Music Technology for Beginners Session 3

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1 Notes 2013 Music Technology for Beginners Session 3 Katie Wardrobe Midnight Music

2 Dropbox 3 Share a folder with another Dropbox user 3 Share a link to a document or a folder in Dropbox 3 Finding and downloading resources 4 Some general tips for downloading files from the internet 4 Finding images 5 How to download images 5 Clip Art by Phillip Martin 5 Pixabay (public domain images) 5 Creative Commons Photos on Flickr 5 More links 6 Using technology to digitise your resources 6 What can I digitise? 6 Benefits of digitising resources 6 Tech tools to use 6 Before you create your own files... 6 What happens if I find a really good Smartboard file and I don t have Smartboard software?? 7 Collection of links on Pinterest 7 How to digitise resources and some examples 7 Please note... 7 General Skills to Learn 7 Music Literacy 8 Making staves and noteheads 8 How-to add an image 9 Stick notation and beat circle activity 9 Custom-made stick notation - crotchets and joined quavers 9 Larger units of work 10 Example page: listening 11 Preparing audio files 11 Homework! 12 2

3 Dropbox Last week we talked about using Dropbox as a way to store files and share them easily between all of your devices. A couple of other things you can do: Share a folder with another Dropbox user If you set up a folder in Dropbox you can share it with another Dropbox user so that you have a magic portal on both of your computers/devices. For example, when I want to share files with my graphic designer who is located in the USA, I simply aadd them to our shared folder and they magically appear on his computer without the need for us to files back and forth. I just let him know that I ve added something to the folder. He opens it up and the file is there. To share a folder with someone, right-click on the folder and choose Share this folder. Enter the person s address at the top and add a message just below. Then click Share folder. Share a link to a document or a folder in Dropbox This is slightly different and doesn t require the other person to have a Dropbox account: Right-click on the file or folder and choose Share Dropbox link. A copy of the link to that folder or file will be placed on your clipboard and you can then paste it into an or a Word document and give it to the other person.

4 I use this option when I want to share workshop files with teachers or students. I give them the link which they visit in their web browser. They are taken to a specific page on the Dropbox website and they can download the file/folder from there. Finding and downloading resources Some general tips for downloading files from the internet Look carefully at the link that you re about to download to make sure it s not an advert or other strange thing! Be aware of copyright restrictions. You should only download files you have permission to download If you download lots of images, audio and video files they will start to take up a lot of space on your computer. Consider moving some off on to an external hard drive (I do this regularly!) To download a file, right-click on the link or the download image and choose Download linked file as or Save linked file as or Save image as The Save as window will open and you can choose your saving location and rename the file if you like Tip: check to see what the file extension is (ie. what type of file - see below). If you re downloading an image, it should be.jpeg,.png or.gif. If you see that it is.htm or something else strange, you may have chosen the wrong thing (in the case of.htm you will be saving a link to the webpage, not the actual file itself). 4

5 Finding images How to download images You can find a great selection of images online that are legal to use. Look for Creative Commons licensed (the creator assigns a license which allows reuse) or royalty-free (which doesn t always mean cost-free) images. See the Links section for a couple of suggestions Download the image by right-clicking on it and choosing Save Image As or similar. Save it somewhere useful and give it a descriptive title. I usually save the name of the creator of the picture in the title so that I can attribute them when necessary. Clip Art by Phillip Martin Link: homepage.htm Gorgeous array of cartoon images for use by schools Images cover all subject areas Includes Peter and the Wolf picture, instruments of the orchestra and other Pixabay (public domain images) Link: My favourite place to find images! Use the search bar at the top Creative Commons Photos on Flickr Link: Visit the website and type in a search term Select the Creative Commons setting on the left of the screen to search for photos that are legal to use (with attribution to the creator) 5

6 More links There are more links on the Mulitmedia Resources page on my website: Link: resources/ Using technology to digitise your resources I think it s well worth the time to create digital versions of some of your resources. It is time-consuming to do, but worthwhile if you will use the file many times, or if it is adaptable. What can I digitise? Anything really! The best options are music literacy activities that you use over and over again, or larger units of work that you use year after year. Benefits of digitising resources Digital versions allow you to keep everything together in one place They give you easy access to the information, links and audio examples you need for a class You can save a copy for each of your classes. This allows you to save where you re up to at the end of the lesson for that class Tech tools to use If you have an interactive whiteboard, use the software that comes with the board (ie. Notebook software on a Smartboard, or ActivInspire on a Promethean). If you don t have an IWB, you can use Powerpoint or Keynote. Before you create your own files... Take a look online for files made by other teachers. There are quite a lot of files available for free download. Keep an open mind about the file type you download - you may find that some things are created for specific software programs that you don t have, but you can always use them as inspiration and recreate your own version. Some favourite places to find files: Phillip Martin Powerpoint files (templates) home.htm Free music-related Powerpoint presentations (some of the links are broken, but many still work) 6

Mrs Friedman s Smartboard Lessons http://musicteach.pbworks.com/w/page/21946172/ SMARTBoard%20Lessons Cherie Herring Smartboard Notebook lessons http://www.cphmusic.

7 Mrs Friedman s Smartboard Lessons SMARTBoard%20Lessons Cherie Herring Smartboard Notebook lessons smart-notebook-music-lessons What happens if I find a really good Smartboard file and I don t have Smartboard software?? Use Smart Notebook Express to view and interact with Notebook files online (or download a copy of the software to your computer) Visit: Collection of links on Pinterest Visit my Interactive Whiteboards Pinterest page to see all of these links (and more) in one place. How to digitise resources and some examples Please note... These instructions are general in nature so that they can be applied to any type of IWB software, Powerpoint or Keynote. Not all techniques will be achievable in all software programs. Please consult your software reference manual or Google (!) for instructions specific to the software used at your school. General Skills to Learn Adding text Adding website links Adding pictures 7

Adding music (audio) and video Creating shapes Duplicating objects Ordering/arranging (change which object is on top) Gathering and Organising Your Materials Keep all the images, audio files, videos

If there are items you think you ll use repeatedly, save them to the Gallery or Resources area of your IWB software program so they re easy to find.

a snail) or use a real note Make the notehead small so it fits nicely on the stave (test it out!

8 Adding music (audio) and video Creating shapes Duplicating objects Ordering/arranging (change which object is on top) Gathering and Organising Your Materials Keep all the images, audio files, videos and anything else you re going to use to create your presentation in a folder together on your hard drive. If there are items you think you ll use repeatedly, save them to the Gallery or Resources area of your IWB software program so they re easy to find. Music Literacy Making staves and noteheads Insert a stave image on to the slide/page Insert an image to represent a notehead (ie. a snail) or use a real note Make the notehead small so it fits nicely on the stave (test it out!) Duplicate the notehead many times Have the students drag the noteheads into position on the stave Tip: Use a cloning tool in your IWB software instead of duplicating the notehead image (called Infinite Cloner on Smartboard or Drag A Copy on Promethean). It will create an endless supply. Custom- made staves Sometimes you might find that you need a custom-made stave for your classes: Create one black line using the line tool. Adjust the thickness, colour and length of the line if necessary Duplicate the line 4 more times (shortcut is usually Ctrl+D or Command+D) Position the 5 lines so that they re evenly spaced If your software allows, lock the 5 lines in place. This means that students won t accidentally drag them out of position 8

How-to add an image To add it to your presentation: drag it from the Explorer window (PC) or from the Finder (Mac) straight on to the current slide or insert it by going to the Insert menu and

9 How-to add an image To add it to your presentation: drag it from the Explorer window (PC) or from the Finder (Mac) straight on to the current slide or insert it by going to the Insert menu and choosing Picture or Media or Image Rhythmic Dicta;on Using a similar technique, you can create rhythmic (or melodic) dictation exercises. Set the background colour of the slide Find or create images of rhythmic elements Place the rhythmic element images on the slide/page Stick notation and beat circle activity Set the background colour, create the title and add an image Create the stick notation elements using the Shape tool (see steps below) and move them to the bottom of the page Create a beat circle that s big enough to fit the joined quavers Duplicate the circle 3 more times and then position the 4 circles evenly in a row Then duplicate the group of 4 circles to create a second line Custom-made stick notation - crotchets and joined quavers Create one crotchet stem using the Line tool Duplicate the single stem two times and then add a horizontal line to make joined quavers Group the 3 lines that make up the quavers so they can be moved around as a single unit Duplicate the group and flip horizontally so you have stems up and stems down 9

10 Larger units of work Why digi;se larger units of work? It allows you to include all the information you need in one place: text links to useful websites audio examples images related activities and games These units of work are also often used year after year, so you ll probably get good use out of them! Examples might include: Peter and the Wolf Carnival of the Animals Instruments of the Orchestra 12 Bar Blues Film Scoring Radio Shows Example page: composer info Set background colour (often in the Format or Edit menu) Create text about composer Insert an image of the composer Resize it or move it if necessary Create a link from the image to a website with more information How to link to a website You can link images, or text in your presentations to websites that provide more information about the subject. Select the image first (or text) and then right-click on it and choose Link or Hyperlink A window will open and there will be a place to insert a website address (URL) Visit the website in your internet browser and copy the address Go back to your software and paste the URL into the appropriate place and click Insert link or OK 10

Example page: listening Overview of steps Set the background colour Create text: title and description Insert an image of the character/animal (ie.

11 Example page: listening Overview of steps Set the background colour Create text: title and description Insert an image of the character/animal (ie. Peter) Insert an image of the notation Create a link from the notation image to a sound file How to insert a snippet of nota;on To create an image of a snippet of notation from Sibelius: Create a new score in Sibelius Input the notes, dynamics and articulation Press Alt+G (Option+G on Mac). Your mouse pointer will become a cross Click and drag around the part of the score you want Adjust the size of the box if necessary using the handles Press Ctrl+C (Command+C) Go back to your IWB software program and press Ctrl+V (Command+V) to paste This works in Word (great for creating exam papers), IWB software, Powerpoint and Keynote How to add audio files You can attach an audio file to slide (Powerpoint or Keynote), or to an image or text (IWB software). Select the image/text Go to the Insert menu and choose insert sound/media/audio/music (called various names in different programs) Click on Choose File or From File Find and select the audio file Click Insert/OK Preparing audio files It s a good idea to prepare the audio before adding to a presentation. If the audio file is short, you may not need to do anything at all. However, if you need just a small part of a longer audio file you can edit it in the free audio editor Audacity first. Audacity allows you to chop off the beginning and/or end and create fade-ins and fade-outs. We ll cover this in next weeks session! 11

12 Homework! Things to try this week: Start a collection of multimedia resources you can use in Powerpoint files or your IWB software. Try downloading different types of files from the internet: audio, images, video Explore some of the links I provided and search for some ready-made resources that might help you save time Set up a digital version of a simple music literacy example: start a new slide/page, add the relevant images (stave, notation etc) and make it all look nice. Save it and test it out in class Start a larger unit of work that you ll be able to use multiple times. 12

Tips and Ideas for Your IWB Software

Midnight Music PD 2011 Tips and Ideas for Your IWB Software Katie Wardrobe Midnight Music Using These Notes... 3 General Skills to Learn... 3 Gathering and Organising Your Materials...3 Interactive Listening