Sebastian Wyatt
A Teacher in Training
Starting music at the age of six, I have developed a love and passion for music and aim to expand my knowledge by participating in the community. I study Classical Guitar at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and aim to become a Music teacher both at schools and privately. In this blog I will be reflecting
Week One
The first lesson of Technology in Music Ed for 2021 begun with our group doing 'mindfulness meditation'. I am familiar with meditating, however not as much when relating to study and efficiency, however I feel I can easily transfer my experiences. We also covered some sound engineering on a program called SoundTrap, which I will discuss a little bit further on. After our first tutorial, I have been thinking about the uses of audio production and sound engineering in the classroom - being able to have material that can start as something the students are familiar with and having the possibility to do almost any thing they can think of to that music will be a very liberating and practical tool.
Sound Engineering
The sound engineering section of today’s class was something that I was not entirely expecting but very much welcomed. Recently I have been very interesting in getting into this area of music after watching my friend pursue the same interest with a lot of fun. I wasn't entirely sure how to begin with audio production: there were almost too many different DAW's (Digital Audio Workstation), however the program we used, SoundTrap, I thought was a very good intro for a beginner. There wasn't anything to download, you could start creating almost right away and it was so simple to use. After talking to my friend endlessly about different types of compressors, delays and recording techniques, it was really enjoyable to finally get into it myself.
Video Review
This video gave me a really good insight on how to get started and what I will need in terms of equipment, online resources. He outlines the various pros and cons of all the different DAW's and the lite versions they offer, what physical equipment you might need such as a MIDI Keyboard, high-quality headphones, the various leads and chords. The tips he gives on beginning your own pieces were also helpful, like where to get a huge range of loops from and the basics of applying effects to your layers.
My First SoundTrap
This is the first piece of audio engineering I've done on anything other than Garage Band or Sibelius (although I'm not quite sure if that falls under this category). It's a very simple short piece with 5 layers, 4 of which are premade loops, but you have to start somewhere. I tried making some cool synth or guitar melodies, however my piano skills didn't translate hugely well to the keyboard piano on my laptop. I had more fun messing around with the various effects, making different layers pan between the left and right, changing their attack, release, velocity, adding compressors and equalizers, adjusting the sound to exactly how I wanted it, which is something that I haven't had the ability to do before to such a high degree. The next step for me is to start listening to a whole lot of new music and draw some inspiration from wherever I can find it.
Week 2
This week was largely about getting our hands on some actual recording equipment and experimenting with their specialties and capabilities. I am really enjoying the practical element of this class, and not just recording things with microphones, but also learning about how to use this equipment when you're either out in the field or in a studio. As someone who has performed in Rock bands, Jazz bands and orchestras in a number of venues, it was very interesting to see the other side of the whole process: Recording it with high quality despite whatever other factors there might be from wind to inexperienced musicians to faulty gear.
My First SoundTrap
This second SoundTrap piece is the result of myself and two of my peers working together to try figure out how to best work the microphones we were given. We got to try out two different kinds of microphones, one was a dynamic mic, which was much more useful for general use, such as a solo singer in a band or recording someone speaking or playing an instrument. The other mic we used was called a condenser microphone, the one we specifically used was called a snowball condenser mic. This was much better at picking up background noise and sound coming from all around the speaker, whereas the dynamic mic was much more directional.
My First SoundTrap
Here you can see how we add effects to the various layers in our piece. In SoundCloud, they have a number of preset effects that are very simple to use and automatically do a lot of the more technical things, leaving you with, in some cases, a single knob to turn up and down. We added a few different effects, including a delay, equalizer and a compressor. These essentially allow you to fine-tune the sound to exactly what you want, and it's a lot of fun turning one sound into something entirely new and different and fits well into whatever you are writing.
Week 3
This week we undertook the challenge of trying to record ourselves in a time limit. The first problem we encountered was trying to find talent to record, and eventually we got a singer on keys, a drummer, and myself on guitar. At the start of the class we split into groups where we were assigned various roles in the recording process: audio, visual, director etc. I was in the audio group, and we were tasked with organising the mics up properly for the best recording possible.
We used a number of different techniques, using an XY mic setup as well as a handheld mic. There were also two high quality cameras filming the music and some people recording on their phones for B-roll footage, which I learnt is footage that is cut too to change it up a little bit.
The piece we chose to play was 'Rich Girl' by Hall and Oats. The song was pretty simply, especially for guitar, only having a couple of tricky chord changes. At first it was just the singer and I, however he started playing piano as well and the drummer joined in, which really assisted in keeping together. Although being a little stressful trying to get the piece together for cameras and lights and everything, it was still a lot of fun and really interesting to get a hands on with the equipment
Week Four
Music Programs
Today we explored a number of different music notation softwares including Sibelius, Musescore, Flat.io, as well as a site where teachers can find sheet music for free called NoteFlight. These tools are extremely helpful when teaching high school especially, when the students are really startin to become more creative, and trying to find ways in which they can express this easily is important. We used each of these music notation softwares and outlined the advantages and disadvantages of the softwares.
Musescore
Musescore is a pretty user-friendly program, kind of a halfway point for me between a program like Flat.io and Sibelius. It's pretty easy to navigate, however it can be a little bit slower to get your ideas down onto the paper than other programs. Overall, I don't think it is as proffesional as Sibelius, however it still gets the job done well.
Sibelius
Sibelius is definitely the most professional of these three programs, probably why it is the most expensive as well. However, after familiarising yourself with where everything is, it is easy to get ideas down and to edit them, add or take away parts, change time signatures and get help with trying to do anything really. It has a wide range of instruments and techniques for you to utilise. The layout is pretty easy to understand, and I am always discovering new shortcuts and tricks with this program
Flat.io
Flat.io is defeinetely the one out of these three programs that would be best suited for school use. Not only is the program free to use and online, so there is no downloading, it is also possible to collaborate on projects with other students, allowing for group assignemnts. Furthemore, it is also easy for teachers to set assignemnts and to monitor their students progress. It is not as quick to note ideas down as Sibelius, however the layout is very easy to understand, which is more important when working with students who may not have as much experienece with these programs
Copyright Issues
This is an issue which I didn't fully appreciate before this class today. As a teacher in a classroom, there is so little that you can legally play without paying fortunes for copyright privileges, often when music budgets are already slim. It is illegal for us to alter any music in the classroom, even writing our own arrangements can be risky. NoteFlight is an online resource where people can upload their own copyright free arrangements of pieces so that teachers all over Australia can utilise a much much wider variety of music in their classrooms.
Education Use
The possibilities that these programs bring to a classroom is one of the most important advances in music education. It allows students to use real-world programs to experiment with and push their creativity. Teachers can monitor work more efficiently, goals are easier to set and it opens new avenues in terms of assessments as well. The main issue with these more well-known programs such as Sibelius and Ableton etc. is the cost of the licenses, especially when buying for whole year groups. Luckily there is an easy fix; there are number of cheap and even free alternatives such as Flat.io and Musescore, many of which are actually easier to use for a more inexperienced class, as Sibelius and Ableton and programs like these are very overwhelming to an untrained student.
Week 5
Editing Process
This week we focused on editing the song we recorded two weeks ago. Now that we had reviewed the recordings of both the cameras and the audio we noticed some problems. We had not stated which take was which at the start of the recording. It wasn't too big of a deal however, as we just listened to each of the recordings carefully to determine which was which.
The next step in the editing process was for us to sync the videos. We had a number of different cameras microphones set up, so making sure that they were all in time was important. Some of the takes especially shot on the iPhones were not really usuable because of shaking or other disturbances, but we still managed to stitch together some different angles to make the video a bit more interesting.
Week 6
Guest Speakers: Rowena and Renee
Subtitle
Guest Speaker Renee Noble came in to talk to us today about the use of micro-bits in music education. A Micro-bit is a small microchip with LED's and speakers used to carry out really simple games and mechanics designed to enhance the learning process in situations where more high-end gear isn't available. We used an online website to program the microbits, with the controller being programmed first on the left side and the receiver on the right. I had a bit of trouble with this; I have never really been of the mindset to do these kinds of things, however it was still fun giving it a go and seeing what turned out.
Image Subtitle
The device on the left is called a Kookaberry and was developed by the AusSTEM foundation (here is their website https://auststem.com.au/). It has a few advantages over the microbit, including some physcial buttons that allow the user to control things like volume. Furthermore, I found the website to actually program it a little bit easier to use, as everything was clearly labelled and a bit more self-explanatory. A picture is included below.
Our Composition!
Finally Something to Start With
For a little while now my band has been wanting to compose our own song and do less covers. However, we've always run into the problem of coming up with lyrics. Last week our drummer, Harry, sent us a verse and chorus he had written the night before which we really liked. A few days later we got together and came up with a simple riff in drop D and a typical grunge/metal drum beat. This also seemed like a possibly good idea for the end of semester assessment, in which we have to undertake something 'new'. I thought the whole process of us coming up with a piece and recording it all in our guitarist's garage would be a pretty new experience, and be really interesting to reflect on in an academic setting.
I had a look at the other Seb's blog this week to see how he was going with everything and to get a feel of how a different blog website looked, and I saw his post about 'Starting as Aurorum'. Noticing the sick name, I read what he had to say and was interested he was starting with Ableton, just like I was. He discussed how he felt identity-less and was finally finding something he could sink his teeth into and get passionate about in Ableton. It sounded like had found something that he was going to enjoy for a while, and this encouraged me to get stuck into Ableton, which I let him know about in the comments.
Week 7
Unfortunately I couldn't attend the class this week because I was sick, however it was still interesting to look on to everyone else. We covered some various synths and their components, the battery, oscillator and the speaker.
A few days after this zoom lesson, we had another band practice. I sat with the guitarist Joey at his desk, which was decked out with speakers, synths, preamps and leads and chords covering most of the desk. I asked him what he used his synth for and told him I had a lesson about it the other day. He explained that he used to it to alter the pitches and rhythms of tunes he recorded off vinyls. He showed me how to do it in Ableton, which was really interesting and something I definitely want to try out.
We finished off the lyrics for the band composition:
Black plains starin back at me
Amber drops in pools of white
Shadows on Cursed art
Questioned hypocrisy
Are we really so different
Creator not owner
When the eye passes over
Take a second to breathe
And when you are doubted
Take this time to look within
I think it's gonna rain
Some will die and some will rise
Admiration and disgust
Am I not allowed to ask?
And I'm standin on the edge
Waiting for your hand
When the eye passes over
Take a second to breathe
And when you are doubted
Take this time to look within
I am really liking how the tune fits with the guitar parts so far; the descent into the chorus is sounding pretty cool. We still need to figure out a good intro and finishing chord etc. but the lyrics are mostly done, after some tweaking with the syllables and whatnot. Every now and then I wish we had a bassist so I could focus on guitar, as that is my main instrument. We all miss our first bassist, Finn, who was our Cliff Burton, except that he just moved to Armidale. In any case, we are all really happy with the direction the song is going in.
Week 8
This week we focused on mixing two different tracks, which is perfect timing in conjunction with my own piece, as we have recorded the first take of the drums and guitars of the song, which we have called 'Black Plains'. Unfortunately I am still sick this week and had to attend on Zoom :( and what a lecture to miss out on! However, I was able to do a similar thing to class, just on my own composition. I downloaded the free trial of Ableton Live and imported the tracks of the various drum recordings and the guitar recordings and got to work
So on the left is what I focused on today, which was the drums. The drums is one of the more difficult things to mix in the recording process due to the multiple tracks, one for each drum and cymbal. At least, that is what is supposed to be done. However, due to our budget, we have to have an 'overhead' mic which picks a couple of the drums. The process of mixing these involves adjusting each of their volumes so that none drown another out. It is also important to watch out for large jumps in Hz, which compressors are very useful for, as they put a cap on volume that diminishes an input above a certain level or vice verca. Another interesting effect I tried around with was reverb, which made the drums sound much fuller and added a deeper sound to them.
Some Cool Mashups
Personally, I am not really into the whole EDM music scene, however there are some remixes and mashups that I enjoy. This one of Rick Astley and Avicii, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT3mCybbhf0&ab_channel=NilsOfficial. Two great songs, and I really like how the composer uses tempo to link the two tracks. It's interesting how the guitar is made to fit well with Astley's voice, as well as how various parts of either song are introduced creatively. Another mashup i like is done by a peer of mine, Katie Bombardieri, who mashed up Lizzo and Ariana Grande, two artists that I'm very unfamiliar with. The melodies of the two different songs intertwine really nicely. You can have a listen for yourself here!: https://kbombardieri-education.tumblr.com/
Week 9
We had an elevator pitch meeting today! Very exciting stuff. Essentially, you're in an elevator with the CEO of Apple and you have to pitch your idea to them in order for them to invest, however, you only have the length of an elevator ride to do so. It was a little pressure at first; it didn't seem like a lot of time. However by the time it got to me I had heard some really awesome ideas. Two really cool ones I heard were Angelina Nguyen's poem and Liam O'Brien's new approach to drum teaching. Angelina's poem was extremely powerful, depicting her overcoming her own issues with expectations placed on her and her own perception of herself. You can read more about it here:
https://angu0507.wixsite.com/missnguyensblog/post/week-9-elevator-ed-to-new-heights.
Liam aims to add a new approach to teaching drums through an app on an ipad, which will teach students about the various roles of the different drums on a drumkit, as well as how they fit in with one another. You can read more about it here: https://liamobrienmusiced.wordpress.com/
It was interesting discussing my idea as well. I would've thought that there would be other people composing their own pieces as well, however I was the only one. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone's ideas in the final presentation at the end of semester.
Week 10
It was special project week this week, which pretty much meant that I focused on my current assignments and assessments. And worked on our Band piece, of course.
This week we really focused on finishing the song and locking it in so we could start recording, as well as fine tuning any little bits and pieces we were unsure of.
Our drummer was running a little late, so Joey, the guitarist, and I sat down at his recording desk and played around with some of the guitar parts. We ended up recording some of the guitar again, but with some new riffs that had a similar feel. We did this a few different times until we had 4 guitar parts that were playing different things. We turned down the volume a fair bit and made the sound quite washy by turning the attack down severely, we added a slow crescendo and we had an intro we were pretty happy with. The effect was a slow buildup all around of an almost indistinguishable sound, broken by a single cymbal hit followed by the main riff, nice and heavy.
We also revised the drums in the solo part. First of all we bumped up the tempo 20bpm, and then made the drum beat more interesting to add complexity under Joey's solo. Sometimes the guitar solo was perfect, but we weren't recording, and sometimes it felt like it was dragging on, and we still haven't felt like we've recorded our best take we can, but we will keep working on it.
Week 11
We discussed this week the pros and cons of the roles of devices in education, specifically the BYOD system (Bring your own device). The table below goes over some of the concepts that schools think about when approaching this concept
Educational Programs
There are so many options when it comes to various software and browser applications that students can use to enhance their learning, with varying degrees of control, difficulty and price. All of these factors play into how each program works in a school environment: A school with a small music program may be able to afford a more expensive program such as Ableton, however they may be focused on Classical music and therefore a manuscript program such as Sibelius would suit better. However there are many schools that have a more limited budget, and there are numerous free to use online softwares such as Soundtrap and Bandlab.
Personally, Soundtrap is the program for me when it comes to cheaper programs that can be used on a wide variety of devices as it is a online program. I found that it very simple to use as well as to understand the different functions of all the effects. Importing and exporting media isn't overly difficult and it is easy to stay on task. Bandlab, on the other hand, provides a more in depth type of DAW, however it was less intuitive, and also had a social aspect where student's could work on the same project at once. While this may sound good in theory, I believe that it would be a hindrance and a distraction to their learning.
Mobile Devices in Teaching and Learning
This first video interviews a number of educatino specialists in 2005 and discusses with them the benefits of mobile devices in a learning environment. They talk about how learning can become a 24/7 thing through their devices, and that learning can become more and more collaborative and efficient. However they also raise the point, which is interesting to look at 16 years later, of how the teachers need to be fully prepared by the educatino system as a whole with this huge shift in how they teach, and without that, a change is not likely to happen everywhere
Ted Talk
A teacher at a school in Puerto Rico outlines some really fundamental points about the pros and cons of technology in education. Different to the first video, he is aware that technology makes it easier to cheat and get distracted, however also enhances learning in a way that a school never could. The most interesting point he raised was that all of the students in school now were born after 2000, which makes them fall into the 'Digital Natives' generation. Our generation has never experienced a world without technology, and to try educate this generation without it would be counterproductive, as the world is only getting more technological
Week 12
This week we discussed the pros and cons of technology in our own education. Despite the numerous benefits it presents to our learning, there are many disadvantages as well. Studies show that technology can be addictive, which is detrimental for student's studies and general well-being. What we hear online and our perception of the world around us are very tightly linked, and it is easy for a young impressionable person to be exposed to unpleasant topics and situations online.
Another more practical issue is the art of handwriting. Students are still expected to handwrite most formal exams, most importantly their HSC. With laptops becoming more and more prevalant, handwriting skills are decreasing which is putting an additional burden on students during the exam. As teachers we need to be mindful of not just how we set up students with the content, but also the physical skills to sit in an exam room and write.
Project Update
Recordings Done!
This week was very exciting with the band as we finished recording all of our parts. This week we just had to touch up the final chorus and outro for the guitars as they were sounding a little muddy towards the end and overly distorted, and also record my vocals. Re-recording the guitars wasn't difficult, however the vocals took a couple of days to get to the point that we wanted them. It was fun setting up the soundproofing for our 'mic booth' which consisted of two mattresses leaned against the wall with the mic stand and I huddled underneath.
I had some trouble getting enough power in my voice. Joey, who was on the computer hitting record and checking the levels, was really helpful in putting some ideas in my head that helped. He said to picture yourself on stage and try to make the person in the back of the room hear you. Simply imagining myself on stage gave me a boost of confidence and made my voice sound louder and clearer.
We also tried to do something similar to the guitar intro at the beginning, where we recorded a bunch of different riffs and toned them down, playing them at the same time to get the indistinguishable sound we have at the intro. Our main inspiration for this was 'Whole Lotta Love' by Led Zeppelin, and how Robert Plant's Vocals spin around you in a really disorientating way. However, we thought it was a bit beyond our abilities and not really in the theme of the rest of the song, but it was fun mucking around with the effects on the vocals and seeing what we could come up with. We are ready to mix everything now which is going to be a cool challenge as well.
Week 13
The final week of Semester! this week we mainly focused on our own assessments for the coming presentation in a couple of weeks. But first Brad talked to us about how we've overcome a lot of challanged and we should be proud of where we are right now. I'm not going to lie, but it really hit home today. I've been feeling stressed out with uni exams and simply overwhelmed with the amount of work I need to do and trying to balance my social life and spending time with my family and work; It's all very challenging. But Brad's talk to us today just brought me back and reminded me to enjoy what I'm doing. I'm doing a Bachelor of Music Education at the Conservatorium. I've always wanted to do this, and even when I feel like it's a bit much, I have to remember that I'm doing this for my future, and that it is something that I love. I also had a chance to look at Angelina Nguyen's blog and her post about her poem, which I've been looking forward to hear. I also saw that she is doing a soundscape with it, which I'm interested in seeing, and left her a comment with my thoughts on her blog.
I focused today on writing the reflection of the Composition, recording and mixing process and doing some editing of the tracks as well. In my reflection I want to highlight some of the obstacles we encountered recording in a home-environment, and how we circumnavigated these issues to come up with the best recording that we could. These included some simple things like sound proofing and having the right equipment, but it is important stuff that is easy to overlook when it is your first time, as we experienced. In hindsight, I wish I had taken some more pictures of our setup and us during the process, however I think I was just enjoying it a little bit too much.
Joey and I finished the recording this week as well, and I've got to say I really really like how it's turned out. The intro gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it, and I immediately started rocking my head back and forth when the guitar riff came in. Although I'm always self-conscious about my vocals, especially when they are recorded, I am happy with how they came through and how projected it sounds. The mix of all the instruments sounds really decent to me, I'm glad we spent as much time as we did fine tuning it.
And you can find below the recording of Æeon's first ever composition, Black Plains, and the reflection:
The Song:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JEYhkgOKzEL6qzOq2VnA5269_xD5plx8/view?usp=sharing
The Reflection:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pi9C0l9Vu8YidvnOjD--gEP0hggfh8hG/view?usp=sharing
Reflection
Technology in Music Education has been an awesome course that has exposed me to so many new things that I thought a Uni class could. It kick-started my band composing, which I've wanted to happen for ages, it's opened the door for DAW's and understanding a multitude of different technological applications for music in education. It's also given me so many new ideas for things I can incorporate when I become a teacher, and even in my own private tuition currently. The class has always been a safe and enjoyable place to be in that I look forward to each week.