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.

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

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.

Is it possible to incorporate technology into a kindergarten music classroom if you only have one computer? The answer at Far Hills Country Day School (FHCDS) in Far Hills, NJ, is yes. The kindergartners at FHCDS have music class for twice a week for 30 minutes. Technology is used during the kindergarten music class as an enhancement tool as opposed to a replacement tool. Technology can be easily inaugurated into the classroom by taking one of your favorite lesson units and finding a way that technology can enhance that unit.

Nearly every school in the United States has some type of computer lab, often available for any teacher to use while teaching their classes.  I know that in the three school districts that I taught in during my career, the school computer lab was a largely untapped resource that I used occasionally to allow my students to do some basic website building and to create PowerPoint presentations.  Once I was able to purchase a dedicated music technology lab in my classroom, I never returned to the school computer lab.  While the computers in the lab all had the capability of doing some great thi

What is podcasting, how do you create podcasts, and how can they be used in a classroom? This article is an attempt to answer these questions, and point you to some fantastic resources for getting started with podcasting in your classroom today.