20/21 Album Releases

Through the generous support of the Council Bluffs Schools Foundation, we were able to use an online digital audio workstation called Soundtrap to create new music. The great thing about this experience is that real musicians working today use software like this all the time to create and share their work with the world, especially when working from a distance. By engaging in the process of not only creating music, but authentically integrating technology, this experience has served as a deep learning experience that's both authentic to the artistic processes and offers a meaningful path to staying connected with each other when learning from so many places.

For every student, this work started with a project called Who Are You Today? It asked students to gather inspiration from their lives to create a musical statement that communicated an expressive intent while they learned the basics of the Soundtrap environment.

At Kirn Middle School, students then explored improvisation and creating their own melodies using their instruments. Rather than using the "loops" in Soundtrap, they created their own on their instrument! The students then notated this music either with pencil and paper or using Noteflight, another music program. After we gathered these melodies, students then had a library of sounds their peers created they used to then create more music! Better yet, this work was done collaboratively as their Inspired Together project, asking students to not only work together but many times work together at a distance through Google Meet or the built-in collaboration features in Soundtrap.

At Abraham Lincoln High School, their Inspired Together project went deeper in artistic inspiration. As collaborators, they found a photo either collaborator took from their own lives and created music inspired from that photo. You'll see their photos throughout their albums on this site. None of these are random - they're real life experiences and connections of the students in the class. With additional knowledge and skills in technology, music improvisation, and compositional craftsmanship, they created new music together.

Finally, students at Abraham Lincoln High School were challenged with one final challenge - The Band Broke Up (Kind Of). In this project, they were in large groups of six people. The scenario was having just finished a tour, their record label needed the band to create and produce a new album for their December release, just in time for the holidays. Someone will need to be the audio engineer, refining and mixing every composition in the group created so far. Next, we'll need a marketing specialist to gather the inspiration and photos for the music played on tour. Working with that marketing specialist is a web designer to put that content on the record label site. Finally, three remaining collaborators served as studio musicians, creating a new track so the album wasn't just a re-release of old material.

Oh, did I mention the whole group is never together in person to collaborate or create music, and this is due in a little less than two weeks?!!

The work you see on this site is a culmination of tons of hard work and creative spirit from amazing students. They've done the work to design this site, and of course, they created every song you're going to hear. As you listen, I encourage you to participate in our compliment exchange - if you like something you heard, you can tell the artist!

Thanks for listening, thanks again to the Council Bluffs Schools Foundation for their generous support, and most of all thank you for your continued support for your child and arts education in the Council Bluffs Community School District. Have a wonderful holiday!

-Mr. Black

dblack@cbcsd.org