Music

4th January 2002, 12:00am

Share

Music

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/music-53
“The tools are here for really creative teachers to support students across all key stages in exciting and innovative ways,” says Mick Thomas, music adviser to Becta. And, from complex sequencing and scorewriting packages to programs that encourage basic musical skills, there’s certainly a wide selection of resources, many of which will be on display at this year’s BETT.

Sibelius users will welcome the release of version 2. With a host of new features including improved playback quality, revamped interface and an “artificial intelligence agent” that aids arranging and orchestration, this upgrade is sure to be popular. Teaching Tools, also from Sibelius, is a comprehensive range of musical exercises that can be used with the main program. There are worksheets on rhythm, notation and composition as well as advice on turning a MIDI file into a score and putting music on to the Internet. Teachers looking for a cheaper scorewriter might consider PrintMusic! from Coda. Hooked up with Cubasis VST it gives you a perfectly adequate sequencing and score-writing package for pound;100.

Mick Thomas has been particularly impressed with Cubasis VST. With 74 audio and 64 MIDItracks and tools such as percussion notation and instrument transposition it has many of the features of Cubase - so popular in schools and colleges - but at price that makes it affordable to home users.

There’s an even cheaper alternative. Duncan Mackrill, curriculum tutor for PGCE secondary music at Sussex University and a music consultant for Counterpoint-MTC in Worthing, Sussex, suggests eJay Studio. With Steinberg’s proprietary sequencing engine on board it’s essentially a rebadged Cubase allowing “students who use Cubase at school to have compatible software at home for a fraction of the cost”. Similar savings, he points out, can be made with Magix Music Studio which is built on Emagic’s Micrologic AV engine.

“Street” software by eJay, Magix and FruityLoops is increasingly popular on music and music technology courses. Phil Heeley, head of Rock, Pop and Music Technology for Somerset LEA, believes that “drag and drop” programs such as Magix and eJay have a wide curricular resonance. “Magix Music Maker allows the juxtaposition of the still and moving image with music, sound and text that makes it ideal for project work, presentations and exam coursework. This style of software is a serious contender in the creative process and in making music.”

Most of the music curriculum, he maintains, can benefit from the application of music technology citing as one example SwarShala, a software package that allows users to create the particular styles of Indian music using rhythmic and melodic patterns with sound samples of traditional instruments such as the sarod and tabla.

Generally, Duncan Mackrill believes, the primary sector is less well served. There are, however, some interesting developments. Debuting at BETT this year is Muzantiks, an online interactive music tool for younger users. The prototype, funded by the National Endowment for Science and the Arts is the result of a collaboration between Sinfonia 21, a leading UK chamber orchestra and Forma Communications, education and music Web technology designers.

At the centre of the program is the “rhythm kitchen” where children can assemble sounds and rhythm tracks to be used in an online virtual performance.

Primary music software is largely focused on themed activities that establish rudimentary theory and practice. Music Box 2, from Topologika - not exhibiting at BETT - is the updated version of software that won BETT’s Gold Award for Primary Education in 1995. Music Box introduces children to concepts such as chords, pitch and pulse in a fun environment. It’s well designed educational software and the bonus is a good selection of activity sheets with chord sequences and accompaniment.

Alternatives worth examining are the very popular Compose World Junior (number 10 with a bullet in education supplier REM’s top ten software titles) and Compose World, both from ESP.

These programs use pictures and words to represent musical phrases that include melodic and harmonic strands. Compose World is the more sophisticated product and is suggested for students up to the age of 14. Additional effects include stereo, phrase inversion and transposition.

Visitors to BETT will be able to check out two titles from Granada Learning. First Class Music supports the curriculum at key stage 2 with more than 100 musical activities and a huge selection of images, video clips and musical excerpts. Musical Leaps and Bounds is structured around six activities that explore dynamics, pitch, texture and timbre in a manner that develops “creativity, communication and an appreciation of different musical sounds”.

And finally, Tag Learning will be hoping that Intel’s Sound Morpher can repeat the success of its JamCam digital camera at last year’s BETT. Similarly robust and inexpensive, the Sound Morpher is a digital recording device that captures up to four minutes of sound. This can be downloaded into a computer, manipulated or “morphed” with the editing software provided, and then incorporated into a multimedia presentation or attached to a Web page.

Hugh John is a freelance writer

Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Keep reading for just £1 per month

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get:

  • Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
  • Exclusive subscriber-only stories
  • Award-winning email newsletters
Recent
Most read
Most shared