Teaching the "Wire Choir" » recording

Pablo Casals Video

dlewis — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:38:18 +0000

I was perusing the web looking for some videos to show my students and I came across this mini-documentary of Pablo Casals. The first part is narrative and provides some background, but the greatest part follows. He is shown in a brief segment working with an adult student. Casals’ comments are quite interesting as is listening to the difference between his playing and that of his very accomplished student.

The most intriguing part of this video is Casals’ performance of the Bach Cello Suite #1 in G. He is at this time 77 years old and his performance is amazing. While the video and the audio are not in sync, the quality of both is very good. Casals is a study in posture and position, fluidity and musicality.

This is from Google video and there is a button so that you can download this on your computer in the format for your Ipod. Here is a link so that you can go directly to the page and download it, if you want. Enjoy!

Scala: A Rockin’ String Quartet

dlewis — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:35:03 +0000

I came across a video of Scala on John P.’s One Man’s Blog. Scala is a string quartet recently featured on Britain’s Got Talent. You will certainly recognize the faces on the panel if you watch any of the American talent shows. This may be something to show your string students and let them see some of the possibilities for string instruments. They are not as limited as some might have you believe.

Student Self-Evaluation

dlewis — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:47:38 +0000

One of my goals is to help my students learn to listen as they play/sing. I want them to begin developing the ability to listen to themselves and the ensemble and respond appropriately to intonation, blend, balance, phrasing, etc. In short, all those elements that transform those dots on the page into something that communicates to both the player(s) and the listeners.

This is not a skill that develops overnight, it takes years of work. Therefore, I believe that learning to listen critically to oneself and one’s ensemble should be taught from the beginning.

A method I like to use is to regularly record the ensemble with my Zoom H2. A day or two later, the students listen to the recording and respond in writing to what they are hearing. Of course, I also expose to recordings of fine groups (orchestras, bands, choirs) so that they are developing a proper sound concept.

To help the students with their written evaluation, I have adapted our state’s music assessment forms (Orchestra Self-Evaluation Form; Chorus Self-Evaluation Form [MSWord document format]). We review the meanings of the various terms each time we do this exercise. After they have “graded” themselves, we discuss what they have heard and what they have written. The students are tough on themselves, but also are not shy about giving credit where it is due.

I would be interested to hear about how you help your students become listening and thinking musicians. Please leave a comment with your ideas.

Is it time for TI:ME?

dlewis — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:17:34 +0000

A couple of years ago, TI:ME was featured at the FMEA Convention. The focus of the convention was technology in music education. During one of the seminars I learned about TI:ME certification. I have given some thought to taking some of the TI:ME classes. However, while I use various types of technology in my orchestra and chorus rehearsals, my middle school does not offer any music technology classes. Nor do I think we will offer any such classes in the near future. In a time of shrinking resources, I don’t know how equipment and teacher time would be funded. I know that a number of people have taken a TI:ME course or two. What were the benefits you (and your students) gained from the course(s)? Would you take the classes even if you weren’t teaching any music technology classes? Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and thoughts.

When Recording Simply Must be Portable.

dlewis — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:22:42 +0000

Most music educators recognize the value of recording their students. The recording may be for the director to listen to (hearing all those things you miss while you are concentrating on 1001 things during a rehearsal) or it may be for the students to listen to themselves and engage in guided self-evaluation. Certainly, doing this is not new. When I was in high school back in the dark ages, my director purchased good mics, stands, and a reel-to-reel recorder (yes, it was that long ago) and regularly recorded our rehearsals and concerts.

Today, there are some great pieces of software available for you to record your students on computer. Audacity for Windows is open source and free. Free is good since it is a rare music educator who isn’t trying to run the best possible music program on a shoestring budget.

However, there are times when messing around with setting up a computer, a microphone and the rest just won’t work. For example, when you are teaching middle school students that have the attention span of a micro-second and you can’t spare a second to fuss with the computer. It is situations like these when a portable recording device really comes in handy. Especially when you can run it by battery power and use it anywhere.

In recent years, I have used mini-disc recorders for this purpose. My Sony NetMD MZ-N707, Sharp MD-SR60 recorders and Sony ECM-MS907 microphone have served me well, capturing rehearsals, playing tests wonderfully. I have even hooked them both up to a sound board with multiple microphones feeding into it and produced some decent concert recordings. Of course, I have also used them to record some of my personal practice sessions.

The downside of these devices is editing the recording. You have to record these to your computer real-time before editing can occur.

Those days are over are over now that I have my new Zoom H-2 digital recorder. The mics are built in, the device can be run from the electrical outlet or by battery. Certainly the mics are not the quality you would expect for a professional recording, but don’t dismiss them as cheap. They reproduce sound very well and there are no cords to mess with! There are four mics, not just two, with settings that enable you to record at 90 degrees, 120 degrees and 360 surround. The mics on the Zoom H-2 are the same as those as those on it’s much more expensive sibling, the H-4. Eldirol has a unit that many music educators like, but it costs more than the Zoom.

There are many more features including using the recorder as a mic for your computer through the included USB cable. It also uses a SD card up to 8GB that enables you to record up to 12 hours using the 16bit/44.1kHz WAV format. You can get up to 140 hours recording time at 128kbps MP3. For further details check out the manufacturers website.

The portability factor is great, in my view. No matter where your students are performing, you can get a very good recording of the concert for later review or simply just for “posterity”. You can also use a unit like this to record podcasts. If you look around online, you can get the Zoom H-2 for a reasonable price. It’s worth a look if you want something portable for recording your students or your own practice sessions.