Music Technology for Band Directors and Students
Building Better Bands
June 27-29, 2012
eric_grush@caryacademy.org
https://web1.caryacademy.org/facultywebs/eric_grush/
http://discovery.caryacademy.org/eric_grush/
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Activity – Play a solo with accompaniment
Reflection – How would you have a student perform a solo with accompaniment?
- Find an accompanist (live or recorded)
- Teacher accompanies student or records accompaniment
- Buy a book with CD accompaniment
- Teacher creates accompaniment recording (Band-in-a-Box, Finale/Sibelius, etc.)
- Ujam.com (upload recording of melody and it will create an audio file with accompaniment) link to ujam screencast Ujam Introduction
- SmartMusic
- Noteflight.com
Noteflight.com – free and paid options “music writing meets social media”
(screencasts made with screencast-o-matic.com)
- Noteflight Introduction
- Noteflight Basics
- Noteflight Edit menu
- Noteflight Staff menu
- Noteflight Score, Play, and View menus
- Noteflight Sharing, Versions, Comments, embedding on Blog
- Noteflight File menu, Search
Samples of student Noteflight projects
two 6th graders 7th grader 11th grader
Other Noteflight features – import midi files to create notation, import/export music XML with Finale/Sibelius, Sharing (link or embedding), commenting, “favoriting”
Noteflight Crescendo paid subscription ($49/year) – more scores, more/better instruments, audio mixing, input through midi keyboard, synchronizing with video, view/print parts from score
Noteflight Classroom – private website (no access to or from outside internet)
Noteflight also available for multiple teachers or entire school systems
Reflection – How would you have your students use noteflight? How would you use noteflight?
Activity – submit a recording of your-self playing with accompaniment
- Recording
- Submitting
Audacity – free audio recording/editing software
Multi-track recording – Harder, but better editing opportunities
- Audacity – setting the microphone
- Audacity – multi-track recording
- Audacity – exporting and MP3 and uploading to a wordpress blog
Record out of the air – student plays melody, computer plays accompaniment track
Submitting
Reflection – How do you or would you have students submit audio files to you?
| Method of submitting audio | Pros | Cons |
| School system’s website | Use same website you already use to post assignments | Can students upload and submit assignments to this site? |
| Easiest for student | Teacher must handle each file,School’s email may block mp3’s | |
| Dropbox.com | Students can drop the files right on to your computer through the shared folder | Everyone can access everyone else’s files (listen to them, delete, etc.) no security. Cyberbullying? |
| USB flash drive to shared folder on school’s network | Easy for teacher | Some schools do not allow students to copy files from USB drives to school computers |
| USB flash drive to teacher’s computer | Gets to teacher easily | Students/Teacher can only do one at a time |
| MP3 hosting site like audiopal.com | Easy for students to upload, copy URL, and paste into a shared online document | Takes more steps for student |
| Wikispaces.com | Free, collaborative website.Students upload and post recordings | Everyone can edit each other’s pages but teacher can always recover. Cyberbullying? |
| SmartMusic | Easy for students to submit and teacher to assign/grade recordings | Student and teacher must have annual subscription. Teacher $140. Student $36 |
| Charms | Web-based music program management software – grades, inventory, library, communication, boosters, finances, trips, uniforms, etc. | Cost $795 for 3 years |
Instructions on creating a wiki by Leslie Williams, Cary Academy MS Math teacher
Uploading to audiopal and embedding in a wiki
SmartMusic 2012 tutorial for students
| Free, simple, short term. Peer or teacher evaluation | Free, complex, long-term. Peer or teacher evaluation | Cost $, complex, long-term. Teacher evaluation |
| Vocaroo and Todays Meet | Audiopal and Wikispaces – creating an “audio portfolio” | SmartMusic |
| Record at vocaroo.com | Teacher creates wiki | Use audacity to save accompaniment as an MP3. |
| Copy URL | Students upload audio file to Audiopal.com | Open mp3 with SmartMusic |
| Paste URL into Today’s meet room, set up by teacher | Link to audio file or embed in the wiki | Record self, playing solo |
| Upload to teacher’s SmartMusic gradebook |
Reflection – What educational goals, standards, or skills might these activities include?
- Documentation – audio files/audio portfolio
- Formative assessment – students make recordings along the way to demonstrate progress and the process
- Summative assessment – grading a final product
- Differentiated instruction/Individualized instruction – student chooses solo, teacher assigns different solos to different studen