Question:
How would the possible lack of natural sound on Mars change or influence the sound of music?

Answer:
You have to remember that the whole universe is "natural", but I know what you mean. I think you mean "earth-like". The major difference is the low amount of air pressure on Mars; this will tend to make sounds move more slowly and thus with a lower pitch. But there is an even bigger difference, and that is the atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide and we will not be able to be out on the surfact without some sort of space suit. So any music we have will be piped into our earphones, or we might feel the vibrations conducted into our suits through the ground, and possible even the fine dust or regolith in a wind storm. In short, music on Mars will be limited to our habitat, and to any adjustments we can make the Martian landscape.

Question:
Given that we have limited space for materials, what would you suggest bringing to Mars to make instruments?

Answer:
We will have to make instruments out of survival technology such as tubes for blowing, tape for drumheads, dental floss for string sounds, food containers for resonators, and cannisters for bells. You can try one of these ideas right now. Get a plastic straw, bend it into a check mark (or number seven shape) around one inch from one end, then place the short end up to your bottom lip and blow over it with a lot of pressure. You should get a flute or whistle sound. The pitch can be varied by pinching the bend and therefore changing the tube's length. Good luck.

Question:
Why is music important to a community?

Answer:
Music brings many traditions from earth, and is therefore important for staying connected to and having memories of home. But music can also unify people in times of joy, sorrow and even crisis. Music often makes work go faster. But music will always be an expression of a person's inner self or spirit.

Question:
In what ways do the arts benefit a community?

Answer:
Certainly the arts and music carry and express our culture. Music and art are important ways of connecting with home and with good memories. When I travel in my work, I like to bring music for this very reason, and it will be important to take such music with us on a trip to Mars. Music and the arts in general can unify a community on such a trip. For example, there might be songs commemorating events that happen on this trip, like the time when the space craft is exactly half way betweeen the two planets, or when features on Mars first become visible to the naked eye. After landing, some people might want to plant their national flag to signify their presence as we did on the moon, but others may want to simply sing a song from home, or even make up a new Martian anthem combining all of the cultures on the space ship.

Question:
What are some of the activities that people going on the 9 month trip to Mars could take with them?

Answer:
Along with all of the activities that you grew up with, the main activity is your imagination. My specialization is making simple musical instruments out of whatever is around, and on this trip we will have scraps, empties, spares and tools that can be used to make musical sounds. From ancient times, musical instruments and food technology have been closely conected. For example, the bow and arrow used for hunting became the musical bow when somone hit the string with the arrow; this simple act was part of how the string instruments started. On a trip to Mars, simple items such as the straw can be used as a flute or whistle. When oxygen tanks or any container is under pressure the wall is, in effect, tightened and becomes very resonant. Try this, take a soda can, tap it, and listen to it ring. Without shaking it, open the can, hit it again, and you will hear a dull "thonk" When the can was under pressure, the CO2 was pushing out on the aluminum can's wall, making it tighter, and therefore resonant. There will be many pressurized containers on a trip to Mars.

Question:
What will the music sound like?

Answer:
There will be at least two environments for music, one is in our space ship or habitat, and the other will be in our space suits as we explore on foot. Air in the ship will sound the same as on earth, but because of the lower air pressure on Mars, sounds outside will be a lower pitch or frequency if we can hear, vibrations can be felt through the ground and many other mediums. Friends of mine who cannot hear, tell me that they can hear vibrations these ways, so the skim becomes a giant ear. We will need to retune our senses in this new environment.

Question:
What types of art events might our community actively engage all 100 persons in?

Answer:
Remember that a typical symphony orchestra has around 100 musicians, so it would be possible to have the basic sections-- string, woodwinds, brass and percussion- represented in such a community even if they had to use improvised instruments and non-professional musical skills. Many scientists, however, are also artists and musicians, so even the first missions to Mars might have skilled artists on board. One of my first teachers of African drumming was also an astrophysicist. When going to Mars, it will be a new experience in many different ways, and to go along with this newness, a new type of music may emerge, possibly based on the collective skills of those on board. Some music will no doubt be improvised with instruments improvised from equipment in the space ship, and after landing, from materials on Mars itself. We will have microphones and recording equipment for documenting and analyzing sound for purely scientific purposes, and the space travelers could use this same equipment to record and listen to their own music. We will also continue events such as festivals, birthdays, sporting events, and holidays celebrated back on earth, but being on Mars there will be new opportunities to use the unique environment. Imagine a celebration dance after landing in one third the earth's gravity.

Question:
How would we listen to your favorite music if it sounds different?

Answer:
Remember that we will have to live in habitats for our trips to Mars because of the extreme cold and lack of a breathable Martian atmosphere. So all of our music that we brought from earth will sound the same on Mars because we will have air in our habitat, and air is how music normally travels to our ears. In our space suits walking around on the surface of Mars we still need air, so music will be piped into our headsets. But we might be able to feel vibrations through our suits and through the thin CO2 atmosphere. In this case it will sound lower because of the lower pressure on the planet. Sound travels quite well through thick, dense air as I found on my journeys to Africa. When I was outside of the city, a walking in the forest, the air was very humid and sound could travel for miles. The opposite is probably true on Mars.

Question:
Does the lack of air on Mars effect the ways instruments would sound?

Answer:
We have a big problem with playing instruments out in the Martian atmosphere because of the CO2, low pressure and lack of breathable air. This will have to wait for terraforming, if and when we do it. Some scientists say that in the distant future, we will be able to turn Mars into a planet that, like earth, has oceans and breathable air.

Question:
If you had to take one item in order to create an instrument what would you bring?

Answer:
This is a very good question. When I do demonstrations for young people and teachers I show how a piece of paper can be converted into all of the four basic families of sound instruments. For example, stretch a small piece of the paper tight, put it to your lips, then hum and blow against it, and you have a kazoo sound. Some people would call this a blown drum--from the membranophone family. If you rattle the paper you have the idiophone family. If you roll it into a tube and buzz your lips into one end you have a horn--or aerophone. Another important aerophone is the reed instrument. Blowing on the edge of a stretched piece of paper can make this sound a kind of squeal. If you twist the paper lengthwise (with torque) until it is really tight, you can pluck it to have a string sound--or chordophone. Material that will probably be on a trip to Mars will be several types of tape. It can be used like paper to make instruments. The sticky surface helps attach it to resonators.

Question:
I know that tuba, baritone, and trombone would play well because of their wavelengths, but what about the French horn, and the woodwinds? I know the flute or piccolo wouldn't stand a chance, but sax or clarinet or bassoon?
Thanks a ton!

Answer:
You’re right. Lower frequency instruments like the tuba and trombone will be easier to hear than the higher pitches of say a piccolo if these are out on the surface of Mars. The problem is who is going to play them in the extreme cold of the Martian atmosphere. If you want to attend a concert out doors, everyone including the musicians will have to be in space suits. If you leave the instruments outside, they will freeze, become brittle and possibly even break. So concerts will have to be indoors, like we have here on earth. Instruments will sound the same as on earth because the music will be traveling through air.

Question:
What would you do if you got to mars for the first time and your mission were to build a community? If you were to create a new community for Mars,what would be the most important part of the community? Would it be art, stories, sciences, family?

Answer:
The first thing we will have to do on Mars is learn how to survive and deal with the harsh conditions on the surface. While we do this, our community will be very important as it is here on earth. When I work with young people in schools around the country, making musical instruments, I have three rules: help your neighbor, ask your neighbor for help and if you have a problem, solve it. The community on Mars might have basic rules like this, but it will definitely feel new because it will be on Mars, and there will be new rules for survival. People in this new community will need the arts, including all that you have mentioned. Music, dance, drama, and the visual arts will make it easier to endure under the difficult conditions of this trip.

Question:
Are you planning on going to Mars if you can?

Answer:
would love to go to Mars? But alas, I will be 87 in 2030 and probably too old. My ancestors came from England to help build a community in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 and I think that there is adventure and exploration in my blood. Maybe my children or grandchildren will go. Would you like to go?