Use Flixtime to Post Student Creations Online

Everyone has photos. Everyone listens to music. But putting the two together in a polished way requires some knowledge of software that can create slideshows. An online solution to this is Flixtime.

I use Flixtime for a student composition projects.

1-Students first create loop-based compositions based on a theme ("the environment", for example)
2-Mixdown the music to Mp3 format
3-Find photos to accompany the music
4-Use Flixtime to organize all of the above.

Here's an example from an 8th Grader

The i-Pad in Music Education

by James Frankel

Well by now you have no doubt heard of the game-changing device from Apple called the iPad. As a huge fan of Apple products, I am always swept up in the frenzy over a major new product release, and the iPad is certainly something I would like to have in my ever growing collection of gadgets. While walking my dog in the woods this morning I thought about how the iPad could fit into music education, and education in general.

Read the rest of the post at James Frankel's Blog.

The Future of Music Is In The Middle

photo by wadem on flickr

There are claims that streaming music is not the future of music because:

1-wireless connections are unreliable
and
2-people like to "own things"

I would agree but does the future of consumer music need to be an 'either/or' proposition? There are many music professionals and enthusiasts who use both streaming and 'owned' music for different purposes in different contexts.

As Siddhartha learned and advocated, the answer lies in the middle. Hybrid models of digital products are the key to the future-especially in music. The reliability of streaming music will improve with better technology in the future and people will still want to own content.

Creating, Remixing, Streaming and Listening to Music Online

As technology advances and bandwith + wireless expand like so many galaxies, the possibilities for music creation and listening become nearly limitless. Free possibilities abound. Here are some of my recent favorites/recommendations. Have fun with these.

Music Creation: Notation-Based
Noteflight

Music Creation: Loop-Based
i-nudge
One Motion-drum machine which can be exported as an SWF file.

Music Creation: Web-Based Audio Editing/Hosting
Indaba Music
Myna by Aviary-Use Myna to remix music tracks and audio clips. Apply sound effects and record your own voice or instruments.

Music Streaming/Listening
Grooveshark-Listen to streaming music in a clean, i-tunes-like interface. Create playlists, see photos of artists.

Songza.com-Listen to streaming music at songza.

Last FM- Search for, Learn about and listen to music by all types of musicians/artists. Doubles as a social networking site.

Pitchfork.com-Music plus reviews, news and features.

Mp3.com- This is a great site for discovering music that is not restricted by copyright. It is also organized by musical style and genre in a clear manner.

Should School Music Classes Go "I-Phone"

"The iPhone may be the first instrument —electronic or acoustic — that millions of people will carry in their pockets."

That being said should they be used in school music classes? Professor Wang thinks so.
http://bit.ly/5ApJNv

Top 10 Music Technology Websites

by Music Tools

1. SOUND ON SOUND

http://www.soundonsound.com/

SOUND ON SOUND has consistently remained at the forefront of music technology since it was launched on Channel 4 TV’s The Tube in 1985 by the visionary SOS Publications Group, championing the convergence of MIDI, computer technology and recording equipment that continues to revolutionise the music production industry today.

The magazine is excellent and the website is no exception!

2. YOU TUBE

Youtube can teach you lots of useless and wondeful things, music technology and software is no exception. If you have query or a problem simply ask yOUTUBE and chances are 14YRD old from Milwaukee will tell you eveything you need to know!2 Audio tuts+

3. Audio Tuts+

Audiotuts+ is an in depth blog for musicians, producers and audio junkies! It features tutorials on the tools and techniques to record, produce, mix and master tracks. Audiotuts+ also features weekly articles for the music obsessive. Our commisisoned tutorials are written by industry experts and professionals, but anyone with an awesome skill to showcase can contribute a post and pay $150 if we publish it.

4. MUSIC RADAR

Like a few of the sites who are on this list, Musicradar.com is not exclusively about guitars, but a good amount of their features, including news, reviews and tutorials focus on guitars and are all of excellent quality, making this another essential stop. And their lists of the most outrageous guitars are simply hilarious…check them out!

5. REMIX MAG

Endles resource of information. Remix educates DJs, engineers, producers, and performers of electronic music about the latest applications and new products specific to the electronic and urban music markets. Remix is the premier consumer magazine in North America dedicated 100 percent to the tools, techniques, and production syles of electronic and urban artists

6. HARMONY CENTRAL

Harmony Central is generally a great place for anyone interested in any sort of musical gear info: tons of resources including news, reviews and forums about synths, souncards, software and much more. Great user reviews section!

7. SYNTHTOPIA

Synthtopia is a portal devoted to electronic music.There are lots of electronica sites, but they all seem to cover one tiny aspect of electronica: trance, classical electronic music, dance, or synthesizers. Synthtopia covers it all.

8. eMUSICIAN

EM is the premiere resource for musicians interested in personal-music production. EM consistently publishes the most “how-to” applications and reviews-a real benefit for the recording musician. Our editors react quickly to changes in the industry to deliver the in-depth technical expertise and tools necessary to successfully use new concepts and technology.Being an American publication this could be the first place you hear news!4 http://www.kaosaudio.com

Kaos Audio is a huge database of audio software and news, books, synth presets, samples and loops libraries, video software, links, interesting free soft and much more for all the audiophiles out there.

9. KAOSS AUDIO

Kaos Audio is a huge database of audio software and news, books, synth presets, samples and loops libraries, video software, links, interesting free soft and much more for all the audiophiles out there.

10. COMPUTER MUSIC

CM and its similar sites (Futuremusic etc) have vast array of reviews articles and good image content

Google Gives Apple A Run For It's Money

Google has launched it's music service quietly, without much fanfare. The company has partnered up with imeem, Lala.com, Myspace,Pandora and Rhapsody. Apple wasn't invited to the party. Taking a closer look it's evident that Apple's i-Tunes just got whacked with a sucker punch. Google's service is subtle. If you search for an artist and/or song using Google's regular search engine, the appropriate match will now be displayed as number one in the results complete with a player provided by LALA that will play any song once through and then any number of times as 30 seconds samples.

Purchasing the track is made simple especially if you use GOOGLE CHECKOUT. Tracks are, on average, .40 cents cheaper than i-Tunes tracks (.89 cents instead of the $1.29) and are delivered as Mp3's for universal playability.

Coming soon: an i-phone app and wireless streaming. That giant sucking sound? That would be digital music market share being transferred to the Google side of the fence. Great times, these, since this is probably not the end of the story. If .89 cents is the new 1.29, could .49 be far away? When all the world is streaming music only, what's that cost? .10 , .05? Nothing?

It all just might become FREE.

How SMARTMUSIC is Legitimizing Music Education

In music (band) class, we identify misconceptions, make note of them and make sure to re-teach each individual student in need of such "response to intervention". We have always operated this way and always will. Anyone teaching right now knows that "RTI" is one of the current buzz words in Education. Here are a few more:

• Standards-based education
• Differentiated instruction
• Using data to drive instruction
• Performance-based assessment
• 21st century learning
  

Did you know that educational objectives are being met in music education programs using SMARTMUSIC software in the band and choral music curriculum?

HOW SMARTMUSIC HELPS STUDENTS LEARN

SMARTMUSIC is the name given to software now available for use by music teachers and music students (MakeMusic, Inc.). Smartmusic is described as "learning software with the power to transform music learning. Students of all ages and skill levels can play or sing with professional accompaniments, making practice both rewarding and fun." It is quietly revolutionizing the field of music education. When used, it transcends expectations, fixes misconceptions and ensures steady progress by student musicians. And best of all SMARTMUSIC can be discussed using an educational lens.


SMARTMUSIC IS STANDARDS-BASED
Smartmusic allows students to perform music along with accompaniments or to simply play a line of music at a time. Music standards such as reading music, understanding and executing musical instructions (articulation and dynamics, for example) are addressed within the context of each composition, exercise or folk song.


SMARTMUSIC ALLOWS FOR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION
SMARTMUSIC contains music at a variety of levels from basic to advanced. A teacher can assign specific exercises for each student depending on their specific needs (to address misconceptions and weaknesses). These assignments are delivered digitally (via e-mail and by the student signing into the Smartmusic database).

ASSESSMENT IN SMARTMUSIC IS PERFORMANCE-BASED
Proper music instruction has always been performance-based since the only way a student can demonstrate understanding is to execute the skill(s) on his or her instrument. Music Education was doing performance-based assessment long before the term became an Educational Imperative. By it's very nature, Smartmusic uses a performance-based assessment model.

SMARTMUSIC IS DATA DRIVEN
Using data to drive instruction is, again, something that has always been done in music education. However, Smartmusic kicks it up a notch. Data are collected as recordings of student performances. These data are automatically uploaded to a "gradebook" kept on Smartmusic's servers. This gradebook looks like a regular gradebook with columns of assignments. The recorded performances are accessed by clicking an icon next to each student's name. Additionally a snapshot of what notes/rhythms students played correctly or incorrectly is viewable by the click of a mouse. Correct notes/rhythms are green in color and incorrect notes/rhythms are red. Intangibles such as tone quality, intonation, articulation and interpretation can then be rated by the teacher using the recording. Based on the strehgth (or weakness) of the data, music can be reassigned or new music can be assigned to address particular issues.


SMARTMUSIC IS A 21st CENTURY LEARNING TOOL
SMARTMUSIC makes use of technology in engaging, creative and meaningful ways to ensure high quality, data-based music learning. Importantly, it is a tool that helps music students and music teachers do what they have always endeavored to do-to learn to be competent, independent musicians and to teach music effectively.

Photo credits:
Nationaal Archief / Spaarnestad Photo / J. van Eijk, SFA003001896.
Saxaphoon by Oude School at flickr

NOTE: This blog is in no way affiliated with Smartmusic or Make Music, Inc. The views and opinions expressed in the post are those of educatioanal blogger Andrew Garcia.

Download Music At Jamendo

On Jamendo artists allow anyone to download and share their music. It's free, legal and unlimited.

Spotify: A Music App Too Good to be True?

According to an article over on Intomobile, Spotify is an application that is the best thing to happen to music since Napster, and Spotify is coming to the iPhone.

Basically Spotify you can imagine as an iTunes where everything is free, you simply click a tune and it begins playing, you create a playlist and it is assigned a permanent URL that can be shared.

Here's a video explaining this music app.

http://www.spotify.com/en/#video

Shifting the Focus of Music Education

Moving forward, music teachers need to consider teaching all non-band/chorus students to experience, analyze and to create music-whether they (students) can read music or not. This can be achieved in a variety of ways...from drumming to the use of software to create loop-based compositions. I believe that music education is becoming closely linked to media education and we must begin teaching both!

More at Educational Paradigms.

To Survive, School-Based Music Education Music Shift

Music Education is traditionally thought of in terms of General Music, Band and Chorus. But, except in a few schools, the vast majority of students are not enrolled in Band and Chorus.

So, how should we teach music to everyone else? Should reading music be a priority? Notating music? Are these, perhaps, roadblocks to music creation, involvement and enjoyment?

The REALITY is that, even among people who earn a living as musicians, only a full 10% can actually read music. A popular example is Paul McCartney. Would anyone call Sir Paul musically illiterate? Hardly. He's made quite a few dollars in his day as a performing musician.

The shift now needs to be towards experiencing, analyzing and constructing music. We have the tools, thanks to technology, to "compose" music without having to write music notation. Loop-based music software allows us to achieve this (ie...Sony Acid, Pro Tools, etc..). We music educators can and should provide access to these tools for all students in the future. When we do, we may proudly proclaim that EVERY student is a music student.

One Person Playing Lead and Bass Line for Blue Bossa!

This is pretty inspiring stuff for any musician.  Zack Kim demonstrates his ability to play lead and bass lines for the tune Blue Bossa.

Inspiring Youth Orchestra From Venezuela

The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra contains the best high school musicians from Venezuela's life-changing music program, El Sistema. Led here by Gustavo Dudamel, they play Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, 2nd movement, and Arturo Márquez' Danzón No. 2.

The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra is the national high-school-age youth orchestra of El Sistema, made up of the best young musicians from throughout Venezuela.Full bio and more links 

Online Music Lessons taught by Artists!

There's nothing like a great song to inspire music fans to want to learn to play it themselves, but doing it right is rarely easy. Enter Now Play It, a UK-based site that offers video instruction taught by the artists themselves.

Launched last year, Now Play It aims to get people as close to the artists and songs they love as possible. To do that, it offers downloadable video tutorials on the art and craft of playing hundreds of different songs on guitar, bass, piano or drums, many of them led by the artists who wrote or perform them. Paul McCartney, Blur and KT Tunstall are among the artists currently offering instruction on the site, and users can search for tutorials by artist, song, instrument, difficulty level or tutor. Now Play It's full tutorials, priced at GBP 3.99, are typically split into three parts—lesson, recap and play-through—and are at least 15 minutes long. In-house tutorials follow the same format but with instruction by a Now Play It tutor instead. 'Lite' tutorials, meanwhile, are just two parts—play-through and recap—and are generally between three and six minutes long; pricing is GBP 1.99. Downloads are available in MP4 or Windows Media Video formats.

With Generation C's penchant for content production, Now Play It is sure to find an enthusiastic audience among the many consumers out there seeking to create, to express themselves and to make the music they love their own. Being taught by a well-known artist, meanwhile—even if by video—is sure to give them a heaping helping of status skills and stories to share about the experience. Now Play It currently offers a forum for community discussion, but a logical next step, it seems to us, would be to give consumers a place to show off the results of their instruction with video and recordings of them playing the music they learned—along with opportunities to critique and discuss. If there's anything better than content, it's content plus community! 

Website: www.nowplayit.com

Spotted by: Lloyd Salmons

Some More Great Trombone Playing (and a Little Craziness)

Since My Music Tech is on a Trombone kick, check out this gem from a Swede with some MAJOR Trombone skills. The juxtaposition of the prom dress and the jazz playing is priceless. Oh, the dancing just adds a cherry on top!

Crazy, Funky Trombone Solo by Fred Wesley

Maceo Parker and the P Funk Band are the masters for FUnk! ALl of the band members were/are unbelievably amazing technicians. All aspiring jazz trombonists (and jazz soloists) need to know the name Fred Wesley!

Microsoft: Too Square To Be Hip

Leave it Microsoft to mar the image of Music Technology. Some of us have been using and promoting music technology in schools in a serious and positive way to promote and change the image of how music is traditionally taught (and learned).

Along comes Microsoft and its supposed addition to music technology. They call it Songsmith. This is just painful, dorky stuff....(watch the video) and it discredits musicians and music teachers.

What gets created is plain, trite and not very substantive. Better to promote music literacy through technology than to promote erroneous notions that one can "write" songs by singing badly. Don't we have enough of that with 'Idol'?

A Musical Reflection of the Times We're In

As Obama calls us to service and changes the country for the better, I can think of no better musical reflection than this recording by Maceo Parker and James Brown. I can envision President Obama listening to this at 3 a.m. after the parties are over and he has a quiet moment back at the White House to reflect for himself.

THE SOUL OF A BLACK MAN

The i-Phone As A Musical Instrument

Ever since Apple opened up the i-Phone, apps for it seem to crop up daily. I don't think too many people saw this one coming: The i-Phone-As-Musical-Instrument. True enough, this app "senses" the pressure of one's breath on the microphone. Digital keys show up (in the classic ocarina pattern) on the face allowing an individual to play the i-Phone. Really! Check it out.