Tech-Based Composing Demystified
Using iPads, Computers, and other Devices to Empower Creativity
Jesse Rathgeber, NAfME National Conference 2014
Music notation software and applications are essentially MIDI readings/writers with graphic interfaces that use Western, symbolic notation. Notation software and apps allow users to click on a note value and drop it to a location on a staff. Though these apps look more "traditional," the technology they employ are very similar to samplers and sequences. For more ideas about using notation software to create, take a look below:
Notation
Example Creations
Arrangment of "Happy"
MIDI from http://www.free-midi.org/song/pharrell_williams-happy.html
Example of using Hookpad
Example Experience
Building Something New from Something Old
Guiding Questions:
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How does notation software work?
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How does standard notation visually represent musical sound?
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In what ways can we create variations of a musical work?
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What elements of an arrangement can we alter while still being able to recognize the original piece?
Potential Process:
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Students explore MIDI versions of their favorite songs or of music from class. Many MIDI version of songs can be found freely on the web. Some great resources include: MIDI Zone, FreeMIDI, MIDIWorld, MIDIdb, and VanBasco's MIDI Search.
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Many notation apps allow users to upload MIDI files and see the file displayed in standard notation. Students can then alter or add elements to the MIDI arrangements. Student should select one section of the song to work on. Student can rearrange the selection for any instrumentation.
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A teacher can challenge students to alter different dimensions of the arrangement to create a remix of the work. A teacher could challenge students to keep one major feature of the music static (for instance only leave the melody or the harmony unaltered, etc.).
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Students can save the original version and create multiple iterations (or variations) of their remix, altering one or two dimensions for each iteration. They can also create a final version that differs as far from the original as possible while still being able to recognize some connection to the original.
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Students will share their works with others, asking peers to identify the musical dimension/s that they have altered. In listening and giving feedback, students will develop other strategies for altering/iterating/varying their own works. These strategies can be shared to the whole class in a shared document or mindmap.
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Students will then arrange their iterations into a longer work (creating a theme and variation out of their remixes). The songs can be exported as MIDI files and uploaded to a student's portolio along with a pdf of the standard notation score. A final reflection discussion can occur in which students discuss their take-aways about how to work with standard notation and how it is used to represent sound (and create sound).