IMPORTANT EVENTS:
SUPPORT Music Technology Education: How you can help our student composers
Competitions for Student Composers:
John Lennon Songwriting Competition
USA Songwriting Competition
Musicworks Electronic Experimental Music Competition
Northeastern University Electronic Music Competition
NAFME Electronic Music Competition
Show Me the Music Competition
Before/After School Music Tech
All enrolled Music Tech students are welcome to recieve extra help in small study groups before and after school, continue project work, and make/mix "quiet studio recordings" using our humble assemblage of studio equipment in the Music Lab room 325.
**Please notify Mr. DiTomaso when you will be there**
Extra help/Extra credit hours
Tues, Wed & Thurs Mornings:
7:20 - 7:55 AM
Monday, Wed & Thurs Afternoons:
2:30 - 3:15 PM
"I've been imitated so well, I've even heard people copy my mistakes" - Jimi Hendrix
2008-9 Season Highlights CD's are available in the Music Lab
2009-2010 Season Highlights CD's are being pressed and will be available this month
Season III 2010-2011 Highlights CD's are available in the Music Lab
FORUM RULES
Project Revision Forum If you need help on projects!
Music Technology - Intro Course
In our Intro to Music Technology class, we learn how to listen deeply, create grooves, play with solid rhythm, remix existing songs and create our own original work. For final projects, our talented students create an electronic portfolio in the form of an artist CD featuring their best works. Some of those works are available here for your review.
Songwriting II/Film Scoring & Sound Recording Courses
Student Compositions and Arrangements
Many thanks to Dr.Dennis Geller, mathematician, computer science teacher and friend for this excellent link to "The Score", an ongoing blog for composers to discuss what being a composer means today.
Special Guest : Brian Alex May 8th 2012
Brian has been writing and performing music for over 30 years in successful bands like Entrain, and as a solo artist. He is also in demand for recording, mixing and mastering projects by Boston area musicians due to his keen ear and creative energy combined with years of practical music business "know-how".
He is truly an amazing talent, and we are very fortunate to have him join us in the music lab to share some of that knowledge and skill with us, entertain us a bit with his own music, and then offer us professional feedback after listening to your pieces for the upcoming Spring Showcase Concert 2012.
Update: Brian truly enjoyed performing for you, listening to your music and sharing his experience. He offered a lot of great advice, in particular, encouraging all of you to use this time wisely to create more melody in your music, and to COLLABORATE. There is a wealth of talent and ideas among you, and Brian was very impressed! Most importantly he pinpointed COLLABORATION as the #1 area that AHS Music Tech students could use more development; he recommended more networking of the skill sets that are among you to provide lyrics and vocal talents where they are not, melodies where they are needed most, and sharing recording/sound engineering and processing skills with one another.
Sound file from Brian's visit: Brian performs "Katie of My Own"
Give Brian a link to your song, and he may be able to offer you some advice.
Ricardo Odriozola:
On Ricardo's previous visit to AHS Music Tech in 2009, we had a great time and we are fortunate to have the opportunity to once again learn from Ricardo's experience as a performer, and to enjoy his friendship as fellow composer, collaborator and supporter of new music.
Review the contributions Ricardo has already made to our program
Special Guest - Jonathan Wyner
Arlington High School Music Technology Podcasts
http://ahsmusictech.podomatic.com/
Discussion Assignment Due !!
Mr. Kusiak contributed a wealth of knowledge and experience to our students in his visit on Tuesday, May 20th. Film scoring, musicality, recording technique, networking...
Watch and listen to examples of his work, and complete your classroom response assignment here.
Feature article in the Arlington Advocate for Sonic Voyages I - by Andy Metzger
Fun Link(s) of the Week (Archive):
The Invention of the Electric Guitar is an interesting topic related to Music Technology and our recent exploration of the blues as well. Use the above link from the Smithsonian Lemelson Center to find a lot more info on the invention of the electric guitar.
There are some nice guitars featured in the article, one of my favorites is this Bigsby double neck Electric Gtr/Mandolin pictured at the right ca.1952.
In class, the topic came up when we listened to players like T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Memphis Minnie and Elmore James. All I could offer was that it was sometime in the 30's with a group of innovators including Les Paul/Gibson, Fender and Rickenbacker. The Hawaiian created Resonator guitars were also discussed in a couple different classroom sessions.
The Art of The Guitar is another exhibit that includes some of the most dazzling and beautiful guitars and guitar-related creations in history. The exhibition came to Boston sometime around 2000 and was a huge success. For some reason, it seems that the guitar, and earlier in history the lute, has always captured the visual imagination of creative instrument designers.
My good friend, Johnny A - always inspiring, was featured on the wall as you entered the museum's guitar exhibit as the last portrait in a long line of great guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, B.B King, Eric Clapton...all the way back to Robert Johnson. As if that weren't honor enough, Gibson went and created a signature series guitar named after him.
Here Johnny A plays America the Beautiful. He and I were pretty close when we played together for a while back in the last century. Johnny is originally from this area, but now tours the world on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label. This guy is as peaceful and classy as they come too, so I hope one day soon to get him in here to meet you all. His album "Sometime Tuesday Morning" is just amazing and a must hear for anyone who loves guitar. Songs from that album like Two Wheel Horse , Wichita Lineman and Oh Yeah show his musical strengths nicely. He also has a great instructional DVD out called "Taste Tone and Space" that shows how to achieve some of his signature sound.
Recommended listening for sure. Enjoy!
Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Movement II, with scrolling piano roll score
Amazing piece of music history, and a great example of the highest level of music composition combined with modern technology. Watching the scrolling score gives us a way to visually understand some of the musical ideas Beethoven employed in this masterpiece.
Last year, Nick Mongold (class of 2011) created a brilliant piano piece and used this same piano roll visualization technique in his video. We loved it so much, that it became the finale for our Spring concert!!! Nick's piano piece and video is here: piano invention.wmv
Currently on the Composer's Table:
We recently practiced performing complex meter patterns in class. We learned how to use subdivided pulse groupings of 2 and 3 to clap through a traditional Macedonian rhythm in 22/16.
Our recurring pattern of 22 sixteenth notes was broken into sub-groups of:
2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 and also into 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 2.
The Macedonian song we used as an example is performed in this live recording by the local Boston-based band Grand Fatilla
The song's title is Sandansko Horo, and it primarily uses the second subdivided pattern we learned.
When clapping or beating on a drum, we will either accent or sound only the first pulse in a sub-group - 1 (2) , or 1 (2-3).
A couple additional points will help you learn this:
1. When we perform these rhythms, we benefit from recognizing smaller patterns within the number string.
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You may have noticed that both number strings are in an A A B form, with the first segment of each number set being distinguished by a break in the basic pattern of 2's with a larger 3 sixteenth note pulse.
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The first (A) segment repeats exactly and then is followed by a (B) segment entirely made of 2's with no distinguishing break, hence: A A B form.
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The first version is subdivided as 7 + 7 + 8 (total 22) and the second version is 9 + 9 + 4 (total 22)
2. We "feel" the rhythm as a string of pulses, rather than counting up to 22.
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The 2 pulse is a straight down/up group and the 3 pulse is a rounder-wider feeling because of the extra sixteenth note.
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We can also "feel" these 2's and 3's as short or long pulses, respectively.
Let's take the second subdivided grouping of 22 (9 + 9 + 4) to use as an example.
We'll practice (A) 2 + 2 + 2 +3, (A) again , and then (B) 2 + 2.
The A pattern is short, short, short, long which repeats
The B pattern is short, short and we return to the two A patterns, looping around after each short, short B pattern.
Try clapping the accent pattern while listening to Grand Fatilla's inspiring performance of Sandansko Horo.
Even complex meters like 22/16 will actually become pretty easy to comprehend after you break it down like this.
It's also easy to create your own complex meter patterns from 2's and 3's strung together. After you perform the new pattern a few times, it feels natural. You can see how feeling the pulse pattern becomes more relevant than the number of pulses.
So why not create music that goes outside the 4/4 box a little? Try it and improvise a bit as you go... you might even decide to compose a short musical idea. Sometimes I might only care what the time signature is after already creating a musical idea that feels "just right". Just add up the 2's and 3's to identify the larger meter. Cool. This new idea I have is in 13/16.
Fun Stuff!
Interesting Links and Music Tech Ideas
Making of The 88's "Love is the Thing" ...with an iPhone.
All of the videos on this website were created using a mash-up of youtube videos featuring people playing instruments, singing, etc. This a good example of music concrete. Kutiman's Channel
A music technology creation that uses "found sounds" from everyday noises to tone generators in creating new musical ideas. Here's an example of something created using a Dewanatron
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