World Federation of Music Therapy

My name is Sebastian Rey. I am a music therapy student in the final year of my degree at the University of Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina.A few years ago, I, along with some colleagues, created the Sonic Investigation Lab, SONIDOCINICO, in which we investigate, among other things, possible lo-fi homemade technological adaptations for application to music therapy thought to be possible in clinical settings as well as a health promotion community setting. Among some of the things we've made are:

prostheses for playing guitar using motors from broken printers;
audio-rhythmic devices with old televisions or with LED strips (we've imagined this synesthetic device to work with people with hearing loss or deafness, but it is also really fun for hearing people to play with light and sound);
human harps; and
instruments to be played with only one finger, allowing access for people with reduced mobility.

We believe that, as future professionals, we should ask ourselves questions about technology and programmed obsolescence and promote reflection on the redefinition of obsolete technologies. We believe that the creation of instruments and prostheses can be part of music therapy involvement in the future. On the other hand, in South America, labor conditions in institutions can often be rather difficult, resulting in hardships to obtain up-to-date technological materials, software, and computers. Therefore, we propose working with older technologies that are more readily available to us and that we come across bit by bit.In 2015, with the support of the National Ministry of Culture, we began the International Piezoelectric Tour (because of the piezo, or contact, microphones we build and use) with the intention of sharing our work and ideas in Argentina and Latin America. In addition to traveling to Cuba, Brazil, and the north of our country, we had the pleasure of working alongside the class of Communication and Disability from the University of Buenos Aires and carried out four theoretical-practical workshops with students and professors of said university course. These experiences have helped in the mutual sharing of knowledge, often times intuitive, that perhaps doesn't have much room in the training of music therapists in our country.We consider it urgent to incorporate courses of research in these technological matters in universities all over the world, and we want nothing more than to continue to travel to share these experiences and research with professionals and students alike.[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqYrbtCQsnc[/embed][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]