Music Teacher As Music Producer : How to Turn Your Classroom Into a Center for Musical Creativities

Never has there been such an exciting time to be a music teacher. Band, choir, and orchestra are ubiquitous in schools and have come to be known as the primary mode that students experience music at the secondary level. Similarly, elementary school classrooms feature approaches by Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze, and Music Learning Theory, among a host of others. But, what is next? In this enlightening guide, author Clint A. Randles provides music educators with the practical tools to turn their classrooms into student production studios. Addressing everything from a new conceptualization of the physical classroom space to the cables and other audio equipment no music educator should be without, Randles puts creativity, technology, recording arts, songwriting, music production, and live performance at the center of music classrooms. Cover Music Teacher as Music Producer Copyright Dedication Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments Prologue 1. Introduction: A Different Kind of Music Classroom, a Different Kind of Teacher “Others Like Me” Buried Musicianship Wonder Woman Now Is the Best Time to Innovate in the Music Curriculum It’s All About Creativity, Or It Should Be Anyway Troubleshooting The Start of My Hero’s Journey License to be Different Modern Band: A Place to Put All of Our Ideas into Practice Putting Play and Improvisation at the Center of the Center Improvisation Occurs in Particular Moments Playful Conceptions of Music Help Teacher-​Producers: Learning from George Martin and the Beatles The Process Part of Creativity Rules All Freewheeling Making Good in Performance Small Groups Open Instrumentation Project-​Based Learning Learner-​Centered Pedagogy Popular Music or Not Inspiring Your Students Pose Questions that Stretch Hero’s Journey Analogy You Are Their Wise Old Mentor Practicing Your Craft Your Musicianship Matters Starting Your Journey Part I: Organizing Your Space Part II: Living with Live Performance Part III: Making Tracks and Albums Resources Worth Exploring 2. The Room(s): Where the Magic Happens Wired to Create Embodied Sound: Feeling the Groove Logging in to Class Getting Organized Room Configuration Instrument Storage Playing in Headphones Playing Out Loud Developing Storage Systems Labeling Snakes Storage Bins Microphone Cases Racks Storage Hooks Thoughts Some Considerations Lighting Warmth and Comfort Clutter Will Happen, It’s Okay Students Need to Be Social Fill Your Space with Inspiration Incorporate a Place to Clear Your Mind Create a Place for Quiet Create a Space for Writing Showcase Your Best Student Work Utilize the Hallway Further Considerations Resources Worth Exploring 3. How Technology Can Help You A Quest for All Things Digital New to Technology, but Learning A Digitally Facilitated World Teacher Station Selecting Mixers How Does a Mixer Work? Headphone Hub Cables: Connecting Everything Audio Cables Power Cables Rack-​Mounted Stations You Can Input Any Instrument/​Voice into the Mixer/​Headphone Hub Environment Microphones Pickups Computer for Recording Sound Amplification Improvisation: Audio Effects and the Pursuit of Tone Gain Stages: Overdrive, Distortion, and Fuzz Compression Modulation Delay Reverb Looper Pedals Play Is Important Anything Can Be an Instrument Use Classroom Exercises to Introduce Technology Concluding Thoughts Resources Worth Exploring 4. Instruments and Effects: Tools for Creative Expression Pawn Shop Junkie Roland TR-​808 Anything You Can Think Of Lay of the Land Electric Guitar Pickups Electric Guitar Varieties Amps Acoustic Guitar Pickups Controls Guitar Varieties Amps Electric Bass Pickups, Tone, and Volume Effects for Bass Keyboard Synthesizers MIDI Controllers Drum Set Electronic Drum Sets Acoustic Drum Sets Tablets Apps GarageBand ThumbJam You Can Make Your Own Instruments Tools Cajon Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar Thoughts on Making Instruments Resources Worth Exploring 5. Setting the Stage for Success: Literally and Figuratively Austin City Limits—​Lobby Third Man Records Cass Corridor 1,000 Followers, 10,000 Likes Qualities of a Teacher Who Thrives Producing Live Student Audio Practicing Music Lover Curiosity and a Positive Outlook Hard-​working Lifelong Learner Working on Emptying Ego Has Good People Skills Excellent Technical Abilities Roles of the Teacher in This Environment Stage Manager Sound Operator Electrician Light Board Operator Wardrobe Manager Business Manager Album Sales Public Relations Caterer Driver Janitor Basic Acoustic Considerations Size of the Room Shape of the Room Furniture in the Room Outside or Inside Evaluating What You Hear Leading Up to the Performance Make a List and Take More Gear Than You Will Need Power Distribution Understanding Your Mixer Lighting Concerns Separate Power for Lighting Resources Worth Exploring 6. Gear Considerations and Acoustics Tech-​Inclined Consummate Professional Reluctant but Not Disinterested Gear Head Shifting the Gear Knowledge Seesaw Roles of the Trade for Live Performance Stage Manager Sound Operator Electrician Light Board Operator Wardrobe Manager Business Manager Album Sales Public Relations Driver Live Audio Gear PA Systems PA Speakers Microphones Stage Gear Lighting Other Gear Basics of Acoustics Potential Acoustic Gain (PAG) Checking and Setting Sound Levels Impulse Responses and Reverberation Time Resonance and Room Modes The Precedence Effect Effects of Temperature Modifying and Adapting to the Acoustical Space Resources Worth Exploring 7. Diversifying Performance BBQ Fest Jam in the Lone Star Capital Arts, Beats, and Eats in Detroit Cyber-​Festival of Music for Change The Times They Are A-​Changin’ The Good-​Enough Performance The Performance Was Offered as a Gift The People Involved Had Fun Many People Were Included in the Process Some of the People Experienced Peak Performance (Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow) The Performance Was Unique and Compelling The Performance Will Likely Lead to More Music Making The Performance Brought People Together No One Was Harmed Possibility Thinking and Doing Unlocking Our Thinking Fluency Flexibility Originality Elaboration Igniting Your Creative Culture Acknowledge the Universality of Creativity Think Oppositely Impose Limits Take a Break . . . Get Some Exercise! Listen to Genres of Music You Usually Wouldn’t Immerse Yourself in Other Art and New Experiences Learn from Others Change Medium Set Up a Creative Routine Experiment! Sustaining Your Creative Culture Teaching Practices Organizational Motivation Resources Resources Worth Exploring 8. Classroom as Recording Studio Westlake Records New Territory Online Creative Space “I am a sound freak. I could play around with sound forever.” Idea-​Developing Creative Wizard/​Genius Jumping Off Points Be Open to However Students Respond Brainstorming with Your Students Theopneustos Resident Expert Arranger Orchestration Technology Writing for the Musicians You Have Who Can You Get Involved? Practicing Studio Audio Engineer Listen to All Kinds of Music Know Your Effects Know Which Instruments Will Give You What Sounds Just Keep Learning Experienced Reader and Writer of Notation Standard Western Classical Tablature Lead Sheets Other Musical Shorthands Dabbler in the World of Lyric Writing Covering Songs Mapping Existing Songs Using Conventional Song Maps Improvisational Musician Practice with a Looper Playing with the Melody Playing with the Rhythm Timbral Improvisation Seek Out Opportunities to Jam Expert Conflict Manager Inspiration Leads to Effort Leads to Excellence Resources Worth Exploring 9. Making Technology Work for You Sonic Lenses For Recording Almost Anything A Constant Filter The Adventure of Recording Microphones Basics Ribbon Microphones Diaphragm Microphones Piezoelectric Microphones/​Pickups USB Microphones Frequency Response Diaphragm Size Polar Pattern Transient Response Sensitivity to Sound Pressure Design Qualities Multiple Microphones Microphone Technique Mic’ing Voice Mic’ing Piano Mic’ing Acoustic Guitar Mic’ing Electric Guitar Mic’ing Winds Mic’ing Strings Mic’ing Percussion Mic’ing Drums Input Devices Software Linear Non-​Linear Studio Effects EQ (Equalization) Compression Limiter Software Follows Hardware Resources Worth Exploring 10. A Whole New World of Musical Products Experienced Studio Musician Getting On Board A Virtual Songcatcher A Brief History of Recording Arts Edison Phonograph (1877) The Wax Cylinder Gramophone Records The Birth of an Industry Electrical Recording Tape-​Recording Technology Music Producer Role Exemplified Lessons for Producing Your Students Sawyer’s Eight Stages of the Creative Process The Rules Plan the Chaos Follow Your Bliss Break the Ice Diversity Reward the Group, Not the Individual Groups Are Not the Ultimate End Goal, Though On Brainstorming Feed Your Students’ Imaginations When You Can What MTMP Means Resources Worth Exploring 11. The End Is the Beginning A Trailblazer for a New Generation An Unlikely But Effective Change Agent A Pandemic-​Proof Music Teacher Innovation in the Music Classroom Creativity as the Core Troubleshooting Start Your Hero’s Journey License to Be Different Modern Band Play and Improvisation New Instruments, New Sounds Looking Back to Look Forward Their Future, Our Future, Is Worth the Effort How Will We Know that Our Work Is Succeeding? What Do We Do When Things Are Not Looking So Good? Diversity Is Our Mantra Resources Worth Exploring References Index "Now is the most exciting time in the history of music to be a music teacher. Band, choir, and orchestra are ubiquitous. Music education has much to be thankful for. However, we should not be comfortable with the successes of our past, we must look ahead to what is just over the hill on our collective horizon. The rise of digital audio work environments and the proliferation of computer-based composition tools has made it relatively easy to record, mix, and master professional quality music on very small and portable devices. What used to be relegated only to music professionals can now be mastered by all musicians and teachers of music. That opens the door to possibilities that have not yet been given full consideration by our profession. Over half of what music teachers should be doing from now on is helping students make their own music like art teachers help students paint their own paintings and sketch their own drawings. Music education could look and feel quite a lot more like art class than it ever has in the past. We could make the creation of new musical products the focal point of our efforts in school music-classrooms centered on musical creativities"-- Provided by publisher