ALA Creative Day Jan. 26

Today the two groups came to the museum for the purposes of exploring the music software. The students were given the basics before today. Today's activity is as follows: the students will have about an hour or so to create an original composition from the Acid Pro software. They will be able to use any of the loops and sound effects inside the software, as well as any piece of music they choose to use. There were guidelines given for the use of non-original music to practice their creative process. No explicit lyrical content or objectionable language was allowed - these are also guidelines for anything at their school, so we are keeping in line with what they already know. The students were paired up to work together, and their work was then shared with the rest of the group at the end of the session. Each group's work was saved so that their programs could be analyzed later. One of the project ideas that they may work on in about a week will be the creation of original work just like this, only more involved. Anyone choosing to work with the cameras and editing software must first come up with an original composition that will lend itself to telling a story on film, thus using all of the technology we've used so far. Still others will have the chance to create musical sculptures using crickets and MIDI boards. I will be posting pictures from the past week's work shortly.

ALA Instructional Days Jan. 20, 25

The plans for these two days included introductions into the Sound editing software ScreenBlast Acid Pro. Gabe was the point person here, and the two days away at the ALA were set up so he could teach a litle and then give the students freedom to explore the musical world. The software enables the students to go into a large array of sounds and beats and instruments and put them all together, creating a new original piece of music. The students are also able to use existing pieces of music insdie the program to remix, cut, splice, and explore their own interests. THe students were shown how to explore the software, create a rudimentary piece of work, and also how to extract a piece of music from a cd into the software itself. Thursday's group was wonderfully engaged in the activity, as was tuesday's group. The tuesday group seemed a bit on the excitable side, but everyone took to the learning of the program well. By the end of the time given the students were wanting to continue their exploration. Gabe did an amazing job showing the students how to navigate through the software, and it's amazing to see the students' interaction with each other as well as the facilitators as we are learning alongside of them.

think it. dream it. live it. design it.

hey gang. been a while since i've blogged but alot of positive things have been happening over at panther. i'll let jon cover ala, but believe me i've been having a blast working on miti with them. onto panther however, where we've been exploring in depth the joys of stop motion animation and film. with new materials from this medium we have definately drawn interest from the older teens. my goal is to continue this interest through this cycle and therefore into the next. in order, we first simply let the kids explore the camera for an entire period, doing whatever they found entertaining. we also brought a midi keyboard to explore on the side, which ended up in inspiring a free style jam session which was awesome. next visit we set up cameras facing the wall and gave them clay to create a short film, which they've had some experience doing, but this time we introduced sound effects, music, and voice recording, which provided a whole new outlet for this creative medium. some were insane with no plots, others were cartoon-like character shorts, but i'd have to say the fanta commercial was my favorite. and finally, last night, because the teen room was a bit crowded and the weather outside was perfect, i set up three cameras with chairs as tripods outside in the coutyard, where three seperate films could be made. teens slowly and catiously filtered outside, but by the end of the night it was a success. granted, i don't think we have any academy award nominees, unless there's a catagory for best breakdancing/fake-fighting short, but it definately promoted interest in the program with some new teens. i think a change of envirnment is always heathy as well. i'm curious to see where we go with this and how many kids will return for more. a couple ideas i need to work harder on doing is photographing the activities, making sure they sign in, make sure they label their names and the date on projects and films, i need to show pics or films from the previous visit, and get a field trip schedualed. otherwise, just feelin good to be doin what we do.
myles

ALA museum day January 19th

Today's activity consisted of what i like to call BEAT THE CLOCK. Each of the students had the chance to work in groups of two or three, and use their MIDI programming skills to create a tune from a popular song that could be identified by the entire group. THe adults were there just for technical support and troubleshooting. All of the programming and the issues surrounding any trouble there was handled by the students, helping each other out. each of the groups did a remarkable job putting together pieces of music that could be recognized by their classmates. I do believe some of them would have gone a lot farther if we'd had more time. THe students are figuring out some of the program material that we never taught, and i'm massively impressed with people such as Perrin, Maggie, and mary for their amazing work yesterday. Thursday begins our new software introduction with Gabe taking the point on teaching because of his experience with the sound programs. in a couple of weeks the students will begin creating their own compositions and sculptures using MIDI technology or the sound software.

ALA days January 13, Jan 18

These days we were focused on specific teaching topics for the MIDI programming. The students had seen the MIDI programming earlier, and were able to explore the crickets and MIDI boards. Thursday the 13th Gabe and Saafir and I set up for all the students to explore the programming more, and learn how to not only program tunes they would recognize, but use the light sensors to help randomize the sounds. We did the same setup for tuesday the 18th. Thursday was a problem because EVERYTHING would break or not work. The one thing we just can't safeguard sometimes is hardware problems. Saafir and Gabe and i spent most of the time troubleshooting for the non-working crickets, MIDI boards, transfer crickets, and computers. THe groups were able to learn how to program the MIDI boards more proficiently in spite of the technical difficulties. THe tuesday group worked on every level that the thursday group had not. I had checked and rechecked the hardware and most everything worked during the actual studio time. I was very surprised by the focus of the tuesday group after having a week of discussion with them that was less than stellar. The Focus of wedneday's time at the museum will be to put all of their MIDI knowledge to good use.

The Cycle Plan for ALA

Here is the tentative plan for the entire cycle of material for the ALA students. It should be noted that we extended the cycle of material until the first week of March because we felt we were trying to do too much in too short of a time frame. We are planning to come back and pick up Microworlds again later, but for now those plans were pushed to the side to make room for more extensive work with the music technologies. The students have expressed great interest in the ability to create music on a computer, as well as learn the technology that might allow them to create a visual representation of either created music or their own original work. We have attempted to put tools in their hands so that they can be as creative and productive as possible.

Jan. 12-19 - MIDI introduction, programming instruction, introduction to video technology for new students, Creation of original melodies using MIDI technology, sensor inputs, and programming

Jan 20-26 - Introduction to sound mixing, remixing, composing, and splicing technology, becoming proficient in the use of computer programs that allow for not only the destruction and recreation of music, but the composition of new music as well.

Jan 27-Feb 2 - Introduction to video editing software and digital video hardware, becoming proficient at filming and being able to transfer films to the computers for editing purposes, whether stop motion, or digital. Also becoming proficient at importing musical compositions into the editing software and the films

Feb 3 - March 2 - Creation of projects: The students will now have the capability to create sound sculptures that react to sensor inputs, making music from MIDI boards. THey will be able to record their MIDI creations into the sound editing software and continue creating new music. THey will be able to create new compositions from existing music, using the computer to enhance, splice, cut, and remix sounds both original and pre-exisiting. They will have the capability to take their compositions and create a visual representation of their new music. All sound scupltures will be showcased at the MAD SCIENTIST'S BALL on Feb 26. All of the projects will be showcased on March 5, both the ALA work and the Clubs' work. THe Boys and Girls Clubs are working on a bit different time frame, but all work will be shown on this date.

The new Cycle - Music, MIDI, and madness!

The new cycle has begun, and the students at ALA have started learning the MIDI programming. Wednesday the 12th of January, the group was still divided into three separate teams, and we introduced each of the new groups to both MIDI programming and the stop motion animation cameras. Spending just an hour of time on each was just enough time to get their appetites wet for continued interaction. The murder group helped some of the gaggle students learn the camera work, and then they were reviewed on the MIDI programming as well, as it has been about a year since they've seen it.

Pros: the students were able to get new hands on experience with new technologies right from the beginning

Cons: The murder group seemed very much less interested in the MIDI programming, and we did lose a little of their interest during that last hour.

The Plan: The plan is to teach the students how to use sensor inputs into their cricket and MIDI music programs over the next week, and then challenge them on wednesday to create some music on their own using the MIDI technology and sensor technology.

A great night at Panther

A setup that works!
Myles arranged the computers facing the bulletin board with the tables set longways against the wall. He did stop motion animation as an introduction to the music video ideas. The teens cranked out some very interesting work over the course of the hour; a "don't you wanna' Fanta?" commercial, a twisted nightmare, and a short breakdancing sequence were highlights. Myles put up holiday lights last week and they really liven up the room.