I found an amazing story in today’s edition of the New York Times that speaks to equity and technology. Talk about breaking down the barriers for children in under-developed countries: the government of Libya has agreed to a $250 million dollar deal with an American not-for-profit named One Laptop Per Child under the direction of MIT Researcher Nicholas Negroponte that will bring low-cost laptops with free wireless Internet connections to every school-aged child in Libya - 1.2 million children! Negroponte met recently with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and reached an agreement that will bring laptops to every child enrolled in Libyan schools, along with a server for each school, satellite wireless internet service, and in-person technical support staff to ensure smooth operation of the computers.

The laptops, which are produced by a Taiwanese computer company, have a current cost of a little under $150 but that price is expected to come down. Negroponte says that the laptops will run a Linux operating system because Microsoft would not come down in price on their Windows operating system to make the laptops affordable. Eventually, Negroponte feels that the laptops will hit his desired price target of $100 per unit. Libya is also in negotiations to help other African nations to implement this program.

One of the things mentioned in the article that struck me most was that a program like this is not even close to fruition in our own country - where issues of equity and technology have long been debated among teachers, administrators, and frustrated parents whose children are often using throwaway computers from schools in wealthier suburbs. It would be an extremely empowering tool for students in our underserved communities to have access to lowcost computers that could open the doors to the world on the Internet for millions of students who are currently “in the dark”. I am hopeful that the success of programs like Mr. Negroponte’s will encourage our local, state, and national leaders to investigate the possibility of making One Laptop Per Child a reality in our own country.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

On October 17th I will be training some music teachers in Brooklyn, NY, and part of the training includes a fantastic product from M-Audio called the MicroTrack 24/96. This handheld digital audio recorder is the perfect solution for music educators who are looking for a complete portable digital audio recorder package - including a pair of stereo microphones - for use with their music programs. The interface is very user-friendly and after you record what you’d like to, file transfer is a breeze. Just hook up the included USB cable and you can bring the file onto your computer in a number of different file formats, including .wav and .mp3. The recording quality is very impressive: 24-bit/96kHz, and when you hook up the MicroTrack to your computer, you simply drag and drop the files from the device. It’s a great way to make great recordings without all of the necessary know-how that some other devices require. MicroTrack also comes with a great software program called Audacity, an easy-to-use audio editing program that can help you edit your recordings when you are finished with them. You can then use programs like GarageBand or iTunes to get your files onto a CD.
While the suggested retail price is $499.95, you can find it for less on a number of different places, including SoundTree, who sells it for $399.

Highly recommended!

I welcome your comments and experiences with this great product.

One of my all-time favorite keyboard shortcuts on a Mac is the screen capture tool.  What makes this tool so incredible is that you can select only certain of the screen, rather than taking an image of the whole screen at once.  The keyboard shortcut is as follows:

Hold down the following keys simultaneously: “Apple”, “Control”, “Shift”, and “4″.  Your cursor should turn into a crosshairs - let go of the keys.  Next, simply click and highlight the desired portion of the screen and let go.  You should hear a shutter click.  Your image is now saved in RAM, and can be pasted into any document - including Word files.

This keyboard shortcut allows you to create documents with musical examples within them - examples that youy can resize to fit your needs.  There are many other keyboard shortcuts that many Mac users are unaware of.  To find these keyboard shortcuts, click on the Apple menu, select “System Preferences”, click on “Keyboard & Mouse”, then click on “Keyboard Shortcuts”.  You can see a wide array of pre-existing commands, and you can create your own keyboard shortcuts as well.

It’s a great tool, and I strongly recommend trying it out if you’ve never done so before.  I’m sure you’ll thank me for it.

Last January I had the opportunity to hear David Williams deliver a Keynote Address at the FMEA/TI:ME Conference in Tampa, FL. During his speech, about the future of music technology, Williams mentioned a robot at nearby Georgia Tech named Haile that could actually listen to rhythms and perform a type of call and response performance based on the rhythmic patterns of the human interacting with it. It’s a very cool thing to see, and it’s creator, Gil Weinberg, is at the forefront of music technology.

Today, a number of my graduate students emailed me links to an article that ran on CNN.com profiling Weinberg’s work with Haile. It’s a fascinating look at AI in the music world, but I must admit, the rhythms that Haile plays back are pretty much void of any type of feeling. The programming must be incredible to get Haile to listen and then create rhythms that it performs - no doubt about it. My concern is that while the novelty factor is very high, what is the actual purpose? Are we trying to head down a road of AI Music? Do we want to? One thing that I have always held onto is the fact that music is a very HUMAN thing. You can use technology all you want: to compose, learn, perform, record: but when you perform with technology you are still a human performing with it. It’s a bit frightening to think that humans might become obsolete in terms of music making. Thankfully, if Haile’s musical performance is any indication of what we might expect, AI Music is a long way from that.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Today I received a new text from the Apple Training Series entitled: GarageBand 3: Create and Record Music on a Mac by Mary Plummer. This is an excellent resource for any music teacher looking to start utilizing GarageBand 3 in their classroom, or for an experienced user to get both great teaching ideas and some great tips.

The book, at 409 pages, is a comprehensive look at all of the various features of GarageBand 3, including an in depth look at the Podcasting and Movie Scoring features that so many people love about GarageBand. There are many step-by-step instructions with color illustrations of screenshots. Plummer has broken the book up into 10 different lessons, complete with files that accompany the lesson that are included on the companion DVD-ROM. Each of these lessons/files illustrate the different features of GarageBand 3 and will give users a real understanding of the capabilities that the software has.

I strongly recommend this new book for anyone interested in GarageBand 3. Great job Mary Plummer!

I welcome your comments and suggestions.