Trying again - week 1 update (with another update)

Hopefully this will be the last time I'm writing this post :P

I found some time to have a go at Soundtrap on my computer!

I found the interface had more capabilities than the iPad, which made the overall experience much more fun. To begin with, I watched a few YouTube tutorials made by Sountrap to refresh some of the things that were pointed out in class. Soundtrap has a playlist of basic how-to videos on YouTube, which I found very helpful.

Here’s a link to their crash course video:

Then I went to start experimenting with the pre-recorded loops and the various function that I had learned in class and through the tutorial videos. However, I could not access any pre-recorded loops, no matter what I searched in the loops page. I do not know why this was, and I could not find any answers online. I will have to ask James in class if he has any idea of why this was.

I loved the idea shared in class, where you could create a backing track for students to record over, and re-cover some of their favourite songs. So, while I couldn’t use any pre-recorded loops, I began to record my own tracks.

I thought using the computer keyboard as a midi was so cool, and I didn’t know that is was possible. I thought he overall set up was pretty good. Although, as a pianist, I did find it confusing, if I looked at the E piano key on the screen, I had to press the C key on the keyboard. I did find playing legato was rather difficult on the keyboard. I thought this could be fixed by quantising the notes, however, I could only make them line up at the start of the beat and not at the end so sometimes there were weird gaps between notes which I had to fix clumsily by mouse.

This is me recording and quantising

This is me creating my own loop

Overall, Soundtrap is incredibly user friend and has so many ways it could be used in the classroom. The drag and drop functions for loops are super easy to use, and would be a great way to introduce students to the concepts of music and also music production. For the further capabilities of the site, there is a learning curb which would need to be factored into the lesson time. But this would be a great opportunity to help students understand that music making takes patience, time and effort and isn't always as easy as dragging and dropping loops.

There are many more capabilities o Soundtrap that I am yet to experiment with, however I do not have the time with week. So I have requested to join the Soundtrap for education group on facebook, to see what everyone else is doing and to gain inspiration.

Video of my MP3

Update

I have been accepted into the Soundtrap for Education group on Facebook. I have had a look through the posts and I found this really cool article on how you could incorporate the podcast capabilities of Soundtrap into a lesson. Definitely going to keep my eyes peeled on this page for some inspiration.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2019/05/16/6-tips-to-help-your-students-collaborate-on-awesome-podcasts/