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- Volume 6, Issue 1, 2013
Journal of Music, Technology & Education - Volume 6, Issue 1, 2013
Volume 6, Issue 1, 2013
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Trainee teachers’ perceptions: Factors that constrain the use of music technology in teaching placements
By Marina GallThis article reports findings from a study of English pre-service music teachers’ thoughts on their work with ICT within a one-year teacher education course (Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE)). The specific focus is on trainee teachers’ perceptions of factors that hinder their use of music technology during their school placements. Data were gathered from questionnaires completed by student teachers within one university over a six-year period (2006–2012) and follow-up group discussions. Findings suggest that the main inhibitors to trainee music teachers’ use of technology within music classrooms are lack of computers and other equipment issues, and a lack of music staff sufficiently competent, confident and/or interested in providing effective support. The article offers recommendations in relation to technology and teacher education, which would also impact positively on the use of technology in secondary school music classrooms
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The potential of audio and video for formative assessment purposes in music education in the lower secondary school in England: Issues arising from a small-scale study of trainee music teachers
More LessThis small-scale study charts the underuse by music teachers in England of audio- and video-recording technologies. It finds that despite their now highly affordable price, use of such technologies is not well embedded into secondary school music teachers’ day-to-day classroom practices. The use of such technologies offers considerable potential for formative assessment purposes, including cognitive redistribution, and it is recommended that adoption of recording technologies offer significant advances in formative assessment practices and in developmental learning opportunities for pupils
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Skype music lessons in the academy: Intersections of music education, applied music and technology
Authors: Nathan B. Kruse, Steven C. Harlos, Russell M. Callahan and Michelle L. HerringThe purpose of this particularistic case study was to examine the phenomenon of conducting collegiate-level piano lessons over Skype. Specifically, this research explored (1) the benefits and challenges of piano lessons as experienced by one graduate student and (2) one piano instructor, and considered (3) the feasibility of implementing distance learning in the music academy and beyond. Data were collected through observations, interviews, e-journals and video artefacts. Findings revealed four themes that chronicled synchronous reality, catalysts to discovery, obstacles to implementation and redefined roles. Benefits included a natural feel to lessons, the evolution of imagination and enthusiasm and the mastering of equipment and music, while challenges included technological complications that impeded instruction along with literal and figurative disconnectedness. Implications include examining the feasibility of implementing technology-mediated lessons, acquiring knowledge of equipment tendencies and exploring the possibilities of long-distance learning opportunities.
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Objective Rhythmic Performance Evaluation Tool (O.R.P.E.T.): A numerical method to evaluate the accuracy of a musical performance
Authors: Antonio Tudurí Vila, Bartomeu Serra Cifre and Bartomeu Mut LlabrésRecent developments in Information Technologies (IT) have given many powerful tools to the field of musical education, which have in turn provided increased pedagogic services to the musical education professionals. This article presents the results of the development of a computer tool that using musical material in MIDI format and from that material extracts the discrete histogram of occurrence of the different note durations at low level. To evaluate these note length histograms, the authors have also developed a mathematical model to numerically evaluate the rhythmic ‘correctness’ of various performances of the same piano piece (which can be applied to all instrumental reproductions that generate MIDI format material) and compare it to a performance considered as the ‘correct performance’. This method can be used as an additional technological tool for self-learning for Music Schools and Conservatories to allow the students to check the rhythmic correctness of their own performances. It also could be used as an objective and official evaluation tool for different performances of a musical piece compared with a performance considered as the ‘correct performance’; for example in a test, exam, entrance exam or in public competitions. In general, the method presented in this article can be used as a technological tool that will support the learning process of piano students.
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The impact of producers’ comments and musicians’ self-evaluation on perceived recording quality
Authors: Amandine Pras and Catherine GuastavinoThe choice of recording technologies always transforms musicians’ perception of their performance when playing in the studio. In many cases, during recording sessions, musicians repeat the same musical composition over and over again without the presence of an audience. We hypothesize that comments from an external record producer and/or self-evaluation after listening to the takes in the control room address the challenges of studio recording by helping musicians improve from one recorded take to another. We conduct a field experiment with 25 jazz players, grouped into five ensembles, participating in recording sessions with four record producers. The musicians are invited to record four compositions, one in each of four experimental conditions. To create these conditions, we independently manipulate two types of feedback between takes: with or without comments from the record producer and with or without musicians’ self-evaluation (after listening to the takes in the control room). Our results show that both external comments and self-evaluation provide objectivity by giving the ensemble a common ground. Specifically, listening to the first take enhances creativity while external comments positively impact a takes’ evolution throughout the session
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How effective are music interventions in the criminal youth justice sector? Community music making and its potential for community and social transformation: A pilot study
More LessCommunity music offers organic opportunities for both Authentic and Situation Learning, as well as Process-directed education. It is evident that in many community music projects participants are empowered to discover their own learning paths through the creative process of music-making. However, the participatory nature of community music making also seems to encourage participants to share in each other’s experiences that can often lead to an understanding of each other and themselves. The type of music workshops we were particularly interested in examining mainly consisted of group composition through the process of learning to play in a rock band (bass, keys, guitar, vocals and drums) and electronic composition using the software Logic. We were interested in trying to measure the transformative effect of participating in community music sessions on young people’s attitudes towards offending behaviour. Our preliminary results suggest that there seems to be a small but measurable improvement in the attitudes towards offending of the young people who had participated in the music workshops, especially in the perception of their life problems and how these problems could contribute to potential offending behaviour.
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REVIEWS
Authors: Niall Thomas and Rowan OliverTHE ART OF RECORD PRODUCTION: AN INTRODUCTORY READER FOR A NEW ACADEMIC FIELD, SIMON FRITH AND SIMON ZAGORSKI-THOMAS (2012) Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 301 pp., ISBN: 978-1-4094-0678-5, p/bk, £19.99
GROOVE MUSIC: THE ART AND CULTURE OF THE HIP-HOP DJ, MARK KATZ (2012) New York: Oxford University Press, 333 pp., ISBN: 978-0-19-533111-0, h/bk, £60.00
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