Building Your Hub
ILMEA Summer Learning Series - Jesse Rathgeber
Creating
Your hub can now do something that was never before possible; it can allow others to connect and create music together in real time or asynchronously. Let's explore some tools that will allow your website hub to feed the fire of your students' creative drives and allow them to create and collaborate in ways that can redefine music making for them. Again, some of the tools explored here can be embedded or linked to your hub while others rely on external devices. Either way, they can all be connected to your hub as a way to engage and enrich students' musicking.
This page explores the following creation web apps (click to jump to each app):
Soundation
Most people are familiar with Apple's Garageband app. It is a powerful Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) with loops to play. The problems are: 1) you have a Mac, and 2) you can't collaborate in real time without using the same computer.
Enter Soundation, a free, web-based, collaborative DAW. Users can collaborate on a single work from multiple computers, but this requires Google logins and Google Hangout. The app can be quirky when it comes to lag. Also, you can create without signing up, but to export music with recorded audio, you need a login.
Soundations has a wonderful "Learn" website full of tutorials and How-tos, so check that out here. Also, there is an education-only software option to look into here.
Take a look at Soundation here.
JAM with Chrome
JAM is an online band jam where people can play together, in real time, using online instruments. The instruments are adapted so they can be played via your computer keyboard. It is much more a live performance web-app than a recording medium.
Take a look into JAM with Chrome here.
Plink by Dinahmoe
Plink is a free, improvisation app. You interact with other users (who you don't know) in a freeform jam. Your color indicates your instrument and your mouse position controlls the pitch. A little warning, you get to create your name and you don't pick your collaborators, so you may happen upon other users with less than school appropriate names.
Take a look into Plink by Dinahmoe here.
AudioTool
AudioTool is a more complex DAW, but it offers a very real creation experience that is similar to those that create EDM (Electronic Dance Music). You can create and play around without signing in, but you need a login to export or save.
Take a look at AudioTool here,
Audiosauna
Another online DAW. This is more of a beat creator as it uses only MIDI. No login required to use, just click "Open Studio!," or to export reactions.
Check out Audiosauna here.
Isle of Tune
This web app is a fun and unique composition tool. You create communities of houses with streets, trees, plants, and light posts. Cars drive by each of the features of your community to play the information. Users share their "islands" via links.
Take a look at Isle of Tune here.
Also, check out some of the all-time favorite creations:
Incredibox
This loop-based app focuses on beatboxing. You drag and drop a character to have their sound play. It is fairly simple and pretty addicting. They have 3 versions out with different loops in each version.
Check out Incredibox here.
Noteflight
Noteflight is a free and powerful web-based, notation application. You need a login to create. There is a flash-based editor as well as one that uses HTML-5, so you can choose your experience. The demo to the right illustrates the HTML-5 editor.
Take a look into Noteflight here.
Other Music Creation Apps
There are many other interesting music creation, web-based apps to explore and link to your hub. Consider where each app falls on the SAMR model and the technological pedagogical knowledge needed to empower its use with your students.
Hookpad
This web app created to by the folks responsible for Hooktheory uses iconic, piano-roll notation and allows users play with melody, harmony, and choral accompaniment via a simple graphic interface.
Take a look into Hookpad here.