Digital Music Production CTE

Demonstrate awareness of course objectives and competencies

Demonstrate understanding of course requirements and student expectations Demonstrate awareness of the industry standards and career opportunities

Consumers are interacting with more music now than any time in the past. Everything from interactive streaming sites, non-interactive sites, permanent download services, and music in video games, TV, and film are now vital revenue streams for musicians. All of these services also rely on the fundamental principles of copyright to effectively compensate musicians. Every student, musician, author, filmmaker, or other creator needs to understand the basics of how their creative works are protected by copyright law, and what rights they have as a content owner. Copyright Law teaches the basics of copyright and what it protects, and provides students with an understanding of how to both monetize and protect their works from unauthorized exploitation. As part of the Digital Music course; students will familiarize themselves with real-world cases decided by courts, and begin to understand copyright law as passed by the United States Congress. Topics will include the six exclusive rights of copyright owners, how to register a copyright, the duration of copyright protection, tests for infringement liability, remedies available to those whose works are infringed, and the "fair use" defense. The course also explores compulsory royalty rates for technologies such as interactive streaming, high-profile new media court cases, such as Napster and Grokster, and international treaties to protect works overseas. By the end of the chapter, the student will be able to:

Understand the history and applicability of copyright to all creative works, with a specific emphasis on music

Explain copyright infringement and the penalties and defenses to it Learn to protect your own works from unauthorized exploitation.

Key Assignment:

Demonstrate understanding by summarizing and presenting the Copyright Laws and applicable cases that support the law while also showing an ability to copyright original work and the process to retrieve arrangement rights for the use of other work.

Key Signatures

1. Learn about the Circle of Fifths and be able to diagram and understand it. Discussion of how math and music are closely related.

2. Become familiar with all major and minor key signatures and be able to write them correctly on staff paper.

3. Be able to read and write in treble and bass clefs all key signatures.

4. Practice sight-reading and determining the key of a piece of music just by looking at the key signature and the first and last notes. Level of difficulty: 3 on a scale of 1-6

Scales

1. Learn to identify and produce major and minor scale patterns on a keyboard. 2. Identify various intervals and scale degrees by listening to musical patterns. Level of difficulty: 3 on a scale of 1-6.

Intervals

1. Discussion of the distance between notes and how intervals are the building blocks of chords.

2. Ear training beginning with major and minor thirds and progressing to perfect fourths, fifths, augmented, and diminished intervals. (1.2)

3. Use of popular song melodies to memorize the sound of different intervals.

Time Signatures

1. Listening and analysis of different pieces that contain varying time signatures. 2. Rhythmic exercises which will refine the student’s ability to maintain a constant internal time clock. Each student will perform a unique rhythmic part on his or her own.

Rhythm

1. Discuss the various rhythmic patterns in music from different cultures in the American music landscape.

2. Listen to musical composition and discuss how the composer uses various rhythm patterns to evoke specific emotions and moods.

Harmony

1. Students will be able to identify different chord types, such as major, minor, dominant, and diminished. They will be tested on their aural recognition of these musical elements.

2. Students will learn how to arrange a piece by adding harmony to a melodic line i.e. alto, tenor, and bass to sopranos.

3. Students will learn how to analyze the melodic line and identify chord changes.

Tempo

1. By listening to various pieces, an illustration of how the tempo of a piece will affect the overall energy level and feeling of a given piece of music.

2. Use of metronome to develop a strong internal sense of tempo.

Notation

1. Students will become familiar with standard practices of notation. They will be able to draw treble and bass clefs on staff paper and will be familiar with musical conventions such as quarter, eighth, sixteenth notes and their corresponding rests.

2. Students will transcribe simple melodies using correct musical notation. Level of difficulty: 2 on a scale of 1-6.

3. Students will practice sight-reading music

4. Students will create parts of a digital arrangement then notate. The parts will then be assembled into a complete arrangement for a song.

Improvisation

1. Students will learn how to improvise over basic electronic percussion

2. Students will utilize what they have learned about scales, melodies, rhythms, and harmonies to create a cohesive improvisatory statement.

Composition

1. Students will create their own original electronic pieces as well as creating new melodies over existing digital percussion.

2. Students will compose and perform an original electronic portfolio that illustrates a cohesive theme based on a social element of the student’s choosing.

Key Assignments:

1. Students will draw a fully notated staff which includes major and minor key signatures and both clefs

2. Students will notate a simple song from an aurally dictated melody (ex. Greensleeves)

3. Students will transcribe various intervals based on played examples

4. Students will compose a 16 bar composition using quarter and eighth notes 5. Students will compose a bass line with a drum set and a rhythm line with a guitar.

Evolution of Electronic/Digital Music

Listening to and discussion of examples of electronic/digital music from ancient times to the present.

1. The pre-electric origins of digital music (since ancient Greece)

2. Early instruments and the use of noise

3. Electronic instruments from the 1920s and 30s 4. The electronic music studio as an instrument. 5. The 1950s and 60s: sound synthesis

Emotional Content

1. Discuss how emotion is conveyed through various music genres throughout different cultures.

2. Compare electronic/digital music’s ability to convey emotion versus traditional music.

3. Listen and analyze various pieces of published and student created electronic/digital music to determine how emotions and themes are conveyed. 4. Create original electronic pieces to experiment in conveying and evoking different types of emotions to and for the audience.

Historical and multicultural influences

1. Listen and compare electronic/digital music from different cultures to American composers.

2. Discuss and analyze how social and political circumstances have influenced the evolution and innovation of electronic/digital music in other cultures.

Key Assignments:

1. Students will research and present major technological innovations from each time period [research project in which students create an oral presentation that must include presentation software and oration]

2. Students will research an artist/group within specified times in history and discuss their emergence into the music industry. [Research paper that must include primary and secondary sources. Must include social and political events of the time period and influence of these on the artist; innovations produced by the artist; the artist influence on society; public reaction to the artist; and lasting impact of the artist on the industry and/or society].

3. Students will research a famous producer and/or studio [research project in which students create an oral presentation that includes the history and influence of person/studio on the larger music landscape. Must include artists associated with; major achievements; and current status. Includes use of presentation software and oration]

Selection of Music

1. Listening sessions will be held at the beginning of each semester to include selections that students suggest. This will be in addition to pieces already predetermined by the instructor. Discussions of which musical elements make the particular piece unique and interesting will determine the final selection.

2. Students will mimic selections and will use selections as a basis for types of music that they will compose and perform.

Rehearsal Procedures

1. Make sure that the PA system is properly wired and that all computers and instruments are properly connected

2. Set up appropriate mics for appropriate instruments

3. Set up for house speakers, vocal monitors, drum monitors

4. Set up for electronic/digital instruments and live instruments

5. Confirm settings for digital playback; rehearse settings for performance 6. Breakdown and put instruments and equipment away.

Concert Preparation

Set-up for live performance

1. Stage Set-up

2. Sound Check

3. Performance protocols

4. Ensure proper dress and professionalism during the performance.

5. Audience interaction

Studio recording preparation

1. Preparation of the control room, including the mixing board

2. Preparations of the recording room to ensure proper sound and hearing Performance and analysis

1. Perform digital/electronic pieces as part of a larger instrumental ensemble. 2. Perform digital/electronic pieces individually.

3. Record and publish original works for a broader audience.

4. After the performance, the class will analyze live performance and the integration of digital music. Will include discussion of the ability to interact and evoke emotion

with the audience.

Composition of Original Songs

1. Students will create a song arrangement that must include an intro, a main idea, some variation on the main idea, and an ending.

2. Students will listen to music from a provided song file and create his/her own mix.

3. Student will record 3 drum tracks and write an analysis of each pattern’s ability to fit musically into other material.

4. Students will create a full composition with a clear storyline showing the use of drum track, bassline, lead lines, harmonies, and looping skills.

5. Students will write a brief paper explaining the writing process and the creative choices made in composing the song.

6. Students will perform the song and offer an oral explanation of creative choices made in the composition. Students will critique each song on the basis of each individual element as well as the overall composition. Students will compose a pop dance song with a minimum length of 3:30 that mimics the elements of a current pop song of choice.

The role of the studio and producer in the music industry

1. Students will research early music studios and producers in order to determine their role in the evolution of popular music.

2. Students will listen to samples of the work of current music producers and determine methods used to increase public demand and profitability of songs (the psychology of music production).

Digital music in Film and Television

1. Students will watch samples of film and television and analyze how music is used to complement what is happening visually.

2. Discussion of sound editing, Foley, and ADR.

3. Discussion of other uses of music in film and television, including but not limited to placing songs in movies and sitcoms.

4. Discussion of “temp-tracks” in TV/Film post-production and music usage for “demo reels” with regard to copyright issues.

5. Students will create sound effects for a movie trailer including creating original Foley sounds, and recording and looping in dialogue.

Music in Video Games

1. Other opportunities for creating a career in music exist in the video game market. Students will analyze and discuss how this music is used to create the atmosphere of the

game.

2. The discussion will include the use of technology and digital sound sources in the composting process.

Students will create original compositions.

1. Students will analyze the musical elements and storyline of the current pop song.

2. Students will write a brief paper about their original composition explaining the writing process and the creative choices made in composing the song and its link to the published song.

3. Students will publish their original song to a cloud-based streaming platform and explain their creative choices to the class.

4. Students will critique each song on the basis of each individual element as well as the overall composition.

Students will create a 5-piece portfolio of original compositions.

1. Students will identify and import 7 public domain songs that exemplify the evolution of electronic music as discussed in class.

2. Students will analyze and critique each song for specific musical elements. 3. Students will create 5 original songs that represent musical elements of 5 of the 7 songs chosen.

Portfolio of original songs must be thematically linked

Each original song will include a brief written analysis of connection to song elements; discussion of creative choices made, including a thematic explanation • Finished portfolios must include a written review by 2 peers in class. Must discuss the success of musical elements, clarity of theme, and overall success of a portfolio

Students will compose a soundtrack to a video game clip or trailer.

1. The student will create a custom sound that is to be used in a video game soundtrack.

2. The student will compose a soundtrack that incorporates the custom sound to be used in a video game clip or game trailer.

3. The student will write a brief analysis of the composition’s connection to the storyline of the game.

4. The class will critique each work based on musical elements learned, the composition’s link to the game, and the overall quality of the work.

Students will create sound effects for a movie trailer.

1. Students will import a movie trailer (co-project with Video Production class) and create sound effects.

2. Students will record and loop in all dialogue.

Performances

Students must participate in one live performance during the year.

1. Must complete a short critique of the performance for discussion at the following class meeting.

2. Students must produce and record at least one original song that will be included on a class album that will be published to an online streaming service & must complete a self-analysis of contributed song and critique of each song on the album.

3. Students must participate in the setup/staging of at least one live show during the year.