Rodney A. Mueller, University of Illinois

Applied technology enables human beings to be more effective and efficient in many areas of life. Education is no exception. As knowledge is created and transmitted from one learner to another, technology provides additional means of communication between learners. Technology enables learners to use their senses of sight and hearing to experience for themselves what time or distance would otherwise deem inaccessible. Technology provides a means for teachers to extend their own personal resources: time, energy and expertise.

Educational technology has been developed not only as a replacement for, but also as a supplement to traditional teacher mediated instruction. In areas involving physical skill development, supplementary video-based technology allows both teachers and learners the option of after the fact multiple viewings in order to do detailed analysis. This technology is ideally suited to following up teacher mediated instruction.

Because of the physical motions involved in playing string instruments, the role of the teacher (as both a model and an evaluator) has been important in applied string teaching. Correct motions are needed for a student to develop technically and musically. Video technology has been advocated and successfully used in string pedagogy research (Burgess, 1975-1975; Gillespie, 1989,1991; Ellsworth & Kantorski, 1991; Quindag, 1994). The development of Computer Based Interactive Video (CBIV) in instrumental music education has been encouraged but there is limited evidence that this technology has been developed and utilized in string education (Atwater, 1991/1992; Fry, 1992/1993; Miller, 1987; Rees, 1986). Recent developments in computer hardware and software provide new options for string education through the use of hypermedia (Peters, 1992). Hypermedia provides for aural and visual resources, accommodates different learning styles, and gives the learner opportunities for non-linear exploration.

There has been a growing interest in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of string techniques and methods classes (Gillespie, 1988, 1989; Jensen, 1990; Kantorski & Ellsworth, 1988). Vibrato is one string technique which is often discussed in professional workshops, clinics, and journal articles, but as Smith (1994, 1995) reveals it is a technique that is not consistently required in the string education curriculum. With the use of hypermedia it is possible to extend a teacher's presentation of vibrato skill development, thus enabling students to view correct physical motions while practicing outside of class.

Visualized Vibrato is a hypermedia program designed to present a process for teaching violin and viola vibrato to undergraduate music education students. It is ideally used to supplement teacher instruction in vibrato. The program is based on a teaching process and video produced by Thomas Wisniewski, professor emeritus of music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), that was never released to the public.

A 15 minute digitized video allows the learner to view an overview of the 13 step vibrato learning process before proceeding to work sequentially through each of the 13 steps with instrument in hand. Each of the vibrato steps is placed on a separate card in the hypermedia environment which allows the learner to choose from several options when working on a single vibrato step. On the left side of the step card the learner is able to view a QuickTime movie clip of that step and with the use of the video controller to start, stop, pause, replay, or view frame-by-frame any segment of that video clip. The right side of the card has a scrolling field in which the text of the video narration is presented and can be read by the learner while doing the physical actions of the vibrato learning process. The card also has a number of navigation buttons, allowing the learner to move to the next or previous card in the learning sequence, jump to any of the other 13 step cards in the program, return to the table of contents, or quit the program. Even though the steps are presented in a linear sequence the learner has the freedom to control the learning process.

Visualized Vibrato was initially conceived as a computer-based interactive videodisc program, but with recent advances in CD-ROM and QuickTime technology the latter option was utilized for the project. A reduction in necessary hardware was the most positive factor as a television monitor and video disc were eliminated leaving a computer workstation with a CD-ROM drive as the only necessary hardware. Initial concerns with the QuickTime technology included small frame size and jerky motion, but recent technical advances have lessened these areas of concern.

Wisniewski's previous video project was recorded with 3/4" tape in the mid 1980s. A copy of this video was obtained for review purposes. Clips for use with the 13 steps of the Visualized Vibrato project were identified and timed. These segments were than edited, digitized, and compressed by a CAI specialist in the Educational Technologies Assistance Group-Office of Instructional Resources (ETAG-OIR) at UIUC. Adobe Premier was used for editing, Radius VideoVision Studio for digitizing, and Movie Shop 1.2.1 with CinePak for compression. The resulting QuickTime movies ran at 15 frames per second with a frame size of 320 x 480 pixels and 16-bit color.

Since there was no video tape available from Wisniewski's original project for the introductory or concluding segments of Visualized Vibrato, preparations for a video recording session were made. A DMA violin performance major was chosen to perform Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise." A SuperVHS camera with SuperVHS tape was used for this purpose. The script for the introduction was rewritten and recorded using SoundEdit 16 digital recording software on a Macintosh PowerMac 6100/60AV computer. ETAG-OIR provided resources for dubbing the narration onto the video segments of the introduction and conclusion. These segments were then digitized and compressed at the same specifications as the video for the 13 steps.

By linking each of the video clips, a 15 minute "full video" was produced, giving the viewer an overview of the entire vibrato learning process. The "full video" and each of the individual "steps" video clip files, totaling 400+ MB of data, were then burned onto a 3M CD Recordable CDR 650 MB/74 compact disc. The resulting CD-ROM provided digitized video data that was easily transported for work with the final hypermedia stack.

Because of the availability of HyperCard 2.2 (1994) in the UIUC School of Music Computer Assisted Music Instruction Lab, it was chosen as the hypermedia software for the project. HyperGASP 2.4 (1994) was used as an authoring extension for HyperCard 2.2. It provided a number of additional production options: easily importing and positioning the QuickTime movies, exporting and importing field text for formatting and spell checking, and adding color and bevels to cards, fields, and buttons. It also cleared all other distracting background images on the monitor screen, thus enhancing the learner's focus and giving a finished appearance to the program. The stack was piloted on an individual basis with public school string teachers, university music faculty, and graduate music education students. Their responses to the stack were responsible for several minor modifications in stack design. The final production step was the burning of a CD-ROM which contains all digitized movies and the final stack. The learner, after inserting the CD-ROM into the computer, copies the stack to the hard drive before proceeding to open the stack. The stack then accesses the video clips from the CD-ROM for the learner to view.

Visualized Vibrato was designed specifically as supplementary material for college/university string techniques and string methods classes. It presumes that vibrato can be taught and that it should be begun early in the learning process. It presents not only a process for learning to play vibrato but also a process for teaching vibrato to school string classes. It may also be helpful for (a) school string teachers whose primary instrument was cello or bass, (b) band directors who find themselves teaching strings, and (c) some students studying violin/viola with traditional studio instruction. Formal evaluation of Visualized Vibrato is being conducted with the string techniques class during the spring 1996 semester at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to determine its effectiveness with undergraduate music education students.

As Goodson (1993) concluded, it is possible for teachers to produce their own hypermedia programs for use in the classroom. With tools like HyperCard and HyperGASP, a good knowledge of curriculum design and learning theory, and the availability of a technical resource person, teacher developed hypermedia is feasible. It is hoped that this technology will be used in other areas of string techniques, thereby strengthening the string teaching and playing in our schools.