Welcome to "Computer Generated Music in the Middle School Orchestra." My name is Murilou Chilman, and I teach at McKemy Middle School in Tempe, Arizona. Today you will experience a Middle School Orchestra class as the members of the McKemy Concert Orchestra experience orchestra class.

As you entered the Wyndham Ballroom you noticed the background music. I was playing a d minor chord on the synthesizer to tune the instruments. The music also serves to lighten the mood and set the tone of the class. You are seated in an orchestral setting and you will find a scale sheet and the music to M to the Third Power by Carold Nunez on your chair. During the course of this demonstration you will be asked to be middle school orchestra students - only those with good attitudes, no raging hormones, and respect for their teacher will be allowed.

The technology that exists in my orchestra classroom is: an I.B.M. 386 computer, with 4 Megs of ram, and a Roland MPU sound card; a stereo music system, with CD and tape players; a Kawai FS 900 keyboard, with an internal sequencer, automatic chords, two melodic voice plus bass, chords, and rhythm section all controlled by an equalizer, and a Kawai keyboard amplifier. The computer programs that I have used to create a computerized teaching assistant are: Finale, by Coda Music Software, a Wenger Company, 1401 E. 79th Street, Bloomington MN, 55425-1126, 1-800-843-2066; and Band in a Box, by PG Music Inc., 111-266 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, NY, 14222. 1-416-528-2368.

While the d minor chord with rhythm was playing, I would have tuned all the instruments and taken the time to greet each student. I would also have made any minor adjustments to instruments that were essential to make. I have found that with the music playing the students tend to sit in their seats and practice. They enter with a bounce to their steps. Immediately the pacing of the class is established positively, because there is no "down time" and there is an up-beat greeting.

Rhythmic movement would be the next part of class. Playing one of the many pre-programmed songs in Band in a Box I lead the students through rhythmic exercises. Will you join me now in a demonstration? The exercises serve to warm-up muscles and focus mental facilities, as well as make the students move to music in a fun and exciting way. The students become aware of the strong beat and coordinate their movements to that beat, just as they have to do in playing music. Do as I do. Try to mirror my actions as exactly as you can. (When I lift my right arm, you lift your left) I included some alternate motions, because research has proven that this is one of the ways to improve the communication between the two lobes of the brain.

The next short portion of orchestra class involves the recognition and verbalization of rhythmic patterns on large flash cards, with Band in a Box or my keyboard playing a percussion and chordal pattern in the background. Since I use a lot of background rhythm and music in my classes, I feel that through the use of these cards the students can learn to read simple and complex rhythm cards and apply that knowledge to their music reading. I produced these cards using Finale. This is also a good time to monitor individual understanding of the different rhythmic patterns. When playing music it is necessary to be looking ahead. I show the class one card, and have them verbalize it while I am showing them the next card. Join me in a demonstration. First let me verbalize a card for you (doo, day, doo, day, doooo), You must rhythmically speak the instructions during this part of class (Now, Class, Look and Say = quarter, quarter, eighth, eighth, quarter) Now let's do several cards in sequence - let's see how far you can get.

The next portion of my class involves scale warm-ups. Please take out your scale pattern sheet which shows appropriate fingering for your instrument on a d minor scale pattern. This pattern occurs at the end of the piece we are learning today. I use Band in a Box to play a rhythmic background and we play the scale using one of the rhythmic cards. I produced the scale sheets using Finale and picked something from M to the Third Power to teach. Please join me, pretending that you have an "air" instrument and an "air" bow to execute the correct fingering and rhythm.

Now take out your music to M to the Third Power, it's time to play. First, let's listen to the computer play this piece, so you can get an idea of what it sounds like. Please hold your "air" instruments and "air" bows and execute as much of the piece in the air as you can. Now, let me slow down the tempo and let's play along with the computer. Be sure that you play Bb and C# like we learned during the warm-up scale pattern. If violas, cellos, and basses are having a problem with their exposed solo section, I can find that measure in Finale and isolate parts to play for them, or slow the music down to a tempo where they can experience success. With the computer playing the music I can move among the students and help them place their fingers correctly on the fingerboard. I can also adjust bow holds, and bow placement. With a wide variety of abilities in the middle school orchestra it is necessary to constantly adjust instrument and bow holding techniques.

By this time, we are in the final minutes in class, before you pack up your instrument and put your music in the cabinet, I have a practice tape for you to take home. This tape is marked for your instrument, so be sure you grab the right tape. You will find M to the Third Power on the tape six times. The first and second times are just your part playing, slowly and then faster. Next you will be able to play along with a slow and fast version of the whole orchestra playing the piece. The final two versions on the tape are like "Music Minus One" meaning that the orchestra parts are on the tape but your part is not. Good luck and have fun tonight practicing all 6 versions. Let me demonstrate how Finale facilitates the production of this tape. I isolate the first violin part using a template and by choosing "play visible staffs" from the option menu, the computer plays only the first violin part. For the second part of the tape I assign the first violin part to voice 2 and I can separately control that voice on my synthesizer with its built in equalizer. I use another template to produce the part of the tape that has the orchestra parts playing, but not their part.

During the next portion of my presentation here in San Antonio, I am going to attempt to pre-answer as many questions as possible. I will allow time at the end of the presentation to answer your individual questions as long as they do not involve technical questions about how computers work.

First, I have to give credit to Bob Phillips and the American String Teachers Workshop in Ann Arbor Michigan, which is where I got started on the path toward the use of computer and synthesizer in my classes.

As far as my philosophy goes, I believe that surrounding the students with in-tune, rhythmically-correct music is far superior to having them struggle along with their out-of-tune, rhythmically-incorrect peers. I believe that pacing can make or break a rehearsal, and that the feeling tone for the class should be up-beat and energetic. I also feel that it is important to have time for one-on-one interaction between my students and me. As my classes grew in numbers, I became increasingly frustrated with the time and size constraints that go along with large classes. I have found the with the help of my computerized teaching assistant, I do not have to sacrifice the important factors to meet the needs of the group. I truly believe that the addition of technology has made a tremendous difference in my abilities as a teacher.

Many of you are wondering at the time it takes to get the things going that I have talked about. And I am not going to tell you that if you go out and buy Finale and Band in a Box you will be able to do the things I have done the next day. I had a tremendous learning curve, because I was not even computer literate when I started. I will tell you that the benefits far out-shadow the work involved. It takes me about 30 minutes to enter a piece like M to the Third Power into Finale. Using Finale's template and playback features, I can then isolate the different parts for playback. The tapes take more time because I do have to play the music at regular speed six times for each instrument. But I use fast speed dubbing to create the individual tapes, and I have a student teaching assistant who likes to dub the tapes for me. My principal lets me order 30-minute tapes from our district supply catalogue, and I reuse them for each quarter. Band in a Box is a much easier program to learn. You just program in the different chords for the progression that you want and then you can pick from hundreds of accompaniment styles and patterns, as well as customize patterns for yourself. You can even change tempo during playback in Band in a Box, whereas in Finale you have to stop the playback and change the tempo with a couple of key strokes.

As far as results go: I have found my classes to be much more energetic and fun. It is apparent that the students are learning new music much faster. I have literally no discipline problems and my program is growing by leaps and bounds. I can send a section into the practice room with a pre-recorded tape and they can have a very successful sectional, while I am free to work with the rest of the orchestra. My students seem to be practicing much more at home and enjoying the learning process. They were excited that I was sharing these ideas at this conference, because they told me that the new ideas have made orchestra much more exciting for them. When I have had to be away from school for conferences or illness, the pre-recorded tapes make substitutes beg to come back and sub for me. They can run a tape and the kids can play. They do not even have to be musicians, all they have to do is run the tape recorder. Because I can get away from the conductor's podium, I have found that I can facilitate playing position changes while the orchestra keeps playing. It is truly like having a very capable teacher assisting me every day.