Making Music with Sounds focuses on the creative act of organizing sounds, in particular, sounds that are not traditional notes aligned on a five-line staff. Based on the author's research regarding sound-based music, an interdisciplinary area that has arisen from the new radical opportunities proposed by creative applications of music technology, Sound-based music is defined as: the art form in which the sound -- not the musical note - is its basic unit. It is closely related to electroacoustic music, electronic music and sonic art. Making Music with Sounds' educational approach is less one of prescription than one of facilitating creativity and the elements of composition among K-12 students, as demonstrated in this book with the 11-14 age group. Although technology plays a major role in this type of music, it is presented generically, not by specific software or hardware. Making Music with Sounds allows teachers and individuals to work at their own level with hardware and software that is (largely) freely obtainable.
The book's holistic pedagogical approach to composition also involves aspects related to musical understanding and appreciation, the latter integrated by way of the pedagogical resource site Electro-Acoustic Resource Site (EARS II), also created by the author. Making Music with Sounds aims to introduce sound-based music as well as the excitement one can achieve learning about it and, more importantly, making it.