Summary
A group of PGCE students from the University of Cumbria explore using simple music technology devices in small group composition and performance for mixed ensembles. Each ensemble used a mix of traditional instruments, classroom percussion and a piece of music technology. This resource explores some of the ideas used in one group’s composition and performance. This is followed by some thoughts and reflections on the place of music technology in classroom music making, and a discussion of some of the advantages and disadvantages.
Thanks to Hugh Smith for filming the video.
Introduction - Music Technology in the New Secondary Curriculum
Using technology to aid processes of musical performance provides the potential to support a range of requirements in the new National Curriculum for Music (Secondary). The first Key Concept statement (Integration of Practice) stresses the importance of participating, collaborating and working with others because music is essentially a social experience:
1b. Participating, collaborating and working with others as musicians, adapting to different musical roles and respecting the values and benefits others bring to musical learning.
Using music technology in live performance provides students with the same ensemble and performing skills as other more traditional approaches might bring.
The Range and Content statements refer explicitly to music technologies:
3f. The use of music technologies to create, manipulate and refine sounds.
The explanatory notes provide some helpful clarification:
Use of music technologies: This includes the use of ICT and music technologies to control and structure sound in performing and composing activities, and in developing pupils’ own ideas within and beyond the classroom.
This statement makes reference to performance activities in a range of contexts including online performance events. Furthermore, students are now encouraged to use music technologies to not only control and structure sound in composing activities, but also in performance.
This idea of technology in performance is also reinforced in the Curriculum Opportunities section of the document where pupils should be offered the opportunity to:
4a. develop individual performance skills, both vocal and instrumental, including the use of music technology.
The Performance 
Performance Intro
The students introduce the main teaching and learning points. They talk about use of primary triads, form and structure, ostinato, call and response.
The glockenspiel player improvises on the triads provided by the accompaniment. The musician using the microphone to capture vocal sounds and also tapping on the side to create a percussion line. The glockenspiel and microphone are fed through a delay unit.
Discuss with your students:
How do you use ICT to support classroom music making?
Are you clear on what musical concepts are being explored in setting up a group composition in this way?
Performance
Tempo is set by tapping on the microphone – the delay setting establishes the pulse.
The rhythm instruments (guitar and bass) pick up this tempo with a simple repetitive chord sequence and ostinato pattern.
Glockenspiel plays a simple phrase using a sequence of long notes, then shorter ones. The delay unit repeats these notes at the given tempo.
The first player then uses the microphone to explore working with processed vocal sounds using high pitches followed by lower notes. By tapping the side of the microphone with his fingers as he sings, he is able to keep both parts going at the same time.
Performance Debrief
The students discuss the group composition process. The guitar and bass players devised a simple accompaniment pattern while the vocalist and glockenspiel player explored ways in which they could process their acoustic sounds using an Alesis midiverb sound processor.
Tapping a mike for percussion part – by emphasising different beats, a subtle rhythmic percussion part emerges.
The discussion highlights the versatility of the human voice – makes this a very cost effective resource and enables an under funded department to be quite creative. The students reflect on some examples of popular contemporary tracks made using a microphone, an effects processor and a multi track recorder where the only sound source is the human voice.
Points for further discussion:
When the two sections were brought together, were the initial ideas just bolted together or was there further development?
How can ICT be uses to encourage exploration of use of voices in a classroom?
The Discussion
Discussion 1
Setup time required for using ICT in the classroom.
Is setting up (and putting away) a sound processor with a microphone taking too much time out of a lesson?
Discuss the classroom management issues. Would you attempt to have the whole class engaging with ICT in this way at the same time? Or is this more appropriate for small group work?
Discussion 2
A student poses the question: If we use technology to make our lessons more engaging, how are our pupils likely to respond when we follow this with lessons which do not make use of technology?
Discussion 3
Does using music technology perhaps help overcome some barriers to instrumental performance for some children? It is suggested that use of technology might be useful in composing for film. Why might this be the case? Do you agree?
Discussion 4
Does teaching the pupils how to use the equipment take up too much time in a lesson? How do you cope with pupils using different equipment at the same time?
Discussion 5
Can use this approach to music making without notation and related notions of music theory – which can be a perceived barrier for some pupils.
“Working directly with sounds is not scary, it is fun” But is it music?
Challenges for ITE
Do ITE departments have the equipment and expertise to prepare their students for working with technology in the classroom?
What about the costs associated with the use of ICT in live performance? Is it affordable?
Are these technologies easy to use?
What about reliability?
What about repertoire?
Links:
How To Teach ... Using Technology to Aid Processes of Musical Performance www.name2.org.uk/...perf_with_tech.pdf
Electrifying Music www.musicalfutures.org.uk/rdProjects_inner_ict.html
New Secondary Curriculum: www.newsecondarycurriculum.org
Comments
Music ICT - Using in performance
This article raises some interesting points. I belive it's possible to intergrate music technology into the day to day music lessons by making simple use of it in every class. Pupils come to school with a great aptitude for technology, not only do they engage with it because it is fun but more importantly they arrive to school with a technical vocabulary and language which makes using technology very natural.
I see one of the biggest issues for greater inclusion of technology in music as being the technical support. To have a fully running resource requires specialist knowledge and constant maintenance. Most school network administrators simply do not have the experience and time to provide this.
Constant maintenance?
I agree with everything Ben says in his first paragraph - but I'm not sure about the specialist knowledge/constant maintenance argument.
as Viv Stanshall reminds us in "My Pink Half of the Drainpipe" when he recalls .....In September 1937 I bought my wife an electric iron for 8/6d and it has never needed repair ....well I feel the same about the Alesis Midiverb. A doddle to use and virtually unbreakable.
That's the great thing about a lot of the very basic music tech hardware. Much of it was designed in an era when if Townshend wasn't stamping on it then Jimi would be setting fire to it..... performance artists, or just making sure it was suitable for classroom use?