Mix and Match

Listen 1: Mix and Match is a game that will test your knowledge of composers, music, theory, instruments and websites.

To prepare for the game, read Listen 1 and visit some of the websites ..then will you be ready to try Mix and Match

How did you get on? Did you find the puzzle easy or difficult? You could try playing the game with a friend, loading a new set of questions for each round!

When you have completed the current set of 70 questions, why not devise your own MIX AND MATCH for ‘Listen 1′ or other pages of TANBUR MUSIC EDUCATION LINKS? Post your ideas here!

Computer Singing

Post updated on April 4, 2009

Do secondary school students enjoy singing?  Class singing can be viewed as an activity that is popular with the primary age range but becomes more difficult with secondary students.  An idea tested in my classroom is to have one PC available as a singing resource.  

The ideal location for a computer with ‘bouncy ball lyrics’ is a small room adjacent to the main classroom.  This allows a small group to rehearse and then perform their songs to the class.  A computer can be used in the main classroom with headphones used for rehearsal, but this is not ideal as it will distract others and also cause problems with intonation.  Students will not be used to standing at the computer screen and they will need to be reminded of essential breath control and singing techniques.

‘Divtune’ is an example of the ’scrolling lyric’ software resource. The program plays MIDI files that have embedded lyrics and KARAOKE files with the *.kar extension. It can also display lyrics that have been prepared for CD tracks. The MP3 format is also supported.  Full instructions, program, MIDI and example CD lyrics are available from Bill Basham at http://www.divtune.com/  The small shareware charge allows educational establishments unlimited use of the program.  

The scrolling lyric resources on TANBUR SONGS 1 have been updated April 2009 with Fireflies, a delightful presentation from the music page of SillyBooks.net, while TANBUR SONGS 2 provides examples of MIDI and MP3 files that have been converted to flash format.  As an example, try the Tum Balalaika backing track, then listen to the a capella version by ‘Listen Up!’ 

I have also used ’scrolling lyric’ resources to gain initial interest for a school musical production.  Small groups of students used backing tracks with displayed lyrics, transposing and adjusting the tempo of songs as required.  When main rehearsals were held the students were confident in performance, requiring less rehearsal time than would otherwise have been the case.

If your computer has Internet access, Youtube has some excellent quality scrolling lyric resources. Try typing the name of your song followed by the word ‘lyrics’. 

A few websites have successfully promoted a selection of CD recordings with displayed lyrics that do not scroll. A case in point is from one of Ireland’s most respected folk singers. Listen to enchanting performances of songs such as ‘Red is the Rose’ and ‘Will ye go Lassie go’ at Liam’s Songbag.  

Do you have experience of resources that can be used to promote singing and the voice in the music classroom? Comments please!

Updates: June 08

Listen 1 update…
TROMBONE VIDEO
BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008.

Listen 2 update…
SCOTLAND’S MUSIC
Explore Scotland’s Music with Phil Cunningham.

HENRY MANCINI
25 tracks by the composer of ‘Pink Panther Theme’ and ‘Moon River’.

Songs 1 update…
MONICA MANCINI
16 track samples from the grammy award nominated singer.

Play 1 update…
DOT MIXER
A musical experiment with dots.

Play 2 update…
DIGGER AND THE GANG
A challenge for the DJ mixer with beats, scratching, sound effects and disco lights.

ROOM 108
A simple mixer with drum loops, bass loops and effects.

Play 3 update…
SPNM EXPERIMENTS

Soundsnap

Soundsnap is for sound effects and loops.  The site has been created by people from all over the world. They believe that pro quality sounds and samples should be made available to everyone as a free resource.  The site is supported by some big names in the Music Industry that include Focuswrite, Novation, Propellerhead, Ableton and Digidesign.

Submit a link

Suggestions for new links are welcome! As a guideline, content for link submissions should be:

1. interactive
2. excellent quality
3. appropriate for one of the page categories: LISTEN / PLAY / SONGS / QUIZ

Thank you for your suggestions!  Regarding publication of link suggestions and comments, please refer to the Welcome message.

Soundbeam

I finally tried the SOUNDBEAM!

Drake Music Scotland aim “…..to equip our nation with the skills and resources to support our disabled community in realising the same musical aspirations as their non-disabled peers”.

The exciting thing is that Drake Music Scotland visited my school last week! The workshops made use of piezo switches and ‘Soundbeam’ to control sounds from the computer. One student was completely transfixed as she discovered that her hand and arm movements produced lovely harp arpeggios. Another student joined in with a melody ‘playing’ the cor anglais. Others used the switches to add pedal notes from the brass and a variety of percussion sounds.

‘Soundbeam’ has been around for quite some time. I remember seeing the EMS video way back in 1992, as part of a study course at Reading University. At that time we visited a special school where the students produced MIDI sounds with piezo switches and sang instrumental sounds using a MIDI microphone.

April 2008, the equipment is very much the same. But the sampled instrumental sounds are a great improvement on the General Midi sounds available back in 1992.

More details about SOUNDBEAM can be found at Drake Music Scotland. The link can be found on LISTEN 1 near the bottom of the page.