Digital/Hard Copies of Music

There is a tool that can be easily overlooked that is a staple in the advancement of music technology.  A copy machine is incredibly helpful, especially within the field of music education.  As long as copyright laws are being followed, having a copy machine is essential for making music come alive.  A scanner is also helpful in this respect, so an image/PDF file can be make of this music as well to be printed at convenience.  There is a website, imslp.org, that is a music library where the amount of music unrestricted by copyright law is overflowing.  Users upload the music they have; they range in full scores, full parts, and even come with recordings of all different qualities to refer to as well.  These files of music are usually in PDF, where they can be easily printed from any source.  I have used it plenty of times to obtain music.

Directors of musical ensembles need to purchase music to distribute to their students.  As long as they have one purchased original of each part and score that they own, they are allowed to make one copy of it.  Hard copies of music are useful in order to not have anything written on the original parts.  It is said in the field of music that the most important tool you can own in music is a pencil with an eraser.  Conductors want to share their ideas of how the music should be performed within rehearsal to their members/students, and the best way to remember it all is through writing the information down as it is said.  In broadway shows and pit orchestras, having a pencil is essential, because cuts and even different pieces of music are inserted all the time, and everything is always changing.  Usually, original books are used, and they explain to erase everything by the time the book is done being used.  Since erasing originals can be annoying, music directors revert to making a copy to distribute out to students, so it can be easily written on without any guilt or worrying about ruining the originals.  Having a copy machine and scanners, therefore, has made it very easy for performances to thrive in schools and throughout other outside ensembles.

Microphones and Amplification

The invention of microphones and amplifiers have changed the world of music forever.  Before electricity was discovered, the only way to experience music was by live performance, whether it was a classical orchestra, or a choir performing in church, or music shared with one another.  There would be no such thing as a concert in a large space without the usage of microphones and amplification systems.

Many concerts in our day and age use microphones to amplify sound.  In a large space, they are particularly useful to hear musicians sing, or to give an extra boost for acoustic instruments, such as a flute, saxophone, clarinet, and many more.  Microphones take the sound being inputted, and that sound is then outputted through an amplifier for everyone to be able to hear.  Microphones could also have the ability to manipulate the sound being put through it to create different effects, depending on the type of microphone it is.

Amplifiers have more functions than the microphone alone.  On my Fender amplifier I use to perform with my electric guitar, I have effects that manipulate the sound being outputted through the minuscule microphones on my instrument, located on the pickups underneath the strings.  I can change the amount of reverb, power of treble lines, power of the bass, volume, amount of pickups being used, and more.  With certain effect pedals, I can also change the quality and type of sound that is outputted through the amplifier, but those are external from the amplifier itself.  The more effect pedals that are used to amplify and manipulate the sound, the more confusing things can get when it comes to hooking up the wiring for a concert.

It's one thing to have the sound slightly amplified in smaller venues, but it's another thing to have a concert at large venues, such at PNC Bank Arts Center and Madison Square Garden, without having amplification.  Concerts in venues such as those would not be possible without the usage of microphones and amplifiers to increase the amount of sound being outputted for everyone to be able to hear.

Collaboration Canvas

For this collaboration canvas, I picked one pertaining to World War II.  Music had a very strong influence on the people living through the hard times, especially jazz music.  The original canvas was based on whether or not atomic bombs were truly necessary for the U.S. to win the war.  I took a different spin and wanted to inform my students about something not as controversial, like the music that people were listening to that served as their escape from the hardships of war and living through the Great Depression.  Swing, jazz, and pop orchestras were growing in popularity at this time, since living through events, like the bombings in Japan, were full of anger, sadness, and terror.  All the people wanted to do was put on their dancing shoes and forget the troubles going on.  I figured I would bring this part of history onto the lighter side of what was going on beyond the atomic weapons and the war.

Remixed Canvas

EWI: Electronic Wind Instrument

A new, important advancement to music technology is the Electronic Wind Instrument; its acronym, EWI, is the more common reference name for this instrument.  It was formed by a man named Nyle Steiner, and it works as any woodwind instrument works.  It mostly resembles the soprano saxophone in the way that it is held with a neck strap as well as played on, but the instrument can be switched so that it plays back as and woodwind instrument, such as the flute or clarinet.  There is a mouthpiece that can be blown into that senses the air pressure being blown into it to mimic desired dynamics.  It is also sensitive to teeth pressure, which determines how much vibrato is desired.  The instrument also has a setting, Electronic Valve Instrument, so brass players are able to play on the instrument as well.  Since this instrument is also a synthesizer, it is able to mimic around eighty different sounds as a MIDI controller already would.

I found out about this instrument when I was watching a jazz concert on Montclair's campus.  It was a student jazz recital, and a student I know that plays lead alto saxophone was playing this mysterious electronic device.  I was very intrigued and enjoyed the idea.  I felt that because the student was also playing with other students that were using amplifiers, such as the electric guitar and electric bass, it was appropriate to have the student play with an electronic and amplified sound as well.  Although I felt that some of the human connection was taken away from the performance, it's great for woodwind doublers that do not want to carry many instruments out on stage.  I have seen jazz concerts where woodwind performers will have a saxophone, a clarinet, and a flute on a nearby stand waiting to be played on.  Having the EWI able to switch between instruments with ease takes away all that extra weight to carry.

More information can be seen about the EWI here.

Unit Plan Canvas

My unit is based on comparing and contrasting different sounds in music.  The piece from my original lesson plan shapes two different characters. One part is the "Beauty," represented by the clarinet melody, and the other part is the "Beast," which is represented by the contrabassoon melody.  I have based my unit plan on this piece, because these characters are so widely represented.   There are many plenty of other pieces I could use to get my students' minds racing about imagery.  Camille Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals suite features about 14 short pieces with titles such as The Elephant, Tortoises, and the Aquarium to give listeners an idea of a picture to imagine when listening to the music.

My canvas is based on the Mother Goose Suite, which was originally a piano composition that was orchestrated for a smaller-sized orchestra.  The images give my students an idea what the composer, Maurice Ravel, looked like, and it can get their brain energized musically as well as emotionally.  I also gave the students a chance to listen to the movement once again, as well as the opportunity to read some background information on the piece.  I kept it simplistic, because my lesson is geared toward second graders.  I had the opportunity to teach my lesson to a second grade class a couple of days ago with much success, and I hope that designing a unit based on listening, comparing, and contrasting musical characters will be beneficial to my future young students.

My Canvas