This week's reading discussed composition, and what really struck me was the encouragement to use software such as Soundation or Garage Band to create opportunities for music-illiterate students to produce their own works.
Yes, music-illiterate. I went there.
This is something that I've struggled with while trying to learn to use Soundation the past two weeks for a 'composition' project. I feel pretty strongly that using programs like Garage Band and Soundation to 'make tracks' isn't composition, unless you're using a MIDI entry tool and recording digital audio (which has crashed my setup every time I've tried to do it - quite frustrating). A lot of my view on this likely comes from my experiences with using MTV Music Generator for Playstation back in the early 2000s. I had a wonderful time creating some interesting arrangements of sounds and effects, and came up with some pretty danceable tunes, but it was never composition. I put very few original elements into the pieces I worked on. It was more like creating a collage than envisioning and creating a brand new work of art -- I took bits and pieces that somebody else created, took the parts that I liked, and arranged them in a way that was pleasing to me.
Now, I'm not saying that Soundation and GarageBand aren't musical, or that the product of these programs isn't music. They are, and it sure as heck does create a music product. But I hesitate before saying that a student can write music with these types of sequencers, or that creating sound projects with sequencers is an acceptable alternative composition task for students who are illiterate in music.
Illiterate. There's that word again. Especially in today's high-pressure, high-stakes, 'failing' schools environment, literacy and illiteracy are highly loaded terms. Illiterate means 'unable to read or write', which exactly describes many students when it comes to music. The situation described at the beginning of this week's reading features a musically illiterate student. I bristle at the idea that students MUST learn to read and write language in addition to being able to speak it, yet we are willing to allow them to squeak by and 'compose' without having to learn to read and write music if they are 'musically gifted'. I'm sorry, but I can't just imagine that's a good idea and post as if I agree with it. There's no reason that 'musically talented' individuals should be encouraged to NOT take the time to read and write music. This is bleeding over a little bit into advocacy, so I apologize for wandering away from the tech focus of the class, but as professional musicians we have to teach our students to perform to the highest possible standards. That doesn't mean we shouldn't teach students who can't read or write music notation -- it means we need to increase the rigor of our programs and help those students who are musically talented yet musically illiterate to develop the notation skills to express themselves as well as study how others express themselves through composition.
Sequencing programs like Soundation and Garage Band, especially when combined with a composition class or an exploration of sound project, can help bridge that music literacy gap. The clips in Soundation have graphical components that appear to be representations of the acoustical properties of the clips. For someone who is musically illiterate at the high school level, the sound file itself combined with the graphic representation can lead to a discussion of what the sound is actually doing and why the soundwave graphic appears that way, which can lead on to relative pitch and/or dynamics and/or any of a number of different musical attributes in traditional notation, providing an opportunity to scaffold knowledge of notation off of observable and audible features of the music. Using sketching as part of the composition process can be a useful tool in transitioning to reading notation, especially if contour is introduced with the same pitch orientation as found on any staff. Yes, this is harder than pointing a student at a digital workstation and turning them loose, but in the long run, the student will have learned both how to create a looped, sequenced, piece and also worked towards developing better musicianship skills.
Jami, thank you for sharing your passion of music literacy. I can relate to your post because I was also traditionally taught, and think it is important for musicians to know music notation. I also believe that Soundation and other similar programs should be used in addition to a music composition lesson and not replace it.
ReplyDeleteHey there, Jami:
ReplyDeleteI think you have expressed many of the deep-seated concerns that most of us who teach in "traditional" setups share, whether consciously or otherwise: that we might somehow bypass some of the prerequisites to basic musicianship by not teaching students how to read music, thanks to an overabundance of tech shortcuts. Indeed, Bauer makes similar suggestions when discussing some of the potential pitfalls of total reliance on software-based composition, particularly with regard to audiation versus acceptance of whatever sounds computer-playback happens to produce (Bauer, 2014, p. 66).
Your suggestions for structuring the use of the programs in question this week toward the eventual goal of picking up some notational literacy are well-considered and worthwhile. Moreover, they serve members of both camps - those students who are enrolled in our programs and the potential abilities of those who currently are not.
Bravo, ma'am.