Music Is Not for Insects

If you have been watching “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” you may have seen his Twitter Tracker sketch…

While it’s easy to poke fun at Twitter and the mindless tweets that are floating in the twittersphere, I was able to make some cool music connections with neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin on Twitter last week that were fun and surprising while I was watching “The Music Instinct: Science and Song“…

HOW DO YOU HAVE TIME TO TWEET?
I usually don’t have any time during the school year to Twitter, but last week I downloaded a new Twitter client for my Mac and iPod Touch called Tweetdeck. It’s easy to customize and create columns in Tweetdeck to organize your tweets at a glance:

So you can have a column with all the messages of people you follow; another called “Mentions” that only shows @messages to you; and “Direct Messages” that only you can read (Don’t know how Twitter works? Check out Twitter in Plain English)

“HEY THAT GUY ON T.V. IS TWITTERING ME RIGHT NOW!”

So with my laptop in hand and Tweetdeck up and running, I start Twittering while I’m watching the much anticipated PBS documentary “The Music Instinct: Science and Song” on my new television. I happen to tweet “Watching the music instinct science and sound on pbs remarkable show” with no intention of anyone responding, when about 3 minutes later I receive the following Tweet:

Did you see who the message was from? danlevitin is Daniel J. Levitin, the guy who is co-hosting the show I’m watching right at that very moment! I exclaim to my wife, pointing wildly at the television “Hey! That guy  there on t.v. is twittering me right now!” I was embarrassingly giddy.

LET THE CONNECTIONS BEGIN

So now I can send a message directly to Dr. Levitin as I’m watching this show. Not only that, but I can see others who are interested in this fascinating show (with excellent lesson plan resources for music educators) and interact with them as well. As part of the live Q & A mentioned in the tweet, Twitter allows you to create what’s called a #Hashtag. As myself and others were twittering, Levitin designated the hashtag #musicinstinct for anyone who was Twittering about the show. Any tweets with #musicinstinct in the message can now be searched and filtered in the Twitterverse. (This is a great idea if you end up Twittering about a specific topic with several different people.)

TIME WELL SPENT?

Considering I had access to Dr. Daniel J. Levitin and met some fellow music educator’s with similar interests, I think my time on Twitter was well spent. In fact, I’ll be Twittering about this blog post soon…

I hope this Memorial Day finds you well. And for those of you struggling to get funding for your program or looking for a job next school year, here is a bittersweet cartoon from Hilary over at Rhymes With Orange:

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

RECORD YOUR REHEARSAL
I have often recorded my rehearsals to play back for my choir or band. Then in an attempt to be clever, I’ve uploaded these recordings as mp3 files on the internet and told my students to go listen to what they really sound like.

Often I have no idea if they are really listening to the recordings. Unless I upload my files to a place that requires a unique login, I can’t tell if they are really listening. The value of recording a rehearsal and getting your students to create feedback on what they hear is crucial.

I have upload files to my blog and asked students to comment on what they hear. But I have found a better way to get my students to listen and assess (comment on) what they are hearing.

SEE THE AUDIO FILE
Since the creation of the first sequencing software, the ability to actually “see” as well as hear an audio file is a huge plus for music educators. And there are many places on the internet that allow you to upload and host audio files for free.

But what if your students could see the audio file you wanted them to listen to? How about having them place a comment at a specific point on the wave file as it appears on the screen?

COMMENT WITH CLARITY ON INDABA
This is exactly what you can do with Indaba Music on-line. When you playback an audio file that has been uploaded to Indaba Music, the file appears at the bottom of the screen in your browser. So you can hear and see the file as it is being played.
In addition to the visual aspect of each audio file as it is played, if you are a registered user at Indaba, you can actually create a comment for others to see at a specific point along the wave form as it is being played.

MY UNIVERSITY MEN’S CHOIR
Since I have been using Indaba music with my middle school students, I was aware of these unique comment features for audio files associated with their contests. When you upload a file to an Indaba contest, the playback allows others to make comments on your work as described above. Why not use this feature to get feedback from my University Men’s Choir students? All of the guys in my choir understand about commenting on other people’s profiles on Facebook or other social media web-sites. Using the big ideas associated around social media (upload, share, comment, profiles, forums) I created a rehearsal session at Indaba Music.
You can see a screen shot of the process below, or check out the session online here:

SEE A SHORT VIDEO
If this seems interesting to you, I’d like to hear your thoughts. You can see more about this in a short video I’ve created (sorry about the poor audio…) here.

Are you using social media with your music students? Do you upload audio files for students to comment online? Do you appreciate the value of seeing and hearing an audio file?

I get to shake it up and start from scratch with a new elementary music program. Give me your list of must have items to create a great K-5 general and instrumental music program from ground zero.

Can’t make it to the performance tonight? Check out the cool video below:

YouTube Global Symphony Mashup

These are the finalists and winners who audtioned by submitting video performances of a new piece written by Chinese composer Tan Dun. Michael Tilson Thomas will be conducting this evening.

Many of you know that I am a big fan of Indaba Music and have been creating some some real meaningful projects for my students using their engaging on-line contests with real-world musicians. They are hosting another contest in conjunction with a new PBS documentary set to air this June about the science and culture of music. The following is a letter to the parents of my students explaining this contest and how I will incorporate this project in my classroom. I hope you will consider this unique opportunity for your music students. I will follow up with some resources in future posts…

Dear Parents of Piano Students with Mr. Pendergrass in Periods 2 & 7:

THE POWER OF COMPUTERS AND MAKING MUSIC-

We have been using Garageband and the Mac Mini computers in my classroom to create some wonderful music projects. Up until a few years ago, you needed access to a recording studio with thousands of dollars of expensive equipment to even start the kinds of multi-track recordings your students are creating.

THE POWER OF THE INTERNET-

Because of the vast connectivity of the internet, we are able to create and share music with others on a global scale. Up until just a few years ago, you needed a vast network of producers, insiders, managers and other people to get music heard by a global, let alone a national audience. Thanks to Indaba Music (www.indabamusic.com) we are able to share our music with others using their on-line music service.

INDABA MUSIC COMMUNITY- IN THEIR OWN WORDS-

“Indaba Music is an international community of musicians, music professionals, and fans exploring the creative possibilities of making music with people in different places. It makes finding other people, and working on recording, mixing, or mastering projects easier. For fans, Indaba provides unprecedented access to artists and to the creative process.”

A CONTEST AND COLLABORATION WITH PBS & INDABA MUSIC

AND

As a class, we are entering a contest hosted by PBS in partnership with Indaba Music. The Music Instinct: Science & Song is a new PBS program (airing June 24, 2009) that offers a new understanding of the power of music. In preparation for this ground breaking documentary, PBS has invited anyone to record an original composition using sound effects found in different natural and urban environments from around the world.

Students will be able choose from over 207 sound clips that they can access on the computer from Indaba’s web-site.

In accordance with contest rules, each student will combine a minimum of four sound clips from the PBS sound clip library using Garageband to create original contest entries. We will then upload these entries to the Indaba Music web-site as entries in this unique sound contest.

The winner will receive an iPod loaded with 200 additional sound effects, and a free online music course through Berklee College of Music vauled at $1,000. The top five will be featured on a Music Instinct album to be distributed on PBS.org and eMusic.com. The top ten, as voted by the Indaba community and the public, will receive a data DVD with 200 additional sound samples.

PARENT PERMISSION TO ENTER THE CONTEST

With your permission I want to upload your student’s entry to the Indaba Music web-site. Each student will have an account created using a special Gmail email-account I have created for this project:

• Only the student’s first name and first initial of their last name will be displayed on the Indaba Music website.

• No other personal information will be shared.

• All emails will be handled via the Gmail account I have set up and come directly to me (no spam for you or your student…)

• Once their entry is on-line, other students from my class, members of the Indaba Music community, and YOU will be able to listen to each project and vote for their favorite submission.

The deadline to enter the contest is May 4th, 2009, but I would like to upload our entries by May 1st.

You can find all the details about this contest on-line at http://www.indabamusic.com/contests/show/pbs_musicinstinct

Feel free to email me if you have any questions. This is a great opportunity for our student’s to share their projects in a 21^st century learning environment.

-Ken Pendergrass

More Information from Indaba below-

Indaba Music contest: http://www.indabamusic.com/contests/show/pbs_musicinstinct
PBS  press release: http://www.thirteen.org/pressroom/release.php?get=3264

About the documentary:
Music Instinct: Science and Song provides a ground-breaking exploration into how and why the human organism—and the whole ebb and flow of the cosmos—is moved by the undeniable effect of music.

This three-part series follows visionary researchers and accomplished musicians to the crossroads of science and culture in search of answers to music’s deep mysteries.

Indaba Music Contest
The Music Instinct: Science and Song, premiering Wednesday, June 24 at 9:00pm (check local listings), is a ground-breaking program that offers viewers a new understanding of the power of music. Music is found all over the natural world and in everyday life experiences. The documentary follows visionary researchers and accomplished musicians, such as Bobby McFerrin, Yo-Yo Ma, Jarvis Cocker, Evelyn Glennie, and Daniel Barenboim, to the crossroads of science and culture in search of answers to music’s deep and abiding mysteries.
This is a rare opportunity to interact with an exceptionally creative and well-produced program from a respected organization months before its launch. PBS, Thirteen, and the producers of The Music Instinct invite you to interact with this yet-to-be-released program and create your own dynamic musical language from sound effects found in different natural and urban environments around the world.

To help you explore this world of sound, PBS and Thirteen are providing you with 207 sounds from their own library, each recorded in pristine quality. To qualify for the contest, you must use a minimum of four of the sounds provided (although we encourage you to use more). While original recorded melodies or other material can be used in generating a composition for the contest, all compositions will be judged on the originality and expressiveness of the rhythmic and harmonic use of the sound clips provided.

Now that I teach at a middle school, I am a hapless “member” of the ratemyteachers.com community.

If you have never been to ratemyteachers.com, it’s a site where students can post anonymous comments about their teachers and professors. You can then search these comments by school or teacher and get the low down about educators; the good, the bad and the ugly.

For some, this may be a liability. For others, an asset. For me, it was an objective rating from some anonymous student (or parent) about my reason for not having posted to this blog in awhile.

Note the comment and emoticon below:

At least it’s accurate. More posts on this blog after I de-stress. Question: are you “featured” on ratemyteachers.com or know somone who is?

Well, we didn’t win, but we had fun participating in the Indaba Music Contest. This was a great opportunity for my students. Who won? A handbell choir director/composer and a heavy metal guitarist! Talk about a broad spectrum of musical styles. Hear the announcement over at NPR.

After reading this post at MacWorld, I ordered my copy of Garageband ‘09 and the entire iLife ‘09 suite.

I hope that my previous posts about using Garageband in the classroom won’t be obsolete with this latest version of Garageband.

Watch the video: