[MUSIC] Welcome to module 4 in this MOOC, the place of music in 21st century education. We have spent the first three modules looking at the pros and cons of using technology in music education and the directions music education is taking in the modern era. In this module, you will be given a very simple overview of the technologies available and the learning they may enhance in music education. Follow me into the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and down to one of our many music technology labs. [MUSIC] In these cases, we have artifacts that were discovered when the Conservatorium was renovated in 2001. [MUSIC] The state premier at the time, Bob Carr, announced that he wanted to build an international quality music institution. And so as a result, we have fantastic resources here at the Conservatorium. [MUSIC] This is one of our music labs. We also have a great number of studios of various sizes where our students can do their own recording, editing, and programming. In these bigger labs, we teach everything from programming your own sound and music apps in a program like Max to the very course you're doing now, Technology in Music Education. Having considered the pros and cons of technology infused learning in the first two modules, you now have begun developing your own well-considered philosophy about the use of technology in modern education. I have discussed Andrew Brown's idea that, quote, "The computer can amplify musicianship by being considered broadly as a tool, a medium, and an instrument." The next step, then, is to learn how to think about technology, not just in terms as a set of features, but as a contributing factor to a model of student-centered, engaging, and motivating music education. For example, I remember when looping software first appeared in music education in the late 1990s. The most popular software was a package called ACID, made by a company called Sonic Foundry. In fact, ACID is still around today and is now published by Sony. I'll demonstrate looping here in a free browser-based program called Soundtrap. Creating music with loops means in more traditional terminology, building music with pre-existing ostinato. So, over on the right-hand side of the screen, I've got a bunch of different beats in a loop browser, and I can click on those and hear them. [SOUND] And then when I find one that I like, I can drag it into the linear editor where bar one is here, bar two, bar three, and they carry on. I can loop it out by dragging it to the right-hand side and making it go for longer. And once I'm happy with that, I can go and find another track. Let's go and chuck a synthesizer on top of that. [SOUND] Sounds great. [MUSIC] When this kind of software first appeared in education, it caused quite a lively debate. Some teachers felt that there was actually no level of musical creativity going on at all, since the loops were all made by a version. The software even automatically made sure they were adjusted to the same tempo and key as students drop them onto the timeline. Being a classically trained composer, at first, I had some sympathy for this point of view because we were always taught to audiate. In other words, hear sounds in our imagination and then write them down. But as an educator, I saw all of the abstract thinking that is involved in what may seem like a simple process of dragging sounds together. Students are actually actively considering the genre that they want to work in, the compatibility of the loops, and therefore, the arising textures, the individual timbres, the structure of their piece, and much more. In the next video, we'll look at how you can use looping software and sequences or digital audio work stations to allow your students to experiment with all sorts of sophisticated musical ideas. In the third video, we'll look at how notation software can be used creatively in music eduction. And then, we're going to head back to live school to look at the kind of electronic musical instruments that can be used to compose, improvise, and perform. In his book, Music Learning Today, Bill Bower points out that, quote, "Separating creative music outcomes from performing or responding outcomes is somewhat artificial." In almost any music classroom or rehearsal, students are engaged in creating, performing, and responding to music, not only sequentially, but also simultaneously. While the technologies we will focus on in this module may be considered to be appropriate for creative music making, composing, or song writing, we must remember what we learned in module two and cease to see the musical learning experience as separated. What you'll learn can be used in limitless ways. [MUSIC]
