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- Volume 13, Issue 1, 2020
Journal of Music, Technology & Education - Volume 13, Issue 1, 2020
Volume 13, Issue 1, 2020
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Sketching music: Exploring melodic similarity and contrast using a digital tabletop
Authors: Andrea Franceschini, Robin Laney and Chris DobbynIn this article, we investigate the effectiveness of a purposely built Digital Tabletop Musical Instruments (DTMI) in helping novices and casual users to explore music composition. Our participants explored how melodic similarity and contrast can convey narrative through musical structure in sessions involving one participant and one tutor to guide the session. We structured the sessions as a combination of open-ended discussions and increasingly open-ended music-making exercises, culminating in the main task: Invent a short story and compose a melody to describe it. We found that the combination of a structured tutor-led activity and an approachable technology allowed our participants to explore the relationship between their ideas of similarity and contrast, the ways these concepts are manifested in melody, and the ways they can help describe a narrative. The hands-on activities provided adequate scaffolding for discussing the concepts and contextualizing them within music. Lastly, by not requiring any formal musical or instrumental training, the DTMI allowed the participants to make music while discussing similarity and contrast in a comfortable and continuous way.
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The nature of feedback in higher education studio-based piano learning and teaching with the use of digital technology1
Authors: Luciana Hamond, Evangelos Himonides and Graham WelchThe aim of the current research was to investigate the nature of feedback when a digital technology system was introduced in the higher education (HE) piano studio alongside three teacher and student pairs in Brazil. Data were collected by using video-recorded observations of lessons, participant interviews, and also data related to the use of a specific technology. A thematic analysis of the resultant data suggests that participants used verbal and non-verbal feedback in three areas of lesson focus: music (score), performance (e.g. dynamics, articulation), and technology (Musical Instrument Digital Interface [MIDI] parameters). The application of technology seems to allow the focus of the lesson to become clearer, making students more aware of their performances and their learning processes. Data suggest that the engagement with technology varied across the three observed cases. There seems to be a valuable use for technology-mediated feedback; this could, in turn, optimize more traditional pedagogical approaches in HE piano learning and teaching, and also enrich private practice.
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Syncphonia: Understanding the value of participatory design in developing music technology to support musical ensembles that use notation
Authors: Ed Hughes, Alice Eldridge and Chris KieferThe benefits of ensemble performance are well recognized; notation supports group performance, but cuts in music education and changing musical cultures mean that notation is increasingly perceived as a barrier to entry. In an extended participatory design (PD) project, we co-designed and developed a software system for networked notation called Syncphonia with the aim of enhancing access to and experience of notation-based ensemble performance. In previous work, our formal evaluation and informal observations and feedback revealed a wide range of benefits. In this article, we are concerned with articulating the knowledge generated and insights gained through this extended PD process. To do so, we employ a framework for systematic reflection that has been designed to support investigation into the tacit knowledge generated in participatory design. Through this method, we focus inward and share three insights into the value of networked notation in contemporary musical cultures; we also look outward and articulate five approaches to PD with musical ensembles that might benefit others adopting this rich research method. A pluralistic and inclusive vision of notation is espoused and speculation is submitted that a dynamic, networked notation might ameliorate the boundaries between composing, improvising and performing to the benefit of all three.
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Blurred lines: Practical and theoretical implications of a DAW-based pedagogy
More LessDigital audio workstations (DAWs) occupy a prominent space in the creative arts. Songwriters, composers, producers, and audio engineers use a combination of software and virtual instruments to record and make music. Educators increasingly find DAWs useful for teaching concepts in signal flow, acoustics and sound synthesis, and to model analogue processes. As the creative industries shift to primarily software-based platforms, the identities, roles, and responsibilities of the participants intersect and blur. Similarly, networked technologies change the space and place of creative activity. Now, the ‘studio’ exists virtually anywhere. For educators working with students, these changing paradigms present a series of challenges. This article explores the DAW’s possibilities across three areas: space and place, theory and identity, and pedagogy. The article advocates for a less technocratic model of teaching and learning with DAWs in favour of an approach that cultivates a balance of aesthetic awareness and creativity.
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Teaching Music Online in Higher Education: 2020 conference report
Authors: Brad Merrick and Carol JohnsonFaced with the state of emergency restrictions due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Teaching Music Online in Higher Education conference was adaptively modified to exist as a synchronous, online event. Embracing the opportunity to model online music pedagogy in its online format, organizers transformed the conference to utilize live-streaming, video recordings and other online active learning strategies. A total of 143 tertiary music instructors and graduate students from 66 institutions located around the world took part in the conference at a time of unprecedented restriction on face-to-face learning and travel restrictions. This report is both important and timely, as it provides insights into components that were found to be both necessary and fundamental to the success of the event for music researchers, teachers and other delegates in attendance. Key areas related to organization, communication, structure, protocols and activities were explored through learning analytics and a conference evaluation. Strategies and recommendations are included to assist others who wish to create and present an online conference that exemplifies online pedagogy principles.
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