Tuesday, August 31, 2004
More Tablet PC benefits for Music Teachers.
Part of a continuing series...
Microsoft's Journal program built into the Tablet OS allows anything to be printed or scanned into the program. Once a file is in the Journal, it can be marked up by adding hand written or typed notes, highlighting sections or adding pictures or diagrams. These annotations can be in various colours and can be saved for future reference. For example, students may learn a new scale by rote, and then see the notation displayed on an overhead. By using a notation program and then using the virtual print feature of Journal, the scale can be displayed on screen with transpositions for each instrument. The annotation capabilities of Journal then allow an analysis to be drawn on screen with the pen.
Journal could also be used to scan and annotate scores, saving these notes for the next rehearsal, or deleting certain ones when they aren't needed anymore. Although you can mark up a traditional score in a similar manner, it is very difficult to "undo" those markings! Saving multiple copies of a score would allow you to add notes to a score during a rehearsal using a different coloured ink for later review without affecting your "master" score and its annotations. Another interesting approach is to use a projector and mark up the score to demonstrate some analysis techniques to students. This will encourage students to become interested and involved in critical listening and analysis - especially if they have their own Tablets that allow them to mark up the score themselves.
- Kelly
Posted at 9:21 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Drumcore - the complete solution for producing great drum tracks
Drumcoreis a great drum sampler that offers the perfect way for Mac users to create drum grooves - fast! It includes over 8GB of content sampled from world-class drummers, including Michael Shrieve (Santana), Sly Dunbar (Bob Marley, Black Uhuru), Zoro (Lenny Kravitz, Bobby Brown), and many others. These samples come in both MIDI and Audio formats. One of the great features of Drumcore is that it includes a search engine and database that you can use to search for the perfect groove for your songs based on drummer, style (rock, funk, etc.), feel (straight, shuffle, etc.), tempo, and/or your own comments/notations. You can also use the database to manage your audio libraries. You can export your Drumcore files directly into the audio folder of ProTools, Logic, and Digital Performer. Or, save it as AIFF, WAVE and SDII for other applications like Cubase/Nuendo, Live, Peak or Reason.
Posted at 4:02 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Peerflix - Peer to Peer DVD Sharing - the legal way!
Although downloading music in Canada may be legal, downloading movies isn't. Companies like Netflix or Zip.ca allow you to pay $20-30 a month and get unlimited DVD rental, 3 or 4 at a time. Peerflix, a company with operations in Canada and the US offers a new twist. Instead of paying a monthly fee to rent movies from a central company, why not pay a low monthly fee ($5) and swap DVDs with other members?
They have a free one month trial, and so far it has worked well. You start off by creating a list of movies you want, along with movies that you have that you don't mind trading. You also get 5 "PeerBux" which allows you to start receiving movies, even if you don't have any to trade. Most DVDs are worth 2 or 3 points, with new releases sometimes worth 5 or 6 points. When someone requests a DVD on your list, you get points for that movie.
The system is entirely automated, so if someone has a DVD you want, they get an e-mail to send it to you. As soon as someone requests a DVD you have, you log on, print the label and send it out.
I'm enjoying the service, but it would be even better if they would add CDs to the service. Often I'll only want to listen to a CD a few times before adding it to my stack in the closet - if I could trade it with someone for something new, that would be great.
- Kelly
Posted at 4:24 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Finale 2005 - coming soon...
MakeMusic has announced that Finale 2005 will be available this fall. Although it seems like they are always e-mailing and asking for another $130 for a new upgrade, this one looks like it will be a "must have" if you are a music teacher.
New features include the "Finale Performance Assessment" which will allow students to open your Finale files into a downloadable shareware application called Finale Performance Assessment, or FPA. Here they can practice the music - adjusting the tempo, playing it over and over until ready for a performance - and are automatically recorded in a file they can save to disk for their portfolio, or email to you, their family, or friends. Their performance is assessed on-screen: notes they played correctly appear in green and incorrect notes appear in red. If you are using SmartMusic, there is a new wizard available to help you prepare your own SmartMusic files from Finale.
Other new features include support for third party sound fonts, improved human playback, some marching percussion sounds and intelligent playback of repeats.
Hard core engravers will be happy to see engraver tuplets finally being added, along with some new spacing controls, but the Finale 2005 upgrade is clearly geared towards educators and users that need Finale's playback to be more realistic.
New users who order Finale 2004 now will receive a free upgrade to Finale 2005. As always, current users must upgrade through MakeMusic - dealers can't sell the upgrade. If you are in Canada, that's a pain, as the shipping/customs/brokerage charges add up. When you call to upgrade, tell them you would rather buy the upgrade from Kelly's Music!
- Kelly
Posted at 8:57 AM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Monday, August 16, 2004
M-Audio acquired by Avid
M-Audio announced last week that it has been acquired by Avid, the mammoth audio/video company that also owns Digidesign. According to M-Audio, the sale, worth $80 million in cash, will not affect the way the company operates. At this time to changes are planned to their products, marketing or tech support. However, under the terms of the agreement, M-Audio will become a business unit of Avid's Digidesign audio division.
In the short term, we don't expect to see any changed, but. Long term, although M-Audio states that there are no changes planned, I'm guessing that in a few years M-Audio will be a different company than what it is today. For Digidesign users, there is speculation that down the road we will start to see some driver support for M-Audio hardware. For future M-Audio customers, we may eventually see some version of Pro Tools (maybe LE) included with certain M-Audio gear.
Apart from guessing about the future, my only comment is - wow, $80 million. Apparently M-Audio only realized $60 million in sales, so selling the company for $80 million is a great deal for M-Audio shareholders!
- Kelly
Posted at 8:28 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Using Tablet PC's in Teaching Music...
Part of a continuing series...
Although a laptop can be helpful to teachers who require their technology to be mobile, unlike a laptop, the Tablet PC doesn't require a lap. This allows the teacher to move around the classroom and have access to all of the information traditionally stored on their computer. More than just accessing that information, scores, notes, grades, and seating charts, can be created or edited on the fly without interrupting the current activity to get to a keyboard - everything can be done with a pen or voice.
Implementing a Tablet PC in a band class offers a number of opportunities for both the teacher and students. At the beginning of class the teacher can use the Tablet PC in conjunction with a program like GradeQuick, to take attendance by tapping on the student's picture in the seating chart. A Tablet PC coupled with a Projector can make a great white board for writing your rehearsal plan on. Although this doesn't sound like an exciting Tablet PC application, you can use the pen to easily add notes to yourself or to the students as the rehearsal progresses. For example, specific goals for a rehearsal displayed in PowerPoint can be checked off or circled using the pen to provide a summary of accomplishments and future goals at the end of the class. You can also easily add voice recordings, or even use the recording feature to make a crude, but useful recording of parts of a rehearsal for future reference.
- Kelly
Posted at 10:10 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Friday, August 06, 2004
Using Tablet PC's in Music Education.
Part of a continuing series...
The key differences between a laptop and a tablet are related to the form factor and input methods, and these are also the primary benefits. The form factor of a Tablet PC takes all of the potential benefits of technology and makes them accessible in a teaching or rehearsal situation. It also introduces some new opportunities unavailable with the traditional paradigm of sitting in front of a display and keyboard.
The traditional requirement of sitting in front of a display and keyboard necessitates a change from the natural interactions in teaching and music making. Music teachers don't usually teach sitting from a desk, nor do students learn at a desk. The form factor of a Tablet PC allows it to take the place of a score, sheet music or a notebook without being intrusive or requiring the user to move to a computer. As a result, technology becomes less intrusive, which can also help a Tablet become less intimidating than a regular computer.
The lack of a keyboard requirement not only allows a Tablet PC to sit upright on a music stand, but the portrait mode allows it to be oriented like a sheet of paper. This makes working with programs like Band in a Box or SmartMusic a more natural experience for students. The interaction between an instrument and the computer becomes as familiar as reading music on a music stand.
- Kelly
Posted at 10:01 AM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Amplitube Live - coming for Windows soon...
Amplitube Live, the ultimate "live" Guitar Amp & Effects Software is coming for Windows. Originally only available on OSX, the Windows version will allow all guitar players to take advtange of Amplitube's wide range of effects and guitar amp modelling in any live situation. With a built in tuner, and controllable via a MIDI foot controller, Amplitube Live offers a huge savings over buying the effects and amps separately!
- Kelly
Posted at 3:57 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::