RadioEdu Second Semester: Week 7 Production Notes

Friday, March 21st, 2014 by WLOY Staff

Hi everyone, I opted to not include this in Week 7’s longer blog post because I wanted that entry to focus on the integration of What Happens Next into the WEMR sessions. This week J and M were excited to refocus on creating some original music. We were able to devote all of Thursday’s session to this, and I was going to give them the requirement that they must utilize at least one effect on at least one track. I decided to casually mention this, but due to a late start I thought that I would allow them some ‘open creation’ without having a specific task. To my surprise they both naturally integrated effects into several of their tracks!

Throughout the course of this semester I’ve mentioned the importance of utilizing a logical structure to their compositions to help them focus their creative process. We’ve done lessons on the importance of following the grid so that their music loops more logically, and I emphasized the importance of this when creating soundbeds or introductions. Thus far the most accessible teaching method for this was the use of Audition’s viewable time-grid.

When we began working with audio loops in November, I emphasized individual creativity and encouraged J and M to practice advanced audio editing and manipulation, resulting in them becoming proficient at slicing and stretching audio among other concepts. Their compositions were less structured than they are now. This week in particular J and M have started to incorporate a more “standard” approach to composition: they are editing and arranging audio to act as a guideline and focusing on repeating and even introducing basic song structure.

I’ve decided to include some screen shots to demonstrate the difference in their approaches. The ones from this weeks session demonstrate an evolution in design-based thinking, and illustrate that RadioEdu’s curriculum strengthens and promotes meta-cognitive skills such as organization and structural thought.

[insert tracks from this week and screen shots of before/after]

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RadioEdu Second Semester: Week 7

Friday, March 21st, 2014 by WLOY Staff

Concepts: What Happens Next Debut Session!

Hello everyone, I’m pleased to report another great week at RadioEdu! Last week we decided on the schedule that would allow for immediate integration of the fourth graders while providing engineering opportunities to fifth graders J and M. Today Kelly from WLOY came to WEMR and did a wonderful job running a segment of What Happens Next with the new group. The first part of today’s session involved J and M briefly mentioning that this is how they started in September, and that they used that initial experience to springboard forward in learning the equipment. Kelly chose a St. Patrick’s Day parade story, and after the students wrote their endings, J and M began a recording session from scratch and completely engineered recording everyone’s endings! They did an amazing job making sure the levels were balanced for each student and did their best to offer pointers. In the Fall, a theme in many of my posts was about how J and M were improving at the behind the scenes skills that are so crucial to recording. Included in this subtle art are things such as knowing how to position yourself in relation to the mics, making sure you don’t move while in a chair, and situational awareness regarding the mic cable. They internalized these tips so much during the last six months that they were providing the same feedback and information to the new students!

It was a great experience and we look forward to more of these combined sessions with our newly crowned fifth grade engineers!

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