Patsy Dash, as most know, has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra percussion section since 1986. In this brief excerpt, she speaks about her introduction to music, and discusses some of the life lessons we learn as musicians. Sometimes I think we get wrapped up in the details of being a musician, and overlook some of the basic things that she addresses. Enjoy.
I’ve written before about the PASIC 2011 Panel discussion “Creative Uses for Technology in Percussion Teaching” but never posted a summary of the actual event. So, in an effort disseminate valuable information (and make available to all of you who have asked) today’s post features the final hand out from the discussion in Indianpolis at PASIC 2011. Thanks to Jonathan Latta and Michael Schutz for some great information.
Creative Uses for Technology in College Percussion Teaching
A PASIC Lab Presentation in Collaboration Between the PAS College Pedagogy Committee and the PAS Music Technology Committee
Presenters: Dr. Thomas Burritt, Dr. Jonathan Latta and Dr. Michael Schutz
Preparing Students for the “New Economy”
Internet as Disruptor- “Say goodbye to the Industrial Era”
A gradual and painful economic shift to a “New Economy” has begun.
What does this mean for the field of education and the performing arts?
How do we (or should we) prepare students for this “New Economy”?
– elimination of middle men and gate keepers = more opportunity “niche” artists
– social media allows unprecedented access to connect with others worldwide
– little to no investment barriers, video, audio, web site building etc..
The Internet as a Resource-Students have free access to almost any information
Free, Infinite Learning about ANY topic.
iTunes U
YouTube
Wikipedia (crowd sourcing)
Udemy.com
Corporate Web sites
Blog Reading
Podcast listening
Researching Recordings/Repertoire Study/Repertoire Discovery
Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody (free/paid streaming services)
Google Music – Access to entire music library on any device for easy reference
Internet as Opportunity-Utilizing these tools to move their impending career forward
Building an internet presence to prepare for life in the “New Economy”
Personal web site (free and cheap tools)
Learning of CMS (content management systems)
Use of social media platforms
Social Interaction
Some Webpage Resources
Drummerworld
Zildjian
Percussionradio
Percussive Arts Society
Vic Firth
Drumchattr
Recruiting and Retention Tools
College Webpage-Instructor and Studio
Facebook Page/Twitter
Studio Blog
YouTube Page of Performances
Stream Live Concerts
Videos of your teaching
Online lessons for All-State Auditions Music
Teaching Tools
Video and Audio Recording of Lessons
Using Dropbox for Large File Sharing
Using Audacity for Sound Editing and Waveform Analysis
MalleKat usage for Creativity as well as Accompaniment
Generate Electronic Ear Training Exercises
Create MIDI Harmonic Exercises for Timpani Tuning
Reference Quality YouTube Videos for Music Study
Practice Room Tips
Multi-Track/Advanced Metronomes
Audio and Video Record
Recorded Play-Along
“Amazing Slow Downer”
Generate Polyrhythm Programs
Transcribe from YouTube
Staying Connected
“Distance Drumming”: Use Skype to bring in guest lectures and masterclasses to your remote campus
Video-Conference discussions with colleagues
Bring composer of an ensemble or solo work to campus for feedback via Skype
Generate Online Classes
Ensemble Teaching Opportunities
Audio and Video Record
MalleKat Usage for Instrument Substitution Needs
Body Beat Sync Metronome
Electronic Drum Ensemble
Create Online Listening Library of Ensemble Works
Research Tools
WikiSpaces: Easy-to-use wiki site that offers free upgrades for educational groups. This is a great way to quickly and easily create a wiki for your studio for internal organization/communication (i.e. studio members have to log in to view content). This can also be used as a simple public website.
Mendeley: Free reference manager, “academic social network” and research organizer. Automatically extracts referencing information from articles and auto-manages citations as well as references lists within research papers. Entries can be shared amongst a research group, greatly reducing time consuming formatting of reference lists.
MAX/MSP: Not cheap – but good academic discounts for students and teachers. Annual subscription plans will soon be available. Used frequently in electronic music, it can also be used to generate controlled sounds for music research.
GraphClick: Inexpensive way ($8) to extract precise spatial information from graphs and videos
Snapz Pro X: This is an easy way to screen capture videos and still images, and offers a variety of codec options for optimizing bandwidth usage.
R Studio: Very powerful software for generating graphs and doing statistical analyses. Although it has a steeper learning curve than other statistical/graphics programs, it is incredibly powerful and is being used more and more often by researchers in a variety of disciplines.
For those of you who would like to print here is a pdf (no links of course!):
CreativeUsesforTechnologyinCollegePercussionTeachingHandout.docx
I learned a lot from this panel. What are your thoughts on the information above? Do you have anything to add? Leave your thoughts below.
Originally posted on DrummChattr.com on January 5, 2012 by Thomas Burritt.
Guest post by Doug Perry.
Tendonitis of the Brain
I took classical music history this past semester in order to fufil one of the musicology diagnostic exams I failed (I failed all of them). I felt like I was learning everything for the first time, which makes sense given my less-than-stellar undergraduate study habits. It wasn’t until we got to Beethoven that things began to feel familiar again; I didn’t start paying attention in my undergraduate class until Beethoven. (more…)
I originally wrote this for my other blog, which focuses on individual and business development. As I was writing it, I realized that this is also time for musicians, especially those in academia, to be setting goals. The examples used may focus on business, but the principles will prove true for musicians as well.
Enjoy! Shane Griffin
Most failed new initiatives, both individual and organizational, fail not because of a lack of skill, but because of one of two other factors: poor planning or poor communication. Both of these breakdowns can be mitigated with an effective goal-setting strategy. (more…)
For most college students, it is the beginning of the Spring semester. (Only 4 months until summer!!!) It is also time for a lot of recitals. One question I get a lot during this time is “where do I find a solo/chamber piece for my recital?” Check out my resources below and then add a comment and let me know if I missed anything.
1) Colleagues and Teachers – Whenever I am looking for new repertoire, I ask my colleagues. A quick message on Twitter or FaceBook is a great way to ask people from all over the world. There may be new, unpublished pieces that I would never know about unless I ask my friends and colleagues.
2) Attend Concerts and Recitals – I try to attend as many local concerts and recitals as possible. When I attend concerts, I make sure I bring a pencil and get a copy of the program. As I am listening to the concert, I make notes in the program and then when I get home, I do some research. I have started a Word document with pieces I am interested in playing or pieces I want to avoid.
3) Conventions and DOPs – See #2. Also, if you go to PASIC, make sure you go to the Listening Resource Center. They have scores and sound samples of all of the past winners of the composition competitions. It is an incredible resource and I usually spend 4-6 hours listening to music whenever I go to PASIC.
4) Festival Repertoire Lists – (SCPEF, Geneva Competition, International Marimba Competition Paris) – These lists are a great resource, even if you don’t plan on attending the competition. I always make a copy of the list and when I have some free time, I go through the list and check out the pieces I am not familiar with. (As a side note, I also do this with Symphony audition lists, just so I know what is being asked).
5) Internet – YouTube, Amazon.com, iTunes, Composers Web Sites/Societies, Blogs (Percussion Axiom TV), Publishers (Tapspace, C. Alan Publishing, HoneyRock, Bachovich Music Publishers). I am always looking for composer and publisher websites that have score and sound samples.
6) Composer Resources – The The American Music Center and American Composers Forum are, in my opinion, some of the most under utilized resources for any musician. They both have a huge collection of scores and audio files of their member’s works. I have found many pieces through both of these websites and if there were no samples, a quick email to the composer was all it took to get a score and a MP3.
What am I forgetting? Where do you find new music? Please leave your thoughts below.
Originally posted on DrummChattr.com on January 24, 2011 by Dave Gerhart
How do you maintain balance between being a full-time musician/student and living life? We can never be “done” preparing music, and there is literally always something more to be done, to learn, to study, or to listen to. That being said, how do you keep your life balanced? Accountants, Engineers, laborers, and other professions clock out, finish projects, and simply go home. But, as musicians, nothing is ever finished. I think that makes it one of the toughest professions to balance, especially those musicians who have families too. I highly respect those who maintain life balance and still excel in the arts, and would love to hear how they manage their time and their lives.
How do you handle this struggle? Do you have any “tricks” or regular practices that help? Share your thoughts, struggles, and questions in the comments.
Originally posted on DrummChattr.com on January 23, 2011 by Shane Griffin.
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The photo in this post is used under the Creative Commons License: Attribution – NonCommercial – No Derivs 2.0 by SonnyandSandy on Flickr.com.
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