BeSound

Embodiment and reflexive interaction proved to be effective approaches to music education in childhood. A research challenge consists of merging them. This paper presents BeSound, an application intended to support children in learning the basic elements of composition. Children explore rhythm, melody, and harmony by playing at mimicking objects or characters; the qualities of their whole-body movements are analysed in real-time according to Rudolf Laban's Theory of Effort and used to control sound. The paper focuses on the design of BeSound and describes the analysis performed to distinguish between direct and flexible movements - the Laban's Space component - and between light and heavy movements - the Laban's Weight component.