drum Tips & Techniques No. 2
Drum Tips & Techniques No. 3
Drum Tips & Techniques No. 4
Drum Tips & Techniques No. 5
Drum Tips & Techniques No. 6

Interpretive Dance Tips and Techniques:

Dance can also be an integral part of a Drum Circle. Six notecards are provided offering brief descriptions of interpretive dance tips and techniques that might be helpful for the beginning drum circle participant. The first notecard is shown here with links to the other five.

Interpretive Dance Tips & Techniques No. 2
Interpretive DanceTips & Techniques No. 3
Interpretive DanceTips & Techniques No. 4
Interpretive DanceTips & Techniques No. 5
Interpretive Dance Tips & Techniques No. 6

Drum Information Cards:

The following notecards offer brief descriptions of some commonly used percussion instruments used in a Drum Cirlce. These descriptions will provide some brief familiarity for the new Drum Circle participant. The first notecard is shown here with links to the other four.

Conga
Djembe
Gankoqui
Shekere

  • a description of the role the learner is playing while moving through the world
  • a description of the overall game goal the learner is trying to achieve
  • a flowchart showing all possible rooms and allowable moves
  • a decription of the obstacles that will challenge the learner
  • a list of all prizes or artifacts and their locations
  • profiles of all non-player characters
  • a description of the scoring system, if any
  • a sequence of sample screens showing how one moves and acts on the game

For branching stories, provide:

  • a flowchart of all major branches in the game
  • a description of the events within each of the major branches including the entry decision that starts the branch
  • sample screens showing a sequence of the story
  • a character dictionary describing the appearance, background, motivation, and other characteristics of everyone who appears in the story

For quiz games, provide:

  • a description of the categorization scheme used for questions
  • sample questions within each category showing questions at each level of difficulty
  • sample screens showing the sequence of question asking, learner input, and feedback
  • sample screens showing introductory material, high score pages, etc.
  • a description of the scoring system to be used

For arcade games, provide:

  • a description of the categorization scheme used for sprites moving on the screen
  • sample images within each category showing sprites at each level of difficulty
  • sample screens showing the sequence of animation, learner input, and consequences
  • sample screens showing introductory material, high score pages, etc.

For simulations, provide:

  • a description of all user-manipulable variables in the game
  • a description of all output variables displayed
  • a description of the initial or default state of all variables
  • sample screens showing a sequence of situation, learner input, and result
  • sample screens showing introductory material, high score pages, etc.
  • a description of the mathematical and logical relationships that link the input variables and output variables (i.e., the underlying model of the simulation).

 Technical Elements

  • Specific software needed to author the game
    • Macromedia Flash, Adobe Photoshop, Curous Labs Poser 5 (animation), Steinberg Wavelab5 (audio editor)
    • Linden Scripting Language (LSL0 will be used for object behavior scripting.

  • Screen size and resolution of the game
    • Second Life supports screen sizes up to 1024 x 768 pixels.
    • Video card: nVida Geforce 2 with 32MB RAM minimum required.

  • Bit depth and dimensions of graphics, animations, and sounds
    • 24 bit or 32 bit (with Alpha channel) graphics, up to 32 x 1024 pixels.
    • Poser 5 .BVH animations must not exceed 30 seconds.
    • Mono audio files, 8 or 16 bit, 22.05 or 44.1 kHz sample rate, less than 10 seconds.

  • File formats of graphics, animations, and sounds
    • .BMP, .JPG, or .TGA graphics files
    • .BVH animation files
    • .WAV audio files

  • Naming convention used to name all files
    • All lower case letters without spaces to be used.
    • All file names begin with roldc_ , followed by specific item name, and class name.
      Example for djembe drum audio: roldc_djembe_drum.wav
    • Example for Cat's welcome animation: roldc_welcome_cat.bvh
    • Example for conga drum image: roldc_conga_drum.jpg

  • Data structure for Second Life file storage
    • Graphics files to be stored in the Inventory Objects folder.
    • Animation files to be stroed in the Inventory Scripts folder.
    • Audio files to be stored in the Inventory Sounds folder.
    • Notecards to be stored in the Inventory Notecards folder.
    • Object scripts to be stroed in the Inventory Scripts folder.

Competing Products

No existing games that cover the same content as the Rhythm of Life Drum Circle have been located or identified. On the web, a myriad of drumming resources exists; however, only six examples of drumming games were found.

    · The ababasoft Web site offers 5 free Flash-based online drumming games. The URL for these games is: http://www.ababasoft.com/music/

    · Taiko Drum Master is a game available for the PC as well as PlayStation2, PlayStation3, XBOX 360, GameCube, and the Game Boy Advance, which allows players to practice Japanese drumming. Information about this product can be found at the following URL: http://www.gamestats.com/objects/627/627848/


The following team building games for use in corporate environments were found.


    · The Corporate Team Builder claims to be an interactive online game, but to take place in real life, which seems not possible. Indeed, it is not. This game actually is a real life treasure hunt game that sends players directions via e-mail. The URL for the Corporate Team Builder is: http://www.athlongames.com/Corporate.aspx


    · Virtual Team bonding simulates a day in the life of a virtual team. However, this is done only through e-mail and cellular phones; this is not a computer simulation. The URL for this game is:

    http://www.teambonding.com/prog_virtualbond.html

    · Over three weeks after “The Rhythm of Life Drum Circle” was named and design was initiated, an instructor-led seminar program based in Austin, Texas, coincidentally also named “The Rhythm of Life” was discovered. The seminar programs teach the basics of community development--respect, responsibility, and synergy--"via dynamic rhythmic sensory awareness activities,” such as drumming, dance, and song.

    http://www.rhythmoflifedrumming.com/


Massively multiplayer online games, such as Second Life, are creating their own social structures. Web-based social gatherings are noted in this linked article, and practiced in the Furcadia game linked below.


    · Online social gatherings are discussed in this article from the Microsoft web site:
    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/games/learnmore/mmo.mspx


    · Furcadia looks a lot like Second Life except your avatar is an animal. In addition to role playing, you can socialize with other players, participate in games, make friends, and join a guild (this would be similar to being involve in a drum circle.) This game also had a Halloween festival called the “Wolf Howl”. The URL for Furcadia is: http://www.furcadia.com/


Approximately three weeks after starting the design of the Rhythm of Life Drum Circle, two drum circles were discovered within Second Life. One titled “Podland Enchanted Forest, Game 2,” is located in a mature area, while the other drum circle titled “Eleven Glen” is in a PG area. Both drum circles featured multiple drums that are capable of being played by participants, who need only click “play me” to hear the sound of a given drum. However, neither of these drum circles features drum or dance facilitators, so participants must discover what to do entirely on their own. No descriptions of any of the featured drums are given, and only generic drum names, such as bass, are used. Nice to know information such as how drum circles operate, or what some of the positive effects linked with drum circle participation is also not provided. Simply put, both of these drum circles are nothing more than circular groups of drums placed in Second Life.

An advantage of the Rhythm of Life Drum Circle over other non-Second Life competing products is that it takes place entirely in Second Life, where there are few constraints with regard to the length of play, the number of users, or the physical real world locations of the users. The Rhythm of Life Drum Circle differs from the non-Second Life competing games in that it is interactive, which lets users hear what various percussion instruments sound like. The Rhythm of Life Drum Circle stands apart from all of the competing games because it is informative, in that users have the opportunity to learn about the various instruments, practices, and benefits associated with drum circles.

Motivational Issues

Curiosity, according to Malone and Lepper (1987), “is the most direct intrinsic motivation for learning.” Further, curiosity “should provide an optimal (moderate) level of informational complexity or discrepancy from the learner’s current state of knowledge and information.” As many people are either unfamiliar or not aware of drum circles and their associated practices and benefits, the Rhythm of Life Drum Circle should arouse the cognitive curiosity of Second Life residents. A variety of informational notecards will enhance the learner’s current knowledge of drum circles. Sensory curiosity, which involves changes in sensory stimuli, such as audio and movement, will be stimualted through the movement of participants by drumming and dancing, and through the ability of participants to hear the sounds associated with assorted percussion instruments.

Describe how the game engages the learner. How does it make use of curiosity, challenge, control, fantasy, competition, cooperation, etc.? (No one game will do all of these things, so focus on the particular strengths of this particular game.) Make specific reference to the theoretical readings associated with this course.

Design Process

It was noted by several team members at our first eGame team meeting that the Second Life game environment appeared to be somewhat cold and impersonal for new residents, especially for those with limited computer, video, or online gaming experience. Exploring different areas of Second Life, and reading the Starter Guide document, provided an overview of some of the things that can be done by residents “in world.” However, little guidance was offered as to what a resident should attempt to do in Second Lifer, or as to why they should they attempt to do something. As a group, and as new Second Life residents, we had many questions, such as the following. Why are we in Second Life? Is there a meaning to being in Second Life, and if so, what is the meaning? How should we proceed to give our second lives meaning? What principles will guide our second lives?

Out of these team discussions we decided to create a philosophy-based game to help answer the above questions for Second Life residents. Over a two week period, many ideas were discussed and discarded, with the end result being a game called “Philosopher’s Forum.” This game had random Second Life residents search for seven keys to a successful second life (represented by symbolic icons) by interacting with several teams of philosophers inside a Philosopher’s Forum. Beginning college philosophy students were to form teams, which would be represented by one philosopher avatar per team in the Forum, who in turn were to ask random Second Life residents questions and then direct residents to find the seven keys to a successful second life hidden inside the forum. The goal of this game was for residents to have a more meaningful Second Life. It was hoped that this experience might transfer to their first lives. However, in a team discussion with Dr. Dodge, it was decided to stop development on this game because none of the team members were well versed in philosophy, which could lead to trivialization of the content.

At this point, the idea of creating a Second Life drum circle was born, to build community and promote fellowship. This was seen as a different way to address the impersonal nature of Second Life for new residents. The objective of this new game would be to acquaint learners with the goals, benefits, materials, procedures, and rhythms associated with drum circles. Background and content topic research on for this project included traditional library and internet resources. Non-traditional project research included a short interview with a UCLA trained Ethnomusicologist, a visit to the WorldBeat Cultural Center in San Diego, and observations of one African interpretive dance class, and three independent drum circles. As stated in the Competing Products section, three weeks after the search for competing products was completed, two Second Life drum circles were located. These drum circles were not viewed as direct competitors because neither provided any content or procedural information. Also, there were no facilitators, so one was entirely on their own, without any form of help, support, or encouragement. These were strictly places where Second Life residents could play different types of drums.

Initially, it was decided to actually create a drum circle in Second Life to acquire representative snapshots for this game. However, it rather quickly became apparent that because no team member had prior scripting experience, and all team members experienced recurring system crashes due to minimally adequate computer hardware at home, this idea should be abandoned. Because our team had reliable access to Second Life only at SDSU, we chose instead to place our avatars within an existing drum circle, and then describe how our effort would differ. The snapshots shown in the Design Details section were all taken in the Elven Glen drum circle.

 

Describe the process you went through in putting the game together. What were your first thoughts? How did you enhance your ideas? What ideas did you consider and reject (and why?). How did you gather background information? What did you do to see if there are similar games out there? What did you do to get feedback on the idea? How did you flesh out the game to the point of having a playable prototype? How did you gather feedback from that? What lessons did you learn from this that you'll carry to your next game design project?

 

References

Books & Journals

  • Bittman, B. (1999). Drumming to the beat of life. Retrieved November 15, 2005 from http://www.worldofrhythm.com/barybittman.php

  • Bittman, B., Berk, L, Felten, D., Westengard, J., Simonton, C., Pappas, J., Ninehouser, M. (2001). Composite effects of group drumming music therapy on modulation of nueroendocrine-immune parameters in normal subjects. Alternative therapies in health and medicine, 2001(7), 38-47

  • Bittman, B., Berk, L., Shannon, M., Sharaf, M., Westengard, J, Guegler, K., Ruff, D. (2005). Recreational music-making modulates the human stress response: a preliminary individualized gene expression strategy. Medical science monitor, 11(2), 31-40.

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2001). The conditions of flow. In Flow: The psychology of optimal experience (pp. 71-93). New York: Harper and Row.

  • Fullerton, T, Swain, C., & Hoffman, S. (2004). Game design workshop: Designing, prototyping and playtesting games. San Francisco, CA: CMP Books.

  • Greiner, J. (n.d.). The physical & emotional effects of drumming. Retrieved November 15, 2005 from http://www.lpmusic.com/Play_Like_A_Pro/Lessons_From_Pros/drumforhealth.html

  • Johannes, D. (2004). Spirit of a healing drum circle. Drum journey: Hand drumming articles. Retrieved November 15, 2005 from http://www.drumjourney.com/articles/xdavid3.htm
  • Kaufmann, H. (1942). The home book of music appreciation. New York: The New Home Library.

  • Keller, J. M., & Suzuki, K. (1988). Use of the ARCS motivation model in courseware design. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.). Instructional designs for microcomputer courseware. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Leonard, G. (1978). The silent pulse: A search for the perfect rhythm that exists in each of us. E.P. Dutton: New York.

  • Machlis, J. (1970). The enjoyment of music, (3rd. ed.). New York: W.W. Norton.

    Malone, T. W., & Lepper, M. R. (1987). Making learning fun: A taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning. In R. E. Snow & M. J. Farr (Eds.). Aptitude, learning and instruction. Volume 3: Cognative and affective process analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Rodriguez, O.A. (2002). A history of the congas. In P.Sanchez & C. Silverman (Eds.), The conga cookbook. New York: Cherry Lane Music, 2002.

Electronic

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Last updated December 19, 2005