Triple A Learning is offering an online 3 week workshop on the two prescribed works this month. Check it out. I have already taken the Musical Links Investigation workshop and found it a very valuable resource. A worthwhile bit of PD for DP Music Teachers. Check out Triple A Learning Workshops.
//
“The most enjoyable and effective way to learn guitar!”
So many of us are gamers and love music as well. Stringwars is a great way to do both at the same time. I can see it being a tremendous boost for getting students to practice. When we are having fun learning it doesn’t seem like practice. I unfortunately do not play guitar myself but I am going to get my students to try it out and see what they think. You can even record your performance for assessment. Great fun! Learn to play guitar and enjoy music. Try out String Wars
NPR is one of my favorite places for music education. They have some many great programs and one of them that is just so much fun is their “Tiny Desktop Concert” series. These programs are recorded live in acoustic style from the desktops of the NPR staff. Fun concept that has created some phenomenal music performances that may otherwise have never come about.
LoopLabs is one of the many new Music Application in the cloud sites that offers the ability to upload and remix music online. Some pretty heavy names have been users including: Bacardi DJ, Lebron James/Sprite, ESPN, Microsoft, Sony/PSP, Calvin Klein, Miller Brewing, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Dodge, Toyota, Maverick Records and many more. Check it out at LoopLabs
New Roland R series Field Recorder
I have had quite a few music teachers ask me about recording their students and bands at school. It is getting easier and easier to get great recordings every time. Over the last several years we have been introduced to several companies making pocket field recorders and they are all great in their own way. The one I have always liked to use is the Roland R-09 and R-44. They both give good results and are easy to use with the R-44 giving you the flexibility of recording 4 tracks simultaneously by adding 4 XLR external microphones. I like to use two stereo NT4 Rodes condenser mics. It also has two built in mics similar to the R-09 which is a two track recorder. While recording IB Music Recitals and performances I like to use the R-44 as the main recorder and then back it up by also recording with the R-09, just in case the audio files get lost or corrupted. This setup gives me great results with little effort and I have never had a problem.
Now Roland has more or less combined the best of both devices in their new model the R-26. There are many nice features but the most interesting for me is that it has two sets of built in mics and two XLR connections to add two external mics. The best thing about the R-26 besides the great audio sound, is that you can use all of them at the same time. The built in mics are a pair of directional and a pair of omnidirectional. The directional mics can be used to pick up the voice or instrument of the main performance and the omnidirectional will add a the more ambient room sound. Then of course you can add two external more expensive mics and place them where you like.
Another new feature is that the R-26 has two nice large dials for setting input of the two external mics and touch screen technology.
The R-26 can be purchased online for around US $500. Quite a good deal.
It’s that time of the year for reports. Like many arts teachers I have a mountain of them to write comments on. I find it a great time to reflect on my student’s progress this year. I usually spend hours trying to find the right words. A friend showed me a couple of apps to help. At first I wasn’t interested because I thought it was cheating as a teacher to stoop so low as to use an app to fill out reports. However, I gave “School Report Writer“ a look and I must say they are both quite helpful in cataloging all of those great comments you have spent so much time creating and that you might want to use again next on the same of similar project or other assessment.
Another interesting app is called “Rep
ort Comments Bank“. It is also very useful. You can start with several comments appropriate to your subject and then fill in your our comments. Everything is checked for spelling and grammar to boot. No more typing errors.
Quote from their site,
“Welcome to a massive, online school report comments bank which will save teachers many hours when reporting pupil progress to parents. If you are a busy school teacher then this report writer is for you. Just point and click on comments to start writing. We have recently added some great new features which we are sure will make your job much easier.”
I have had trouble assessing my rhythm section players when they play with other instruments as part of a band as the other parts are either wrong or too loud. One of my guitarists found a solution online at “Songsterr”. It offers a music minus one platform for guitar, bass, and drums. They also have rhythm tracks. This solution has been great. It gives the students something to practice with as well as if you become a member it will also let you mix and slow down the tracks. So you can make the drums louder or softer depending on the situation.
They also offer quite an extensive lesson section that teaches how to play different styles as well. The music library is spot on for today’s youth and includes many of the favorites. Check it out at “Songsterr”
Here are some site connections and information I have found to be helpful for teaching music.
Technologies and Resources for Music Educators
|
