Bradley J. Dawson, Fort Hays State University

The use of technology in music and music education is growing rapidly. Every year more hardware and software becomes available to create music and teach students about music. Music teachers on all levels are using or will be using technology in their classrooms. Computer assisted instruction is certainly valid in helping students learn about such topics as theory or music history. Using notational software is certainly better than hand writing a composition. A sequencer or sequencing software may provide a creative outlet for students that was never available to them in the past. As this use of technology becomes more common, courses should be developed that deal specifically with music technology. A course such as this on an introductory level will allow students to gain an appreciation of the technology, learn how to use it and be able to generalize from this basic understanding to use future hardware and software. Such a course, I believe, should give students a broad based introduction into many aspects of technology that traditional courses that have recently adopted CAI or MIDI software alone do not achieve. This course is not intended to replace the use of CAI or MIDI software in these other courses but rather to provide an introduction into the workings of music technology. It is my opinion that courses like this will become common at both the secondary and college level. Advances in software and hardware are occurring daily. New products hit the market constantly. Faster, more memory, flexibility, compatibility, more user friendly, more intuitive; with all of the constant changes how can we best prepare our students to use the current music technology and be prepared as possible to face the future? Perhaps the answer could be an introductory course that covers topics such as: What is music technology, The History of Music Technology, Wave Forms and Wave Form Manipulation, Micro Computers and Digital Technology, MIDI, and The Recording Studio. An important aspect of such a course should be a laboratory requirement. Students should have the opportunity to gain "hands on experience" and learn not just one program, but several different types in order to complete a lab project. The students should see and use for themselves the compatibility among music tech programs of a creating a standard MIDI file with one program and manipulating it with another or several others. Such a project, if done correctly, will give students experience with several types of music technology software programs and allow them to generalize this knowledge to use a great many more programs in the near future and distant future.

In order to start a course with a lab requirement a certain amount of hardware and software will need to be acquired. Work stations containing a computer interfaced with a synthesizer and printer will be needed. It has been my experience that most of the cost of work station should be put into the computer. With today's software and future software, speed, memory, and available space are extremely important. When shopping for computers you should look for ones with as much speed, memory, and hard drive space as your budget will allow. A good synthesizer is also necessary; however, you do not need one with a sequencer or a great deal of complex sound patch manipulation. A good synthesizer for a work station would be one that has at least 16 parts, is multi-timbral, has good sounds that are expandable, and general MIDI format. Synthesizers like this are available for $1,000 to $1,300. Software and site licenses are something to budget for as well.

By sinking the largest part of your funds into computers you gain something very valuable in working with music tech software--speed! It gets very frustrating to watch a computer chomp away on a command when you're trying to finish up a project. The faster the MHz speed and greater amount of RAM the better. New software and upgrades of older ones generally require more and more RAM.

MIDI interfaces, connections to a printer and carpentry work are also things that need to be considered. It is possible to have the tables where the computer and synthesizers will set built to your own specifications. This is what I did at FHSU. However it is also possible to purchase tables already built specifically for computers and synthesizers.

What should be included in an introductory course once hardware and software are in place? When I developed our introductory course I had very few syllabi from which to get ideas. The textbook that I chose was written by Robert Adams and entitled, Electronic Music Composition for Beginners. The textbook obviously deals with music composition but also covers many areas that I felt should be included in the course. I am looking for a textbook that is more appropriate for an introductory class in music technology. Currently there are very few textbooks written on this subject.

I feel it is important to begin the course by defining what is music technology. I was surprised at the breadth that music technology covers. Certainly computers being MIDIed to synthesizers are a part of music technology but what about recording equipment, sound reinforcement, samplers, sequencer, and effects devices? Great strides have also been made in these areas and are certainly worth mentioning as being under this large and diverse umbrella of music technology. I usually devote at least one class period to discussing these areas. Recent developments and futuristic projections are also discussed. Since classes are small, I encourage the students to share their experiences in working with any area of music technology.

Next we begin discussing the history of music technology. This is a subject that is not included in our current textbook. As a reference in preparing my lectures for the history segment I used a book written by Thomas Holmes entitled Electronic and Experimental Music. There is a wonderful section, which I have outlined and use in the course, that breaks down the history of music technology into three time frames: the early years, the studio age, and the synthesizer era. The early years begins by discussing events in the mid 1800's and runs into the early 1940's. The phonograph, the theremin, and others are mentioned with a brief outline giving the reader information about the inventor, the date of the invention, how it worked, and it's significance. Also mentioned is a device invented at the turn of the century by Thaddeus Cahill called the telharmonium. In his patent in the late 1800's Cahill uses the work synthesizing in describing want his machine will do.

The studio age discusses inventions leading up to the tape recorder. Pierre Schaffer and musique concrete is mentioned in the studio age section. When musique concrete is discussed several different kinds of tape manipulation is mentioned. I have the class do individual lab projects dealing with tape manipulation. I believe it gets them working in the music tech lab early in the class with a technology that they are already somewhat familiar with-tape recording. I allow them to use anything that is legal to complete this tape manipulation project. I am always amazed at the creativity that goes into this project. Tape splicing, tape speed changes, running tape in reverse, looping and many other techniques are employed using a myriad of sources for sounds.

The last history section in Holmes' book deals with the synthesizer era. We begin our class discussion of this by looking at RCA's Mark I and II synthesizers built in the 1950's. When portability and affordability become factors we see this era become launched. We discuss early analog synthesizers such as those built by Robert Moog and others and end our discussion with the latest digital synthesizers.

It is at this stage of the class that I begin to introduce students to the major laboratory component. We stop with a lecture situation and go to a "hands on" environment. Here the students learn about the available hardware and software in the music technology lab and also what will be expected of them in terms of a laboratory project. The main objective is not to complete an extremely artistic lab project but rather simply learn sequencing and notational software as well as perhaps other kinds of music tech programs. I begin by showing them around a work station and get into accessing and working with the various programs. I encourage them to come in during assigned lab times and practice using the programs and go through tutorials. When they feel they are ready I let them begin working on their individual projects outside of class. Much of my contact with them outside of class now involves technical support and problem solving. Once they begin lab projects I resume the lecture part of the class.

The next part of the class deals with wave forms and wave form manipulation. This is intended to help students become aware of how sound and sound quality are created and can be altered. Students learn about basic wave forms like sine waves, sawtooth waves, and square wave. Not only do they get to hear what these waves sound like they also get to see them. I bring in an oscilloscope and play the various wave forms. This allows the student to visualize the wave forms. Also mentioned is sound synthesis and various ways of achieving it such as subtractive synthesis or filtering and modulation. I try to approach these potentially difficult subjects on an introductory level and from a musician's perspective not a physicist's. Applying what the students have learned about this subject we take a look at how various synthesizers, both old and new, create and manipulate wave forms in order to achieve a desired sound quality. In using older analog synthesizers knowledge of wave form manipulation was imperative. I have an analog synthesizer in the tech lab and discuss how they are different from the digital synthesizers of today. I also have them do a minor lab project in which they must create a sound of their choice using the analog synthesizer. This helps them to both learn about analog synthesizers and put into practice some of the things they learned about wave form manipulation.

The next topic that this introductory class deals with is micro computers and digital technology. In a music technology laboratory the computers will most likely be not only the most expensive equipment in the lab but also a controlling and storing device for MIDI applications. Students, I believe, should discover what some of the basic components inside a computer are and what they do. Since we are music educators and not computer technicians it may be possible to bring someone in to class who does know their way around inside a computer. I use our micro computer service center manager. He oversees the repair and service of all of the micro computers on campus. Most universities have such a person or persons. Many school districts also have computer technicians or perhaps there is one in the community who would be willing to speak to the class. Whatever the situations is I believe it is important that the students see what the components look like as the technician is talking about them. Have him/her take the cover off of one of the computers in the lab and point out where the hard drive, CPU, floppy drives, SIMMs, motherboard, expansion slots, serial and parallel ports, and other components are and what they do to make the computer run. In my class we also discuss basic computing functions like copying disks, formatting, backing up work, deleting files, loading programs, and accessing programs. Several other functions may also be discussed depending on whether you have IBM or Macintosh machines.

The next topic covered in the course is MIDI. The textbook does a good job of explaining the basics of MIDI. Students should be exposed to how the synthesizer and computer communicate with each other. In our class we discuss various types of message bytes and what various bits within the bytes represent. The conversion of decimal numbers to binary and hexadecimal numbers is also covered. Also MIDI interfaces, MIDI cables, MIDI time codes, and SMPTE are briefly discussed. It should be stressed that MIDI is a type of technical communication. It is not a musical language or musical notation.

The last major topic is the recording studio. Hardware such as mixing boards, microphones, multi-track tape recorders, effects devices, and noise reducers are discussed. Also recording techniques such as sound on sound, sound with sound, and copy bounce are mentioned. Robert Adams covers this topic fairly well in his book. However, if at all possible, it would be a great benefit to the students to visit a recording studio and let them see what takes place. A recording engineer certainly knows more about that area of technology than a music educator. Also, seeing the equipment and techniques in action will have a much greater impact than just reading about it or a class discussion.

As we discuss the above mentioned topics in class I expect the students to be working on their lab projects outside of class. I am available throughout the entire semester to help them with problems and give them encouragement when they become overwhelmed or frustrated. I try to finish the lecture/discussion part of the class before the semester is over so I have class time to devote to any special problems they are having in completing their projects. This will also allow plenty of time to present their projects to the class at the end of the semester. I grade their projects not so much on whether or not they created a great work piece of art but rather on how much time was devoted to the project and how well they learned the programs. I believe this "hands on," discover for yourself learning is extremely necessary in being introduced to music technology. Learning hardware and software is much like learning a musical instrument. You cannot just read about it, it must be practiced.

If you see the value in having an introductory course specifically dedicated to music technology and decide to implement one within your department or school district be prepared to justify and defend your decision. There will be those who do not believe that technology should have a part in any music curriculum. There will be those who do not understand it and yet quickly pass judgement on it. Some will tell you there is no need for courses dealing specifically with this subject in spite of the enormous and continually growing amount of music technology. There will be those who will tell you it is a fad and that it has no lasting value. Trying to get funding for hardware and software will be very frustrating and discouraging at times. In spite of these obstacles the wise person will know that change is inevitable. The way music was taught 20 years ago will not work with today's students. Technology is a part of nearly every discipline. It is not a fad and it is not going to go away. Music, music education and life itself is a constant evolution. I do believe that people basically hate change, however, all of us must resign ourselves to one simple fact; nothing is forever. We as music educators can accept change and evolve with it or we can elect not to change and become extinct.