Digital+Audio+for+Music+Education

Digital audio knowledge is an invaluable tool to present day music educator's. At the very least, a teacher needs to have knowledge of basics concerning sound production for programs, concerts, etc. Specifically, I am excited about learning how to import analog files to digital. Audio technology is new to me beyond experience with microphones and basic sound systems. Reading about the different software programs is almost too much for me to take in. I am going to start with something basic and move forward from there. I have Windows so I will try audacity. The classroom I am volunteering in this semester is in need of a new keyboard. The keyboard now has no MIDI capability. That will be my suggestion to the principal for a purchase for next school year. I would like a Yamaha with the MIDI capacity to isolate parts that have been recorded. This would be so beneficial when learning choral parts. I have already made a rehearsal cd for my honor choir students by downloading tracks of previous years and burning a cd. Copy right--the voice on the cd is mine.

=Digital Audio In the Classroom=

Digital audio is a great tool in the classroom. I have used the essential elements 2000 playback software in the classroom as an accompaniment. It helps as my class size is small since I am still building and this way the students get to hear the other part involved in the song. They also get to hear good quality tone which I believe to be crucial to a young musician's ear. If they can hear what they are supposed to sound like then they have a better chance of reproducing it. I think too often students get used to hearing (at least at the middle school at which I teach) bad tone quality, poor intonation, and a lack of musicality which keeps them from dreaming of the next level. As educators we must expose our students to quality music that pushes the standard of excellence. The name of the program is the Amazing Slow Downer. If you purchase the full version you can use it with any audio cd, but if not, you can still use it with the essential elements play along DVD.

One way I would like to use digital audio files more in my teaching is in a way that one of my colleagues I teach with in my county already does. This is something I know many other people probably do, but my friend who teaches choir with me uses Wiki much like our class does. My friend uses a wiki website not only to post announcements and other information, but also to post midi files. Taking some thoughts from Watson in TI:ME, my colleague posts midi files for his students to learn music outside of class. Although we have been discussing copywright issues and I doubt my colleague has gone through the proper legal channels I am determined to use midi files somehow to help my students learn music (legally that is). From the readings in TI:ME it seems surprisingly easy to add a midi to a website/wiki space. I think the hardest part will not be posting the file to a website or wiki space, but just saving it correctly and in the right file format. I already use an upright electronic, roland keyboard to record accompaniments so that I can just hit play and conduct my choir. The Roland keyboard records whatever you play onto a floppy disk (believe it or not). I would very much like to get an electronic keyboard which has these same capabilities but records to a memory card (like the ones found in digital cameras etc.). We also use the roland device to amplify accompanimental CDs. I can use an adaptor, much like the ones listed on TI:ME page 31, to run an audio cable to the Roland keyboard from either an ipod or a CD player. I sometimes use my laptop to pump music through our classroom sound system - which actually consists of the school loud speaker system which has been patched into our smart board projector screen. I have also recently purchased an H2 Zoom, well it was actually a Christmas present, for recording my concerts. I have only played around with this handy piece of technology a little, but I can already tell it is going to be very useful. Just a couple weeks ago, I had two collegiate choral directors visit my school and do a workshop with my choirs. I used the Zoom to record the student performances before and after the clinics. The students then had to listen and critique themselves.(Gus) (An idea...why not get an external USB floppy disk drive instead of a new keyboard?)

In the classroom, I think having an iphone with its various musical apps that are available would be advantageous for any teacher. While students are singing, being able to approach them and play their note for them to tune their instrument, or their voice. This I believe is more helpful for choirs where instead of playing notes from a piano which is far away from a student, the student could listen to a pitch played directly by their ear through the phone, since some band students might already own their own electronic tuner. Teachers would also be aided in their classroom management by being able to move amongst their students, instead of be stationary at the front of the classroom by the piano. Metronome apps are also available. Using this type of digital audio technology also enables the teacher to connect socially to the student by using a device with which they are also very familiar. (Cameron) (What kinds of recording and playback are available on iPhone?)

=Digital Audio Equipment/Hardware/Software We Use Frequently= The most useful equipment for me is my **Roland CD-R/RW Recorder with Memory Card** I purchased 5 years ago. I can record my voice using the internal mic, or connect mics to it for less background noise. I record onto the card, and then can make CD from that card, or conect it directly to the computer. I can modify the key and tempo slightly, which usually doesn't affect the integrity of the music. I use this to make recordings of myself or my students. I use these recordings for practice CDs, high school auditions, and for the choir to evaluate themselves (Bonnie).

I also use **Roxio Sound Editor** to record music or sounds from the Internet or whatever I might have on my computer, and then edit them down (cropping) into short soundbytes. I use a "Y" cable coming out from my sound card output. One end goes to the speakers and the other goes back into the sound input, therefore eliminating normal computer "clicks" and "dings". I store the sound bytes as mp3s in My Music folder, and put them in Power Point presentations, on a website, or make a CD of examples of music (Bonnie).

The piece of digital audio software that I use the most would be **Reason**. I would categorize this software as falling between **GarageBand** and **ProTools**. I use it the most to create drum loops, click tracks, and accompaniment tracks. I love the varied capabilities that it has and the different views. Techies will enjoy the mixing board view which shows virtual cables, sliders, and audio in and out jacks. Cables appear at the click of a button so users can manually hook up the MIDI audio instruments to the track they are creating. I personally like the "front" track view which displays each track as I enter it and volume, tambre, muting, looping, can be adjusted for each. I like that I can start from scratch and create original tracks, use manufactured tracks, or take a manufactured track and modify it to suit my needs. The user is limited only by their ability to physically play or enter in the music. I prefer to just play in the music on a MIDI keyboard for the selected sound and then go back and clean up any issues I may have had. **Reason** allows you to fix each individual note by changing its pitch, duration, volume, tempo. The program allows for fades, ritardandos, accelerandos, you name it. I believe it can also record live instruments through microphones. MAC users can also run **GarageBand** within **Reason** to expand their options of sounds and loops. (Cameron) (You'll have to demonstrate for us!)

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Digital Audio Equipment We Want to Learn More About= I am planning on getting a Mac soon, so I look forward to working with **GarageBand.** According to the //Technology Guide for Music Educators// it allows you to create your own music using loops of drum beats, guitar licks, keyboard patterns, etc. you can add and edit your own voice as well, making a whole music production. It seems to be user-friendly, adjusting tempos and keys for you, even if you don't understand much music theory (Bonnie).

Whenever I do a concert for my school, I always wish I knew more about my **Mixer**. I seem to always get feedback and don't know why there are so many knobs and adjustments. I'm in the market for a new one, maybe someone has a suggestion for an inexpensive mixer and choral or **Condenser** mics, or maybe just how to use them (Bonnie)... (Good discussion topic for this week. Often feedback is from too many microphones)

While reading the Australian Music Educators Technology conference facebook page, the group introduced one of their breakout sessions with the person who invented a new iphone app called the O Generator. I was impressed with what looked like its fairly simple use to quickly create tracks, and loops with a wide ranging selection of instruments, sounds, and chords to choose from. Users do not need to be proficient at music theory to compose, but instead can choose based on what they are hearing. However, users with musical training would be able to make more informed choices which might result in a higher quality end product. I love that users are able to see where within the bar/beat that they are placing the sound, and it appears that as musical thoughts are added, video of a performer making that musical idea displays on the left of the screen. This app seems like a lot of fun to use, and could be used in the classroom to allow students to quickly make an original track and work on their composing skills in the genres of acoustic, rock, urban, or dance. It is billed as a musical sketch pad enabling musicians to capture in real sound a musical idea they might have and save it so than expand upon it at a later time. Here is a link to see a demo of this app. [] (Cameron) (This program has a neat interface. I wonder if ACC is the only export format. There are lots of looping programs out there but usually the interface is a timeline or a grid.)

I think that using digital audio in the classroom is essential in any band classroom. One so the students can hear a quality recording that they can imitate. The use of digital audio is also good for recording for any band marching or concert. I think that it is important for the students to have a recording of their ensemble just so that they may hear the end product that they have created. This recording is very different than what they hear individually in the ensemble when they are participating. What we have been using for the concert and marching ensembles at Auburn is a little recorder that we got called the Tascam Dr-100. I think this recorder is the all in one recorder that can do just about anything. It records each track to a .wav file which is uncompressed and we then can take that file adjust the levels and convert that file into an .mp3 so that we can use it to critique our ensembles. This recorder is versatile because it has internal mics or you can hook up external mics to get a better quality recording with condenser mics, which the recorder has phantom power to power these mics. I think that everyone should find room for this recorder in their budget it will greatly benefit their program and it is only $300 bucks. (Will)
 * Digital Audio**

Digital Audio in the Classroom One of the uses for digital audio in the classroom that comes to mind immediately is the recording of performances for study later. These recordings could be studied by the teacher and students following a performance to determine any improvements that could be made. The teacher could record a rehearsal and review it later to determine areas of the music that still need improvement. I personally use recordings of rehearsals frequently to determine spots in the music that could use more work or determine problem areas that I don't hear during the rehearsal. Like Will said, there are many high quality all-in-one digital recorders available fairly inexpensively, and their benefits in the classroom are numerous. Another use of digital audio in the classroom is to have students record a playing evaluation themselves on a home computer and submit to the teacher for evaluation. This would help the teacher not have to devote as much instructional time to student assessment and devote more time to instruction. This assessment process would be facilitated by the software SmartMusic. Recordings of professional players can be used in the classroom to provide a model for students to emulate. (Chris)

Digital Audio at Verbena High School I don't think I could even go one day without using digital audio to enhance teaching in my Art's Survey, General Music or Band Classes. I use cd's to play accompaniment music for recorder lessons, dvd's and cd's to supplement our text books and band method books, an mp3 player to record the band and play back their rehearsals and performances, and also mp3's that I purchase from publishing companies to play various arrangements of songs for the band so that they can hear and emulate. I currently have about a 6 channel mixer. It's not big, but it does what I need it to do. I would like to learn more about the mixer so that I can get better quality recordings from the band. I have microphones, but I need a digital recorder for the sound system. Right now I only have a cd player and a cassette player hooked into the mixer. I think I'll look up the Tascam Dr-100 that Will mentioned. It seems like a perfect fit.(Randi)

Digital Audio Like Chris and many others said, I've used recordings of my own band in rehearsals before. By recording a piece - either part or whole - I can go back and listen for things that I did not hear while I was on the podium rehearsing. I sometimes tend to hear what it //should// sound like in my head rather than hearing what it //does// sound like, so a recording is great to go back and listen to so it can be used to let me hear what really is going on and hear things that I missed during a rehearsal. I also liked to use these recordings to let my students listen to so they can hear how it is incorrect and also decide what needs work. Not only did I let them listen to rehearsal performances, but also concert recordings. Letting them analyze their performances is a great way for them to learn (and it addresses part of the national standards!).

I've also observed a middle school program in this area use SmartMusic in the classroom. This allows students to go home and record a playing test on their own computers and teachers don't have to waste time in class on listening to each individual person play through their test. This same classroom also uses video recorders to record chair tests. The teacher sets up the video camera in a storage room or in a small office and each student goes in one at a time and records theirself playing their chair test. Again, no class time is lost by the teacher or the entire class. It is also great if a parent comes to you and wants to understand why their student was graded the way they were. You are then able to go back and let them listen; or even let the student listen if they have any question. You wouldn't even need a large camera now. There are so many small flip cameras being made; they would be great for something like this. I think this is a great idea and I hope to be able to use it when I start teaching my own program again. (Taylor)

My Thoughts on Digital Audio When if first started teaching, digital audio was not as available as it is now. I had to use a tape recorder, for example, to administer a playing test. There are so many ways digital audio has enabled things to be easier and more efficient. The first instance would be to use personal recording equipment or a personal computer to record a playing test and submit online to the director, or at school. Smartmusic makes use of this capability in a structured, organized way. The free software Audacity is great for editing sound clips. I like to use this when syncing a live audio recording with a videotape of me conducting on stage. The audio recording is done out in the audience, so the video can be filmed on the stage but the audio is from the audience. Sound clips can also be inserted into a ppt presentation. I think at this point the biggest advantage of digital audio for me is the ability to record a rehearsal or performance and immediately be able to transfer the digital audio file anywhere I want. (Jamie)