Dan Schmit – Garage Band Mechanics
Posted by psteffen on July 19, 2006
Garage Band Mechanics Presentation
Music is who kids are, what they spend their money on, and how they identify themselves
Give students their voice, iLife gives them their creative voice. Teach kids to be creative, standardization is not what made this country great. Every child is an artist, but how to we keep this alive as they grow up.
Use GarageBand to teach about intellectual property – have students create something and give it to another teacher and don’t give the child credit and have that teacher play it and use it as a teachable moment.
Dan has written a book called Part GBM – GarageBand Mechanics that is written especially for teachers that provides how-to’s, tips, and curriculum centered projects for learning and implementing GarageBand in the classroom.
Dan shared exciting ways to use GarageBand in classroom with Rhythm Rondo and Voices of Power where students add music to well known speeches to add impact, or go to archive.org and and sound to old movies. Podcasting empowers students – use the radio sounds for easy transitions. Be sure to use the ducking feature so the music level will go down when you talk.
5 Reasons to Integrate constructive music making into your curriculum
Joanna said
I am very interested in how to make music with technology. I’d love to have a “GarageBand” type of program for PC. I know Apple has lead the way in “Arts” programming, however, many of us who are artists do so with a PC. Hopefully, the PC world will come up with a free program for us to use.
So far I’m still teaching music the traditional, acoustic way, which is wonderful. We’ll see if it ever becomes practical for me to add electronic technology to my program.
I say “electronic technology” because all musical instruments developed through inprovements in technology; i.e. wood > brass > iron. Recorder > clarinet, flute > Boehm system of fingering. Harp > harpsichord > clavinet > piano > electronic keyboards. (Some of these are simply developments and not necessarily improvements. For instance, an acoustic piano is a separate instrument from an electronic synthesizer or keyboard. One developed from the other, yet they have separate but overlapping purposes.)
Any way you define it, technology is fun.
Joanna