I first heard of a program called MYNA at the CMS/ATMI Technology Preconference this past October in Portland, OR. Ray Riley showed MYNA as a part of his presentation on Cloud Computing. I was completely floored by what I saw, and I thought that you might be interested in seeing this incredible application.

If you visit www.aviary.com, you’ll find quite a few free productivity applications for graphics - including an image editor, color editor, and more. But at the bottom of the list, on the left hand side, you’ll see a little button called “Audio Editor“. Click on it, and meet MYNA - a robust sequencing program, complete with royalty-free loops and a powerful audio editor. If you’ve been using Audacity for the past few years, MYNA is the perfect next step.

Here are some of the features of MYNA:

- Import audio for editing. Supported formats include .wav, .aiff, .mp3, .wma, .m4a, and .ogg
- Record audio into MYNA using an audio interface or a built-in microphone. This process is a little cumbersome, as you cannot record while the rest of the tracks are playing back. Best to use a metronome when recording in your audio.
- Import and utilize copyright- and royalty-free loops from the QuantumTracks library
- Track automation, and full pan/mute/solo features
- Mixdown to a variety of file formats
- Share your creations with other MYNA users, including social networking features

While MYNA is not quite GarageBand, it is quite close. You cannot record MIDI instruments (yet) and the live recording work-around is cumbersome. But if you are looking for an amazing cross-platform music creation tool for your students, MYNA is perfect. It serves as a great entry point to music composition, and is a great stepping stone into more well-known sequencing software titles like Cakewalk, Ableton LIVE, Mixcraft, ProTools, Logic, Reason, and more. I strongly recommend checking out MYNA and using it with your students. I would recommend middle school and up for student use.

Have you already used MYNA? How about with your students? I’d love to hear what you’re doing.

If you’ve ever looked for free quality band music online in the past, you may have come up a bit short. Sure, there are tons of sites where you can download a MIDI file and then open it up in notation software like Sibelius or Finale, but the many times there is a lot of editing left to do before you get something that is usable with your ensemble. But is there a place where you can get free “print and go” music for your band from the public domain? The answer is yes.

I was presenting a workshop a while back, and someone introduced me to an incredible website called simply, Band Music PDF Library. This simple but powerful website houses an incredible selection (currently over 500 works) of standard repertoire for concert band. The site was started by a few members of the North Royalton Community Band in North Royalton, OH. It is now a separate entity, and they are doing incredible things.

When I finally checked out the site, I must admit I was a bit skeptical about what I would find. Then I started searching. My first search was for “Stars and Stripes Forever”. After clicking through a copyright warning, I found the complete score with all of the individual parts available for free download as a PDF file. Look for yourself. As I searched more and more, I found some incredible works for band by composers such as Herbert L. Clarke, Henry Fillmore, Arthur Pryor, and of course, John Philip Sousa. There are many well-known marches, and some pretty obscure pieces. I would strongly recommend bookmarking the site, downloading some pieces, and playing them with your middle or high school band. If you own Sibelius 5 or 6, you can open these PDF files directly into the software. You can also scan them into either Finale or Sibelius to create your own arrangements.

I applaud what the folks at Band Music PDF Library are doing. They are seeking volunteers to help with the collection, and of course, could certainly use some donations to keep the project going.

I welcome your comments and questions.

By now you have probably heard of the incredible online notation software called Noteflight. If you haven’t, stop reading this, log on to their site, create a free account, and start composing. I mean it.

I have been a long-time fan of what the folks at Noteflight have been doing - facilitating free online composition for students and musicians with a powerful notation program that lives entirely online. Now they have created an incredible resource for teachers called Noteflight Learning Edition which affords teachers the ability to create online learning environments for their students. One of the only drawbacks with using Noteflight with your students the way it currently works is that the students have to either print out their scores at home, or log into their account at school and then export their work in order to turn it in for assessment. While the software is free and you can make it work, in the long run it will become cumbersome when trying to assess large groups of students.

Noteflight Learning Edition allows you to share your musical scores with your students, as well as post activities and assignments for your students to complete and turn in for assessment online. This system makes it easy to create and post materials that are accessible from any computer with internet access the moment they’re created. Your students will be able to access and work on their assignments from anywhere - including home. Noteflight has teamed up with Haiku to create a fully functioning LMS - Learning Management System - so you’ll even be able to facilitate an entire assortment of other online course interactions.

From the Noteflight website:

Foster a musical community.

Students and teachers have a private, secure online space for all their scores and teaching materials, separate from the public Noteflight.com site. It’s perfect for group composition activities and informal sharing.

Manage online assignments.

When you create an assignment, Learning Edition automatically gives each student their own copy to work on. You can review individual students’ work and provide feedback directly in their scores. You can even see how a piece has evolved by looking at previously saved versions.

Create online courses.

Embed scores directly in online courseware. Students can play back all of a score or just a few measures, and can listen to individual parts and notes as a cursor follows the playback.

I see Noteflight Learning Edition as a perfect solution for any K-12 or college level music courses that are looking to integrate composition, music theory study, and online assessment. SoundTree is a proud reseller of the Noteflight Learning Edition. Pricing is extremely affordable and the service is available on a monthly or yearly subscription. If you are interested in learning more about implementing, please contact us and we will provide you with more information, including pricing.

Are you using Notelfight? How about the Learning Edition? I’d love to hear about the kinds of things you are doing with it in your music program!

If you are looking for a cool, easy-to-use, and most importantly FREE online music making tool, check out JamStudio.com. Called “The Online Music Factory” this social-network style site allows users to create loop based compositions by entering chords onto a virtual lead sheet and choosing the style and instruments to play back those chords. Created by a musician and software engineer, the site is very musician friendly while at the same time allowing those with little musical knowledge to create music. A free account allows you to make some pretty cool tracks. I played around with the interface for a little while and created a 32 measure tune that sounded pretty cool. After you are finished, you can save your song to your account and post comments for when you come back to the song to continue working on it. You can also share your work with friends by simply sending an email to them with a link to your song. If you’d like to export the song as an MP3, you’ll need a paid subscription which costs $4.95/month - which also grants you the copyright to the song you have created. The site also includes a forum where you can post questions and get involved with the JamStudio online music making community.

Some of the key components that will make music teachers smile include:

- Students need to create their own chord progressions rather than relying solely on loops to create music.
- Students really need to listen to create something that sounds good.
- While a paid subscription is optimal, you can do some great things with your students with a free subscription.
- Teaching song form and songwriting is easy with JamStudio.
- There is a section on the site for educators where you can apply for a grant to get the full version of JamStudio in your classroom.
- A new feature is JamRecorder where you can record live tracks into your JamStudio songs. You can try it for free, or pay $29.95 for the full version.

I would strongly recommend checking this site out and start thinking about how you can implement it into your music curriculum. Not only will your students love making music with it - I am sure that you’ll find it to be quite a bit of fun too!

If you have not yet heard of ARRA and what it means for education - you will soon. ARRA stands for the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act - better known as the Obama Stimulus Package. This package has over $100 billion in funding for a wide variety of projects meant to stimulate the economy. As part of that unprecedented funding, over $50 billion is earmarked to help improve our nations schools through a variety of funding initiatives. The Obama Administration has set up an information website that covers every possible aspect of the funding. As an educator, you need to read up on this subject as much as you can. These funds are being made available to each state department of education, and requests for funding for specific projects will be handled on a first-come first-served basis.

The six funding initiatives that are specifically for educators include:

* State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF) Recovery Act Program
* Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) Recovery Act Funding
* Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCB) Recovery Act Program
* Workforce Investment Act (WIF) Recovery Act Funding
* Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB) Recovery Act Funding
* IDEA Recovery Funds for Services to Children and Youths with Disabilities

Each of these initiatives has specific goals and objectives - many of which are directly related to purchasing and upgrading technology for use with our students. For music educators who have long lamented over not being able to fund music technology labs, audio recording studios, TV and video production studios, as well as assistive technologies for special needs students, this funding just might be the direct route to making your technology implementation dreams a reality.

SoundTree has set up a website to assist educators with understanding the process and requirements for obtaining
funding through the ARRA program. This site contains links to relevant resources and documents that describe how music technology labs fit the ARRA funding goals. This is an incredibly important resource for all educators, and I strongly recommend checking out the site. The bottom line is that there is a tremendous amount of funding available, and if you don’t ask for it, you won’t get it. I am sure that when you return to your school district in the next few weeks (unless you’re already back to school) your district and building-level administrators will be mentioning ARRA. If they don’t - ask them about it. You will need them to be an advocate for your request as they will need to present your request to your state DOE. Contact SoundTree to get a proposal or if you have any questions. Please don’t let this opportunity pass you by. The funding is on a limited time frame. If you don’t start the process by October, it will most likely be too late.

I welcome your questions and comments.

By now you most certainly have heard of students practicing at home using SmartMusic and submitting recordings of themselves to their teachers back at school. It is an amazing product and a wonderful addition to any instrumental music program. But what if you don’t have enough teachers to teach all of your students, or if an advanced student requires some private lessons, but there isn’t a qualified instructor in your neck of the woods. Online lessons have been around for a while, but for a variety of reasons (mostly that the technology hasn’t been fast enough for truly effective interactions) they haven’t quite caught on. Enter viaAcademies.

I met the founder of viaAcademies, Mark Burke, at the NECC Show in Washington DC a few weeks ago and was thoroughly impressed with his vision for online instrumental instruction. His mission statement reads: Advance the availability of Instrumental Music Education through revolutionary delivery methods. Burke thinks that the time is right for connecting students online lives with quality instrumental music instruction, and I think he is on to something.

Here are the requirements for viaAcademies:

Enrollment and Program Requirements

* Step 1: Choose an Instrument: Choose the instrument you want to learn.
* Step 2: Enroll (Enrollment begins in September 2009)
* Step 3: Purchase or Rent an Instrument: Visit the viaAcademies Preferred Instrument Provider, Robert M. Sides Family Music Center. Costs associated with purchasing or renting instruments are in addition to the Enrollment fees. Have your own instrument? Great! A quick visit to your local music store will ensure it is ready to go.
* Step 4: Setup the computer: Make sure your child or student has access to a computer. The computer must have speakers, a microphone and webcam (webcam used for 1:1 lessons with teacher). Broadband connections to the Internet are recommended due to video and audio file exchanges required throughout the courses. viaAcademies recommends a 17 inch monitor to ensure online course materials can be viewed properly. Adobe Flash must be installed in order to view the content and videos. The computer must be located in their practice area. Internet Explorer must be used to access online content.
* Step 5: Setup the Practice Area: The Practice Area should include a chair, a music stand and the computer. Additional information on setting up the Practice Area is included in the course.
* Step 6: Begin!

Students can choose the following instruments to learn: Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, Bells, and Snare Drum. Paired with a quality band program at the public school level, viaAcademies offers a wonderful support system for instrumental music teachers who are looking for quality supplemental instruction for their students at an affordable price. The annual fee includes the following: Course fees include:

* Full course access for 12 months. Includes 6 units, 36 Lessons (1 lesson = 1 week for scheduling) of content, assignments, videos, practice assignments, SmartMusic Assignments and Unit Exams.
* A 1 Year SmartMusic student license
* Twelve 1:1 online lessons with a certified Instrumental Music instructor
* Teacher graded recorded assignments
* Secure access to online grade book and communication tools.

You’ll notice that viaAcademies has integrated the SmartMusic system directly into their instruction model - a great way for teachers to keep track of what their students are doing in their private online lessons. The lesson fees (in my opinion) should be the responsibility of the parents if they would like heir child to take private lessons. When you break down the annual fee ($850) and consider what you get in return, it is easy to rationalize the expense.

If I were still teaching, I would simply add this link to my band website and let kids know about it. viaAcademies isn’t asking you to sell the concept to your students - and I don’t think you should. I do believe that showing it to the parents at back to school night, or to the students during the first few weeks of school would provide them with enough information to make that choice on their own. Enrollment begins this September, and I wish Mark and his staff at viaAcademies the best of luck. It is an ambitious undertaking, but I believe that the product is well thought out and it will catch on with instrumental music programs in the years ahead.

I welcome your questions and comments.

RIP: A Remix Manifesto

If you are looking for a fantastic resource that encapsulates the copyright reform movement position, RIP: A Remix Manifesto is a great place to start. This “open-source” documentary by Brett Gaylor looks at the digital music revolution and its implications for copyright law by tracing the steps that have taken our culture from Napster to Greg Gillis (aka Girl Talk) - “open-source” meaning anyone is able to make their own remixes and mashups the film. Appearances by Lawrence Lessig, Gilberto Gil and Cory Doctorow provide an interesting perspective for how copyright law hinders creativity and is ultimately destroying our culture. Certainly controversial, this documentary tries to present the most compelling argument for why copyright law needs to be reformed so that the remix/mashup culture of the 21st Century can legally create new art while respecting aspects of copyright law. The movie doesn’t advocate the end of copyright law, but rather looks to alternative licensing, such as those offered by the Creative Commons.

In an interesting twist, you can visit the documentary homepage and purchase the movie (in a variety of formats) for whatever price you’d like to pay - in true Radiohead style. I downloaded the movie and paid $5 for - though I could have easily paid nothing. In my opinion this is an interesting idea and I think that other bands/filmmakers/artists will test out the “pay what you want” model. Here is the text from the RIP homepage:

In RiP: A remix manifesto, Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers.

The film’s central protagonist is Girl Talk, a mash-up musician topping the charts with his sample-based songs. But is Girl Talk a paragon of people power or the Pied Piper of piracy? Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil’s Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow are also along for the ride.

A participatory media experiment, from day one, Brett shares his raw footage at opensourcecinema.org, for anyone to remix. This movie-as-mash-up method allows these remixes to become an integral part of the film. With RiP: A remix manifesto, Gaylor and Girl Talk sound an urgent alarm and draw the lines of battle.

Which side of the ideas war are you on?

I recommend checking out the documentary for yourself and seeing where you fall on the copyright vs. copyleft continuum. Not really appropriate for use in the K-12 classroom, the video does provide musicians and educators with a fascinating glimpse into this complex issue, and helps illustrate what the remix/mashup culture is (our students are a part of this culture) and how the law effects it. It will most certainly provide you with quite a few talking points and discussion questions - and best of all - you don’t have to pay for it (though you should).

I welcome your comments and questions.

If you’ve been around the music education/technology blogosphere, you’ve probably heard of Andy Zweibel. Andy is a music education major at the University of Miami and is a member of the ME Blogger campaign started by Joe Pisano of MusTech.net. I first met Andy at FMEA this past January. He came to one of my sessions and was Tweeting throughout. I enjoy checking out Andy’s blog and many of his posts provide incredible insight into the perceptions of music education majors. Andy is a very enthusiastic music technology and future educator, and I know that we will be hearing wonderful things about him in the years ahead.

Recently, Andy started a terrific new website called MusicEdMajor.net. The mission of the site is to provide undergraduate music education majors with a place to gather online to blog about a wide variety of topics - many of which are yet to emerge. The site’s design is very slick, and Andy has created some highly interactive content already. During the MENC Music Education Week he was running a live blog feed throughout. Another testament that the youth know this stuff inside out, while people like us sit back and watch in amazement. I strongly urge you to check out his site, and more importantly, if you teach pre-service music educators recommend that they utilize during the semester to connect with other music education majors around the country. I know that this site will catch on, and I wish Andy the best of luck with it!

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Do you Twitter? I do. I’ve been on Twitter for almost a year now. The number one comment I hear from people who don’t Twitter is: “What are you doing? Who cares????”. For those of you who haven’t yet heard of Twitter it is a free micro-blog site that allows you to update your “followers” with brief, 140-character status updates that you can create from a wide variety of software programs, including things like Twitterific for the iPhone and iPod Touch. You can also follow a wide variety of very interesting people. Some measure their culutural significance by the number of followers they have. People like Stephen Johnson (one of my favorite authors) and Evan Williams (founder of Twitter) have hundreds of thousands of followers, and others have a few hundred. Many companies (such as SoundTree) have created Twitter feeds to stay in touch with their customers. Twitter is playing a very important role in our wired culture, often having important political and social significance (especially when current events are happening in real time). I find so much incredible information about music technology on Twitter. You can check out some of the people that I follow to see where I find my information. Following someone is as simple as clicking on “Follow Me” and you’ll instantly have access to their “feed”. Creating an account takes about 2 minutes. Soon you’ll be using Twitter jargon - re-tweeting, creating hashes, and more. Be careful, you just might get addicted to this incredible site.

What are the educational implications of Twitter? Can you see using it with your students? Do you use it with your students? What if your students were Twittering live during your lectures or classes? What lessons could be learned if your students were required to follow a famous author or musician? What if your students assumed the identity of a famous musician or composer and created a Twitter feed for them? Who do you follow? I’d love to hear the kinds of things you do with your students. I personally believe that Twitter has incredible potential in education. I only wish that I were still teaching middle school - I have so many ideas for how to use it with my former students.

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. And please, take a minute to follow me.

Here is the entire concert performance by the YouTube Symphony Orchestra Concert from last Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at Carnegie Hall. It’s almost like you were there! Enjoy.