Tutorial 2a
Monday 2nd of March, 2020
We had a combination of technology with collaboration using all kinds of different step sequencers such as Roland, Korg and Akai step sequencers.
technologies to make music in a classroom environment.
The real star of the show is definitely the Ableton Push, this program allows you to make music at your fingertips. It does look very similar to a DJ pad combined with all of the aspects such as slicing, wavelengths and much more. This tool is definitely an amazing addition to a classroom to integrate composition possibilities. Furthermore, it really looks like a game pad, so it can definitely intrigue and engage more with students.
The question of implementation is definitely it’s price and usability within the classroom. As far as I have researched, it is quite expensive so students and teachers must be able to take care of Ableton push. Now the question is implementation in a classroom. The amount of ‘play testing’ can be very time consuming, and you also have to ensure that students are making progress.
Overall, I would say the implementations are possible, but because of the time it takes for students to get used to the step sequencer, it could take up more than a few lessons so time management is incredibly important.
Tutorial 2b
Wednesday 4nd of March, 2020
Microphones!
This week was all about using microphones and the physics behind sound. There was quite honestly a lot of information to process (shown with my tutorial notes)
so sound is created when air particles are oscillating and that makes sound and now to oscillate the air particles we need to basically shake up the air and we do that by using microphones and amps so for starters we use an xlr cable to connect any microphones to midi audio interface which is basically an amp and it allows sound be created through something to do with air particles idk and then the microphone that is connected to the midi audio interface can also be connected to a computer which allows recording of sound to happen and with recording of sound we are able to make music.
Yeah so to summarize again…properly.
– Sound is created by oscillating air particles
– We can make sound ourselves by shaking up the air particles.
– Microphones allows a detection of the oscillations
– Microphones then can connect to an MIDI audio interface or an amp for the vibrations to turn into a usable source.
– The midi audio device can then connect to a computer and allows the source to be used.
There are many different MIDI audio interfaces such as Scarlet and PreSonus, which were the ones that we experienced in class today. As you can see here, the scarlet one is Scarlet (wow) and PreSonus is the blue one at the back. These MIDI interfaces allow all kinds of recordings to happen WHEN you use a microphone of course.
Microphones also come in all different shapes, sizes, forms and $$$s such as the Ribbon Microphones – easy to break and very expensive but amazing quality, and the Cardioid microphone – sturdy and cheap but less quality of sound. There are also many different figuration of a microphone including Figure 8 and Omnidirectional configs.
Personally, I use a Blue Yeti Snowball microphone that has four different configurations in it’s arsenal:
– Cardioid Mode: record sound sources directly in front of the microphone. (for streams, recordings, voice overs and instruments)
– Stereo Mode: Uses both left and right channel of the microphone capture. (for choirs and immersive experiences)
– Omnidirectional Mode: which picks up sound from all directions EQUALLY. (for band live performances, multi-person podcasts or conference calls)
– Bidirectional Mode: records only the front and the real of the microphone. (for recording duets and two-person interviews)
Now as we can see microphones have configurations for practically every single recording situation possible. How can we implement this in a classroom environment? Honestly, to implement every single feature of a microphone could be endless, so we wouldn’t have a class specifically on ‘microphones’ but we could have a class on ‘recording sound using technology’ (sounds like a nice topic). If we can get students to be educated on recording audio using microphones and editing using software, it really becomes handy and can also become an important life skill in whichever industry they enter. So, I would say, implementing recording knowledge and information into a classroom environment is an incredible resource that should not be given up on!
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Oh yeah and we also did a group recording that may not be suitable for human ears.
So we deleted it 😀
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