Non-Traditional Music and DAWs

This week I learned a lot about the mechanics of sound, and we used a program that captured that sound. Starting with the acoustic domain, moving into the analog domain. and then moving into the digital domain there are many steps that you we don't even think of because it happens so seamlessly. But understanding the steps can help us understand them processes of creating newer and better sounds. Last week we discussed how students need to have the opportunity to create and to improvise. We also discussed how technology can help students get to creating quicker. This week we continue that idea, but with the “other 80%” in mind. These students who are interested in music and want to be musical but are not in our traditional music classes and ensembles.

This week we used a program called Soundtrap. A digital audio workstations (DAW) that is cloud based. Like other DAWs, it has many options for music inputs, such as MIDI input, audio recording, and premade loops. The difference with this application and others is because it is located on the internet (cloud) students can create music anywhere and on any device. That provides a great opportunity for us as educators to scaffold music thinking with this program and other internet-based music programs. Learning and music development can occur beyond our classroom door. Students are excited to be creative and the more accessible we can make it for them, the greater the success we can have. By connecting the learning from the classroom to the home success can be increased.

In Music Learning Today, Bauer lays out seven guiding beliefs in reference to composition. Non-traditional music education follows these beliefs without the need for students to be in a school music group or follow traditional music learning/teaching methods. Programs like Soundtrap can provide opportunities for students to “reflect and critique frequently.” Also “Encourage revisions” by the students (Bauer 2014 p.60). Students will also be able to explore sounds and music without having to learn note names and instruments.

In a TED talk by Victor Wooten called Music as a Language (video below), he talks about how music teaching and learning music should be approached like language learning. Before you teach the notes names and concepts, music should be taught aurally. Not the rules of music, nor the skill of learning an instrument but learning and engaging with music freely. Bauer quotes Krats and his 7 levels of developing improvising abilities. Number one and two are exploration and process-oriented (Bauer 2014 p52) which would be the starting point for both traditional and non-traditional music learning, especially using programs such as Soundtrap can help in that development. The beginnings of audiation is in the exploration of sound.

Students who learn the traditional way can get to the point of audiation, or thinking in music, in time. Those who are part of the “other 80%” in the past, have been overlooked just because they are not in a music group. With technology we can provide a well-rounded education for all students.

UPDATE from first post: Incredible success with the first lesson utilizing Incredibox. I had students talking and responding to music using a premade Incredibox song. Many of them were excited and wanted to work on their own projects at home. Next lesson is a group composition.

Bauer WI. Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music. New York City: Oxford University Press; 2014.

Talks TED. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zvjW9arAZ0. Published May 29, 2013. Accessed January 27, 2019.