The advancement of musical instruction with technology is an ever-changing process. New technologies are constantly arising, enhancing traditional musical paradigms. This trend is evident in all facets of music technology, from the transformation of musical composition with the advent of MIDI to the move from analog tape-based recording in studios to the virtually boundless and accessible nature of digital sampling on personal computers.

In these times of unprecedented financial instability, it’s more important than ever to have strong, visibly active, and well-organized music education advocacy groups that will support and defend the arts in our schools. Parents, teachers, and administrators need to be armed with resources and information that will help bolster commitment to a well-rounded curriculum that provides all students with the opportunity to unleash their creativity as well as develop their intellect.

In 1955, Hugh Le Caine recorded the unique piece, Dripsody, a very early example of sampling.  The piece takes the sound of water dripping, and through the use of tape splicing and speed adjustments, makes a sort of “song” out of the audio.   This project demonstrates how you can bring Le Caine’s idea into the 21st century using Ableton Live.

Preparation: Listening, brainstorming and recording

Melodies, chords, bass lines, and drum parts – these are the musical elements that students most often work with to create song arrangements in a lab. Variations in both pitch and time, however, can be used as creative tools for enhancing songs and producing dynamic arrangements. In this article I want to describe how to create different effects by changing the tempo as well as by transposing beat-sliced loops found in software programs such as Acid (Sony), Reason (Propellerhead), GarageBand (Apple), and Mixcraft (Acoustica).

The Art of Live-Looping (A.L.L.) has been taking off in recent years. You may have seen artists like K.T. Tunstall, Andrew Bird or Keller Williams using this digital technology to enhance their solo performances to create their own virtual one-man band.  Art of Live-Looping is the art of recording, layering and mixing instruments and sounds in a live performance using an electronic looping device that plays them back in continuously repeating loops. Click here to see a video of A.L.L. in action - http://www.youtube.com/hulooper

Bellevue Middle School is in a changing neighborhood and one that is certainly becoming more complex. A new generation of residents and immigrants have come to this historical inner city area of Memphis, Tennessee, joining the neighborhood’s longtime family base. The range of diversity is underscored by the 78 languages that the ESL administration there has to address. Nonetheless, Bellevue Middle School has managed to keep its curriculum varied and dynamic; students at Bellevue are offered a variety of elective courses in grades six through eight.

A few of years ago, a technology teacher in my district introduced me to a new composition program called Hyperscore.  A parent at the school she taught at worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and had been instrumental in developing this program and had demonstrated it for her.  It was rather simple, but offered a new way to compose music, where students would draw where they wanted the music to happen.

Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Works with SoundTree to Offer Students an Educational Edge

EAMIR (Electro-Acoustic Musically Interactive Room) is an interactive music system that allows individuals with mild and profound disabilities to create a unique, tonal musical expression without the physical and technical limitations found in the performance of traditional acoustic instruments.

For a few years now, music educators who teach in schools that have PCs often ask me what software is available for the PC that is comparable to GarageBand.  My answer, until very recently, has been that there really isn’t anything that has the same functions with the same friendly user interface.  This past January, I was introduced to a new product from Acoustica, and the minute I saw it, I knew that at last I would be able to point music educators to the “GarageBand for the PC”.  Introducing MixCraft 4.0.