Jam Studio from JamStudio.com
For this assignment, I choose to work with Jam Studio. This is a free Web 2.0 tool that allows students (or adults) to compose their own music while learning about music theory and sound mixing without them even knowing it!
The first thing I noticed about the site, is that you can buy a subscription to access all tools, but after a quick scan through the menus at the bottom of the page, I found that as an educator, I can receive full access for free which is great! The site itself is very easy for anyone. The only computer skill you need is the ability to click the mouse.
The first step is to add chords in the selected box by clicking on in the chord box. For younger students they can choose a key and the appropriate chord choices come into the box. For more advanced theory students, they can choose from the next box over which has all the chords listed that they still can just click on to add to their piece. The composition is a basic 4/4 piece in 16 bars. As you insert the chords you can hit play at any time to hear what you have so far and it is very simple to make changes.
Once all the chords are in, students can add instrument tracks to any liking they choose. They can choose both what instruments to add as well a style from the many different stock styles Jam Studio has to offer for each instrument arranged by genre of music. Again, you can preview as you change instruments and styles by pressing the play button and the new effects take place at the begging of the next bar.
Once the composition is complete and the student is happy with it, they can do a few different things. One being that they can save it to their account (or mine if doing it with a class) to listen to it at a later date. They can also send the recording to a friend or another teacher. I see this as a great tool for homework assignments. They can compose at home and share with me through the share option and I can assess them at home or work.
Since students can save their piece with a name of their choosing, it would be a great tool for learning how to critique music in a safe and anonymous way.
I was very successful in creating a piece very easily. I see this web 2.0 tool being very helpful in my classroom. I also think students of all ages would have a great time secretly learning about music theory and composing pieces to share with their friends and family. I will definitely use this tool with my students from kindergarten all the way through 5th grade.
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