RadioEdu Second Semester: Week 7 Production Notes

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]