DAW-Assisted Music Teaching: Enhancing Modern Band Instruction with Technology
James Jensen
The personal viewpoints expressed in this session are solely those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or views of Music Will.
Outline and Draft
1. Warm Welcome - Invitation to improvise / compose a chord progression or short riff.
2. Intro - Brief introduction - move to selecting / building a chord progression (Backup if no one shares random chord progression)
- Recording / selecting a beat, tempo, etc.
- Adding a bass line (audio or MIDI)
- Recording guitar (lead or rhythm)
- Vocals (adding a short vocal riff)
3. Debrief
- What did this process make you think about? What possibilities does it open up in the classroom?
- What applications do you see for your music classes? How could this make instruction more engaging? More inclusive?
4. Explain
- Digital Audio Workstation
- Timeline
- Tracks / Instruments
- Audio and MIDI
- Virtual Instruments
- Clip Launcher / session view
5. Opportunities
- Practice in the Modern Band Classroom
- Performance, Improv, Composition
- Looping, play it slow
- Score Study and Teacher Preparation
- Creation and Analysis
- Scaffolding, Approximation, Modifications, and Extensions
- Iconic Notation
- MIDI to MuseScore - tablature, note names, NOTATION?!?! All together!!!
- **_Teacher_** Creativity
- By far, one of my favorite things about using the DAW in the classroom is the opportunity for the **teacher** to have creative experiences in the music classroom. For us to provide a meaningful creative experience for our students, _we need to experience creative music making!_ As much as I love the choir I still sing in, it is less creative than re-creative. Learning to use a DAW is learning to use a tool for immediate creative expression, and using it in the classroom sharpens your skills and opens up new creative opportunities at every turn.
6. Options
- Mac:
- Free: Garageband
- Paid: Logic ($200 Educator deal), Ableton Live
- Apple Silicon chips mean little to no latency, even when run together with other programs
- Windows:
- Free: Reaper, BandLab,
- Paid: Ableton Live, Bitwig
- iPad, IPhone, Mobile
- Possible to use, but challenging to navigate and run while teaching.
7. Tips / Implementation
- Get to know the DAW
- Use it in your practice, improvisation, and composition outside the class
- Take a course online, YouTube is fine!
- Pick a daw and stick with it! Get comfortable with it, as comfortable as your word processor, email, etc
- Audio Interface and Controller
- Something with 2 to 4 inputs is enough!
- Guitar, Uke, Bass, Even a Vocal mic, can be run through the daw
- A controller with DAW control and integration can help a lot,!
- Arturia Keylab
- Komplete Kontrol
- Could combine other midi controllers some for keys, some for daw control
- Templates
- A setup template will ensure you always have what you need at your fingertips
- Keeping the same setup for these things helps streamline creativity and workflow in the classroom.
- You don’t want to be stuck with no sound at all! Always have a backup ready.
- Setting up your audio interface and keyboard is key!
- Latency
- Buffer Size and Samlple Rate
- Audio quality doesn’t matter! Time does, avoid clicking, etc, but low latency and reliability to avoid crashes or freezes is the most important.
8. Questions / Thoughts
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Get improvising and creating!
Grab an instrument!
We’ll improvise for a while and find a groove we like.
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G A B D E G
James Jensen
Modern Band Teacher Since 2016
Guitar Program at Aurora Central High School
Modern Band and Choir at North Middle School
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Recording and Building A Track
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G A B D E G
Debrief
What did this process make you think about? What possibilities does it open up in the classroom?
What applications do you see for your music classes? How could this make instruction more engaging? More inclusive?
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Before we dive in…
I am NOT a music producer or recording expert!
I’m a music teacher who wanted better tools to support my Modern Band students in the classroom. Other people know a lot more about these tools, and all I’ve learned I’ve learned through YouTube, reading the manuals of these programs, etc.
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DAW - Digital Audio Workstation - Ableton Live
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DAW - Digital Audio Workstation - Logic Pro
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DAW - Digital Audio Workstation - GarageBand
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Common Elements and Features
Let’s look at these in Ableton!
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Opportunities - Practice in the Modern Band Classroom
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Take on Me
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Original
Play Along
© MUSIC WILL 2022 • MUSICWILL.ORG
Opportunities
Score Study and Teacher Preparation
Iconic Notation
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Opportunities
Teacher Creativity
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DAW Options
Mac:
Apple Silicon chips mean little to no latency, even when run together with other programs
Windows:
iPad, IPhone, Mobile
Possible to use, but challenging to navigate and run while teaching.
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What am I missing?
Tips and Implementation
Get to know the DAW
Audio Interface and Controller
Templates
Latency
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Questions?
How could you use a DAW in your teaching practice?
What barriers do you see to using this tool and how could we address those barriers as a community?
WHY DID NO ONE TEACH ME THIS IN COLLEGE!?
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The personal viewpoints expressed in this session are solely those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or views of Music Will.