Category Archives: theory

theory

Responding to Music with Technology


Tools that have been made available to the general public in the last few years have enhanced the way we respond to music, as we have tremendous access to wide variety of musics. Software applications such as SoundHound and Shazam enable listeners to use a smart device to identify music through a short segment of the recording, and then add the track through various playback programs. Playback applications such as Spotify and Rdio leverage algorithm based, preferential music suggestions similar to Pandora and Slacker, but now with added access to vast libraries of music that would be cost prohibitive to purchase. In our music classes, providing access to specifically chosen literature does not require CDs or tapes, digital music can be embedded into webpages or discussion boards to facilitate human response to music. Additionally, programs such as Zaption allow content to be enhanced with text or images, to create an audio “tour’ of an online video, such as this example I created for my students auditioning in the TMEA All-State Choir process.

Identify types of music software and discuss how to evaluate software titles.
Current technology development has afforded consumers applications that are highly featured in phone, tablet, and computer based packaging. Additionally, the path to market for developers has greatly decreased the time needed to create a feature robust title that is geared to a specific niche market, such as apps like SoundHound and Shazam, or the first to market Pandora. Tools like Noteflight provide cloud based, feature rich music notation. However, each title should be evaluated with a teaching strategy in mind. I have been a proponent of Music Prodigy, an app/HTML5 based program that enhances the SmartMusic program with elements of a music education centric LMS. [evaluation of Music Prodigy] The technology alone does not yield the desired curricular outcomes without meaningful context through instruction. We must cautiously evaluate software titles, field test products, and seek out the advice or our colleagues with regard to their experiences using technology to enhance their learning environments.

One way that educators inform their own pedagogical practices is through sharing of information and model lessons. As we have used an ad hoc personal learning network throughout this course, using sources that have been shared on Twitter with a specific hashtag (#UFMUE), many other instructional technologists collaborate similarly. At conferences, PowerPoint presentations often include instructional resources documented through social bookmarking sites such as Delicious. If we as educators become diligent and organized sharers of these resources, the potential for our colleagues to enhance lessons by incorporating new or more developed uses of additional content for our students. 
theory

Module 2 – Creating Music with Technology – An Overview of Creativity and Improvisation

Best Practices Related to the Acquisition of Knowledge and Skills for Creating Music (Improvisation)
Intrinsic motivation to create music is an important component, driving the student to seek knowledge and skills to effectively communicate their artistic ideas. Students should be provided experiences to develop their musicianship, using strategies that Hallam (2008) suggests. He describes listening activities, audiation, imitation of styles and musicians, music structure analysis, and working with more experienced musicians as beneficial exercises. In consideration of improvisation, these approaches help to develop a holistic musical vocabulary through each session or practice.
Affordances and Constraints of Technologies With Application to Musical Creativity
 Bauer (2014) notes in his book, Music Learning Today, “teachers should conduct a cost/benefit analysis that considers the technology’s affordances (benefits) and constraints (limiting features) in relation to learning outcomes and the classroom context. Technological approaches shouldn’t be used for technology’s sake. They should only be incorporated when there is a clear benefit to learning.” (p. 10) In my estimation, the cost factor considered must relate to the time cost and perceived benefit of the program selected. Providing exercises that limit aural stimuli can help facilitate growth through exploration with technology and music apps. However, if the exploration requires a significant learning curve or tutorials to facilitate a single project, then the curricular and pedagogical approaches should provide ample time for intermediate checkpoints of understanding. Appropriate constraints are necessary to guide learning to an outcome that is measurable.
An example of this challenge involves a set of assignments for this week’s introduction to music notation programs, MuseScore and Noteflight. Each program enables a user to create printed notation, but the learning curve needed to fully utilize MuseScore is considerably more challenging. In many notation editors, similar shortcuts exist which speed the process of entry. To create a demo score in MuseScore, a very detailed and sequential set of instructional videos have been produced, enabling a user to self-pace their own learning and mastery of skills. From my perspective, Noteflight was a much easier to learn because the visual stimuli in the user interface simplified the process of entry. A brief read of the single page PDF with crucial shortcuts, allowing the user to find time savings through process simplification, made the program seem easier to use. For a student who is learning both content and relevant technologies, simplification of process enables more engagement on content goals.
Connections Among Creative Curricular Outcomes, Pedagogies, and Technologies
Appropriate constraints during skill building assignments mirror a sequential model for improvisation, developed by Kratus (1996), mentioned by Bauer in Chapter 3, “Creating Music.” The sequential approach described moves from exploration, through process and product development, toward more fluid and style development. Each of our students will develop their own personal sense of musical style through a period of development, and the technological tools that we provide must enhance their creative toolkit rather than act as an inhibitor. In concert with the Understanding by Design framework, our end curricular goals must be broad enough to allow students to experience learning through activities, but the sequence of concepts should ensure that the essential knowledge and skills are mastered before adding layers of complexity. Using the examples of music notation programs, students might be better served using programs such as Noteflight or Finale NotePad prior to being introduced to more full featured programs such as MuseScore or Sibelius. The added complexity of the latter titles is not commensurate with the curricular context of learning the essential skills of music notation, rather than advanced engraving features.
MIDI and Its Connection to Technologies for Music Learning

One approach to teaching music notation is to use MIDI technology and prior encoded music as a building block. A wealth of MIDI files are available on the Internet, which are easily imported into notation editors. The use of such files can eliminate the data entry portion notation editing, allowing students to have experience manipulating sections of music. As students develop proficiency in notation editors, they can then export the resulting musical notation through MIDI into digital audio workstations (DAW) as an element of musical composition. DAWs provide significant production tools to create music, especially when used with MIDI files, loops, and actual recorded instrumentation.
theory

Module 4: Performing Music with Technology

This week, our focus centered around research and best practices related to the acquisition of knowledge and skills for music performance. Dr. William Bauer (2012) stated in Music Learning Today, “Formative feedback should give students a clear picture of their progress toward learning goals and ways they might improve.” (p. 86) In any teaching moment, we should ultimately provide experiences to shape the long term growth of the musician, not just our short term ensemble or performance goals. Several technology tools are helpful for providing meaningful artistic and developmental activities for both music creators and music performers. 

Recent gaming titles such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band have proven that a market exists for those who desire to participate in music making in their own space, and with their own content. Tools such as SmartMusic, a well known accompaniment and “red note/green note” software title affords students an almost real time evaluation of performance accuracy. Newer titles such as Music Prodigy and PracticeFirst, part of the MusicFirst LMS, also allow the instructor to setup assessments for students to demonstrate mastery of pitch and rhythm on a given exercise. From a vocal music content perspective, there are far fewer method books or octavos available to ensemble directors, requiring time for the development of exercises. Though time constraints are challenging for directors, the benefit of placing this technology into the hands of the students is a more focused and relevant practice device.

The readings reveal another strong pedagogical strategy, the use of pre-existing video content (YouTube, Vimeo) and the development of instructional video content.  Numerous videos exist for standard repertoire, music theory instruction, and guides to instrumental technique. Frequently, students become more aware about their own performance deficiencies by evaluating others. Video critiques afford students an opportunity to evaluate artistic performances while focused on observing, rather than while performing. If the instructor provides the same evaluative instruments that are used by adjudicators, then exposing them to model performances and those do not demonstrate the highest level of performance can help to refine perceptions about technique and artistry. Once they have proven capable of evaluating performances of others in a positive manner, I have students critique videos of their ensemble and their own singing, using video recording on iPads.

Using tools such as Audacity also affords those who are not enrolled in a traditional musical ensemble a platform for recording and editing music. Music sampling is a staple of certain genres of music, and the digital tools available to the novice audiophile are incredibly powerful, rivaling tools available once only to recording studios. A wealth of shared video content exists for young artists to utilize as they develop their craft, such as the tools available on Lynda.com. 
theory

Creating Music with Technology – Focus on Composition

A large majority of students are drawn to music courses that do not utilize traditional musical notation as a basis for musical creativity. In his book, Music Learning Today, Bauer (2012) discusses the work of Music-COMP, a program which connects young composers with professional composers for mentoring purposes. Their work is guided by seven principles that can be useful for instructors developing creativity with music students (p. 60):
1. Using notation software develops music literacy
2. Begin composition with structured guidelines
3. Reflect and critique frequently
4. Encourage revision
5. Promote composition for the teachers
6. Provide opportunities for live performance of student work
7. Composition is one element of a well-rounded curriculum

These guidelines serve as a sequential framework for developing the creative process. I find that promoting composition for the teachers is a challenge for most instructors, who seem unwilling to develop their own musical creations in deliverable form. A number of teachers perform with professional ensembles, direct ensembles, or play in various small performing groups, but it is not as common for them to produce works of their own. As educators, we must all endeavor to have our students become literate with our common languages, through reading and writing. Yet, in our music classes, we tend to only work on the performing aspects of our craft, not the creative process. Teaching our students to extend their study of music through composition does not have to be a lengthy process, but we must demonstrate through practice how to capture our inspired thoughts, either in notational or recorded forms. As Bauer states, “Composers and artists often keep sketchbooks where they jot down ideas that come to them, ideas that may later be developed within a larger art form or composition.” (p. 65)

Technology affords students an avenue to master the concepts of recording and creating music without the necessity of becoming a master of an instrument first. For Mac users, GarageBand is a very approachable software program that allows development of musical works without mastering notation or an instrument. The use of loops facilitates the creative process, allowing the user to make choices about how each individual track connects with others. This week, we had an opportunity to use a browser based, multi-platform alternative to GarageBand, called Soundtrap. Soundtrap shares many features with GarageBand, and is a very capable digital audio workstation (DAW), supporting a number of included loops, with the ability to utilize MIDI, direct instruments, microphones, and imported audio files. This platform is quite suitable for students to develop their musical creations, as the interface is intuitive, and the tutorials are quite accessible to novice audio engineers. Soundtrap is a very reasonably priced alternative to more extensive DAWs, such as ProTools or Logic.

Within the music education landscape, care should be taken to ensure that creative projects are given appropriate scaffolding. Loop based projects are an approachable first foray into music creations, but students will need guidance to fully develop their artistic ideas. Student peer reviews and critiques should be an essential part of the process, much as a student in an English class works through several drafts of an essay prior to turning in a “finished” product. Personal technology devices that record ideas can be useful to capture ideas at the moment they are conceived. Teaching concepts about form and structure can aid in project development through reverse engineering musical material from inspirational bands and recordings of performances.


While using DAWs, students should become equally versed in MIDI and pure digital audio. MIDI devices are powered through instructional code, which in turn can play notes or trigger events with a MIDI clock. Digital audio, or real time recorded sounds, are encoded waveforms of sound that can be manipulated, but are bound to SMPTE time. Each technology has benefit, and both are necessary elements to aid in creating music.