Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario (RILS)

Composing and Sharing through Edublogs
Brief Overview
Students will create a musical composition entitled "Pachelbel Loops", based on the 8-note pattern used in Pachelbel's Canon in D. The composition will be shared with classmates as well as a person in the music industry for review, and adjusted to make a final mp3 and blog post.

Target Audience
8th Grade Electronic Music Class

Materials
Computer Lab with Acoustica Mixcraft installed
Edublogs account

Objectives
At the end of this scenario the learner will be able to:

• Create a musical composition with specific parameters
• Apply specific musical terms and concepts to their composition
• Analyze other songs to compare the use of the same melody/bass line
• Evaluate classmates' compositions and offer suggestions on style, transitions, or effects
• Synthesize suggestions from teacher, classmates, and expert to construct or adjust their compositions

Procedure

• Introduce Pachelbel's Canon in D by playing the piece
• Play video Pachelbel Rant (edited) for students demonstrating the use of the melody and bass line throughout history, including current popular music
• Discuss musical form "theme and variations"
• Create a Mixcraft project entitled "Pachelbel Loops"
• Using the musical typing feature, record the following whole notes into the first track - CGAEFCFG
• In the second track, improvise and record a melody using half notes that complement the bass line
• In the third track, improvise and record a melody using quarter notes that complement the first two tracks
• Choose a style/genre for the composition
• Add a beat from the loop library into the composition
• Change the voice of tracks 1-3 to preferred instruments
• Adjust the tempo to your preferred speed
• Adjust audio levels and add appropriate compressor effect
• Mixdown to mp3
• Post to student blog (on Edublogs), post entitled "Pachelbel Loops Draft" - include mp3 and 2-3 sentences describing the style of your piece along with any challenges or successes you had in improvising or creating your project so far.
• Comment on at least 2 classmates' blogs - give positive feedback and suggestions to consider for improvement
• Read comments (including teacher and guest musician), go back into project and make adjustments
• Create new blog post entitled "Pachelbel Loops Final"
• Write a paragraph about the journey throughout the composition, and include the following: Style/genre used, Tempo of the piece, Struggles you had throughout the process, Comments or advice you received

Web 2.0 Tool

Edublogs is a blogging tool that is secure, controlled, and easily monitored by a teacher. Student pages are connected with one another for easy viewing, commenting, and collaboration.

Social Participation/Social Learning

Students will interact with one another via Edublogs. Upon listening to a classmate's composition, students will comment on the work, offering positive comments and suggestions for improvement. In addition, another adult in the music industry will also listen and comment on student work, offering practical advice for students to improve on.

Making Connections

The learner will be using previous knowledge of the application Mixcraft, musical form, and special effects to create this new project. The knowledge that will be attained from this project includes a new form (theme and variations) and making tempo changes throughout the composition. The relevance to the target audience is that they will have a better understanding of how music is created and produced an will also have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the music they listen to. The target audience of the project will be local (through sharing with classmates) as well as more global with the inclusion of a music industry  representative.

Create/Produce

The end products from this RILS are an mp3 and blog post about the student's composition. These products will be shared through their student blog.

Assessment

Reflection

Students will reflect on their project by creating a blog post including an mp3 of their composition and a paragraph describing their journey they went through in creating it. As an educator, it is necessary to review blog posts, comments, and final products to evaluate the success of the RILS. Upon reviewing student created products, the educator can adjust the RILS to better differentiate for the next time the RILS is presented.