Practical Projects for Your Elective Course

I will be presenting a session at the NJMEA Conference this week titled Practical Projects for Your Elective Course. In preparation for this presentation, I have reissued an older episode of my podcast with similar content to make it quickly accessible in the feed for attendees of the session.

This post contains the episode and resources related to the presentation.

The podcast episode opens with my first impressions of the Apple Vision Pro which I got to try out last week.

Enjoy!

Listen to the podcast episode and subscribe below!

Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

This is the first year that I have had consistent access to a cloud-based DAW and notation editor with all of my students. The result of this experience has been dozens of new Soundtrap project ideas. I plan to do an episode and post about how I am using these tools for composition projects in the band classroom later this year.

In the episode above, and in this post, I give an overview of three of my most successful Soundtrap projects this year. These projects can be done in any digital audio workstation, including Bandlab, GarageBand, Logic, Ableton Live, etc.

Listen to the episode for a more thorough explanation of each idea.

C Melody and Loop Audition

Melody writing in Noteflight and producing in Soundtrap go hand in hand. Because of Noteflight’s many export options, you have many ways to get your melody out of Noteflight and into your Soundtrap project.

After giving students some time to experience the user interface of Soundtrap, I have them write a short, 8 measure long, melody in the key of C using Noteflight.

Next, I have them export this melody as a MIDI file and then import it into a track in Soundtrap. Next, I have them add three more tracks and create an accompaniment for their melody using at least one of the three loop types.

1. Bass

2. Percussion

3. Harmonic (guitar, synth, piano, etc.)

Here is a recent submission of this project one of my students made. This assignment was submitted later in the semester when we had expanded the project into composing two alternating melodies which became the basis of a song-form in Soundtrap. By alternating between both melodies (and varying the loop accompaniment) the student made a song that follows the form: Verse—Chorus—Verse—Chorus—Bridge—Chorus. This particular student chose to improvise the blues scale over the bridge.

Row Your Boat Multi-Track

This idea was taken from the amazing Middle School Music Technology class content in MusicFirst. I recommend checking out their subscription options if you like this idea. MusicFirst combines the activity with curated YouTube and Spotify playlists that give students an idea about early recording studio practices for multi-track recording before music was produced digitally.

I am giving an overview of this project with permission from MusicFirst. Full Disclosure: MusicFirst is a past sponsor of the Music Ed Tech Talk blog and podcast.

To start, the student performs the song Row Row Row Your Boat into a software instrument track in Soundtrap. After it is recorded, they quantize it to the nearest 1/8th or 1/16th note so that it is rhythmically accurate.

Next, they duplicate this track two times. Using the piano roll to edit the MIDI content of each loop, students select all notes and drag them higher to create harmony. I have them move the second track a third higher and the next track a fifth higher so that they get a nice three-part voicing.

After multi-tracking the melody of Row Row Row Your Boat, this student moved the starting point of each region to create a round.

Next, I have them move any notes that land on black keys as a result down to the nearest white key so that every note of each voice is in the key of C.

Next, I have them duplicate these three tracks and transpose them up an octave. Next, I have them take the lowest voice and transpose it down three octaves to add some bass. You can have students make the final result as dense as you like.

Optionally, students can experiment with using different instrument sounds and adding groove-based loop accompaniment.

Here are three recent examples of my student’s submissions:

All-Star Remix

In this assignment, I take a popular song that students choose and separate the voice from the instrumental accompaniment. Then I add it to an audio track in a Soundtrap template and match the tempo and key of the Soundtrap project to the vocal track.

This way, students can drag and drop loops and have them match the pitch and tempo content of the vocals.

I have a post with more details about this project here.

You can watch a video of how to do it below.

Here are two examples of my own student’s recent work:

For a Soundtrap project idea for teaching band/choir/orchestra students to compose, check out the podcast episode and blog post below:

• Getting Performing Arts Students to Compose

Episode Info

See below for all notes associated with the podcast episode…

Description

Robby overviews his three most successful Soundtrap projects in 2021.

Chapters:

• 00:00:00 - Intro

• 00:00:14 - Sponsor: DMV Percussion Academy

• 00:01:24 - About this Episode

• 00:03:51 - YAY SUMMER

• 00:05:11 - 1: Melody Composition / Loop Accompaniment

• 00:14:35 - 1: Student Examples

• 00:16:15 - 2: Row Your Boat Multi-Track

• 00:22:19 - 2: Student Examples

• 00:24:27 - 3: All-Star Remix

• 00:34:38 - 3: Student Examples

• 00:36:00 - Grading for Mastery Not Creativity

• 00:37:47 - Tech Tip of the Week

• 00:39:20 - App of the Week

• 00:40:00 - Album of the Week

• 00:42:44 - Conclusion

Show Notes:

• Noteflight

• Soundtrap

• MusicFirst

• How to Make a Song Remix Project in Soundtrap (Blog Post and YouTube Video)

• Reddit: Isolated Vocals

• Neural Mix Pro

• Lalal.ai

App of the Week: 
Reeder 5

Album of the Week:
Alison Balsom - Paris

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, the DMV Percussion Academy. Learn more and register here.

Please don’t forget to rate the show and share it with others!

Subscribe to Music Ed Tech Talk:

Subscribe to the Blog

Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

Always Start from the Beginning: Developing Tone Quality, Intonation, Concert Repertoire, and Classroom Management through Unison Playing in Performing Ensembles

This post first appeared on the NAfME Blog on December 7, 2021. You can read it there by clicking here.

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Always Start from the Beginning

Every year I teach band, I start from the beginning. I find that if I rebuild the ensemble, focusing on fundamentals, it is impossible to fail.

This is especially true after many programs have lost over a year of in-person instruction. Even if students' skills have been sustained or improved, they are likely returning to the classroom with less handle on things that they can only learn in a group: intonation, balance, blend, and even basic rehearsal expectations.

They will have to relearn how to listen outside their comfortable bubble of one.

Caption: A mixer at the front of the room allows me to pump my voice, computer, and phone through a stereo and mix them to taste.

I want to describe some of the teaching strategies that have been most helpful this fall (and long since before COVID) while also sharing some technological tips I have taken from virtual learning into this year. I will explain how I am implementing them in my beginning band class to ensure that they develop great ears, strong ensemble sound, musicianship, and all while preparing concert music.

Developing the Ear

All excellent music-making starts with the ear. In Musical Performance: Learning Theory and Pedagogy, Daniel Kohut claims that students need a “superior concept” of the sound they wish to make. I believe this is much easier to achieve while playing in unison. Young musicians often learn this way by nature of beginning method books focusing on familiar, unison melodies, which elementary school teachers teach in instrument-specific sectionals. But when students first join a large ensemble, they can lose their independent sense of tone, intonation, and balance if too many separate voices start happening in their concert literature too soon.

Caption: The Tonal Energy Tuner app is only a few dollars, and it play justly in-tune polyphonic drones and a metronome simultaneously.

My Concert Band class has 50 6th and 7th-grade students. Many of these students are first-year players. This year, most of them had only experienced a half year of in-person band before walking into my classroom.

I decided to keep them playing in unison for as long as I could keep them interested. I wanted to emphasize tone quality, intonation, balance, and bend, while somehow managing the classroom and preparing them for a December concert. And I wanted to keep things fun. Was it possible to do all of this? Yes!

Caption: Dorico’s popovers, like this one for dynamics, allow you to enter notation naturally and quickly. Adding solfege with the Lyrics popover was equally easy.

Transforming Concert Literature into Unison Melodies

I started by ensuring that I centered instruction around accessible melodic material from the method book rather than technical exercises and drills. Additionally, I took the pieces I was planning for our winter concert and wrote out every person's part for every instrument using Dorico. Dorico’s keyboard shortcuts and flow-based composing make it easy to design supplemental resources as quickly as you can think.

Caption: Last school year, my team purchased some equipment to support hybrid teaching. This year, we have repurposed that gear to integrate audio technology into traditional rehearsals seamlessly.

The guides are organized by rehearsal marking. For example, Part 1 has everyone in the band playing the bass line of measures 1-8. By playing each part of the music sequentially, students get more practice sight-reading while learning who in the band plays which notes. By playing in unison, they leverage their strength in numbers to develop firmer and more stable tone quality while learning to hear what an ensemble blend should sound like for the first time.

Caption: This is what an individual part looks like in Dorico once completed. Instead of isolating sections of the band during rehearsal, I can have everyone playing at all times. For example, if I want to work with the tuba part in measure one, I can tell the entire band to play “Part 1. Lower Voice” and keep everyone engaged.

I write solfege into these practice guides and alternate between the students singing and playing. In a year without any COVID concerns, I would also encourage the brass to buzz these melodies on mouthpieces to develop their inner ear and flexibility.

Play-Along Resources Help Model Tone, Intonation, and Tempo

There is always a drone prominently playing through our sound system using the Tonal Energy Tuner app. The polyphonic drones can model justly in-tune intervals. Students can subtly adjust their pitch by making the “beats” that result between two out-of-tune pitches slow down and eventually dissolve.

Caption: One of the easiest and most engaging ways to encourage metronome practice is to play along to the Drummer Tracks in GarageBand. There are numerous styles, beats, and editing tools at your disposal. Beats are way more fun to play with and provide more musical feeling than a metronome.

I have created play-along tracks that combine trap beats with tuning drones. I like to pump them through the speakers during warm-ups and throughout rehearsal. You can make these too using the free GarageBand app on iOS.

Sometimes, I will have Tonal Energy coming through my phone and the beats coming through my Mac. This allows me to mix the drone and the metronome independently, as they are plugged into two separate channels of my mixer.

Speaking Calmly, Being Everywhere

A Shure wireless microphone goes into a third channel of the mixer, allowing me to speak in a comfortable room voice and be heard over the sound of loud drones, beats, and a full band of 50-65 students playing.

Caption: This Shure wireless headset microphone has been a game-changer this year. I don’t ever have to raise my voice to be understood. I can speak comfortably and be heard over the sound of a pumping drone and 60 students playing.

This technique works wonders for classroom management. Flowing from one part of our daily agenda to the next is nearly seamless because of how easy it is to keep everyone playing most of the rehearsal. With these persistent play-alongs underlying most of the rehearsal, my role could be described less like a traditional director and more like a spin instructor.

This might sound ridiculous at first, but it is true. A spin instructor curates music, keeps the beat moving you forward and paces instruction, all while making you sweat. This is precisely how I want my role to feel in the band room. I like to think of myself as a “coach” who directs students towards the goal while they work for it, rather than a “director” who beats the music into them.

Caption: My colleague, Ben Denne, teaches from our “command station” at the front of the room.

The wireless mic allows me to step off the podium and be heard from anywhere in the room. While the band is playing, I can be high-fiving students, sizing a student for concert attire, helping percussionists find their place, encouraging good trombone posture, or any other need. I can be everywhere and still keep the flow of rehearsal moving even when I’m off the podium.

Caption: Farrago is a useful app for queuing play-along material in a soundboard-style audio launcher. I keep my scale tracks organized and color-coded by key and rhythmic patterns to find them more easily.

Taking the Slow Road Gets Maximum Results

Once it is time to hand out concert music, I'm delighted to hear students say things like, "wait, we know this!." By this point, they can sing every part, play every part, and can now split into three or four unique voices because they are more confident in their melody from having practiced it with the strength of 60 musicians in unison.

Caption: AnyTune is another excellent app that can change the speed and pitch of a play-along track independently.

The results are clear. I have never had a more engaging, fun, and tightly managed beginning band experience. Students are developing fundamentals at a pace consistent, if not better, than a typical year, and we are stronger for it.

Music Ed Tech Conference, July 2021. Register now!

MusicFirst is putting on a Music Ed Tech Conference this summer. I strongly encourage you to check it out. It is completely free! There are a lot of great speakers including myself and past guest, Richard McCready.

Victor Wooten and Dr. Jeffrey A. Murdock are keynote speakers.

Click the link below to learn more and register.

Music Ed Tech Conference:

We are thrilled to announce the 2021 Music Ed Tech Conference: Renew, Refresh, Rebuild! This event is a completely free virtual conference held on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. It is open to all music teachers and features an incredible line-up of music educators from a wide variety of backgrounds, including two keynote speakers: Dr. Jeffrey A. Murdock (2021 GRAMMY™ Music Educator of the Year) and Victor Wooten (bassist and founding member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones). Attendees will be able to attend breakout sessions focusing on specific content areas and strategies for using technology to strengthen and rebuild music programs in the 2021-22 school year and beyond.

My session is called What Do We Keep? I am going to talk about which technological practices from the past year are worth integrating into the future of teaching.

I pushed my tech to the fringes last school year, and I think it is worth investigating what new ideas are worth keeping, which should be quickly discarded, and which have the power to transform classroom environments. I will be talking about my experience through the lens of both traditional performance ensemble teaching and the general music classroom where kids are making music, crafting beats, and covering various styles of music. Click the link below to read more.

Robby Burns — Music Ed Tech Conference:

WHAT DO WE KEEP? 2:05 - 2:50 PM EST, July 20, 2021 Join band and general music teacher, Robby Burns, to reflect on which digital teaching practices are worth integrating into the new year. Find out how he has pushed his technology to the complete limits, using advanced organization tools and automations to speed up his logistical work, as well as digital collaboration tools to create rich and engaging assessments online.

3 Soundtrap Projects Your Students Will Love

Listen to the podcast episode and subscribe below!

Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

This is the first year that I have had consistent access to a cloud-based DAW and notation editor with all of my students. The result of this experience has been dozens of new Soundtrap project ideas. I plan to do an episode and post about how I am using these tools for composition projects in the band classroom later this year.

In the episode above, and in this post, I give an overview of three of my most successful Soundtrap projects this year. These projects can be done in any digital audio workstation, including Bandlab, GarageBand, Logic, Ableton Live, etc.

Listen to the episode for a more thorough explanation of each idea.

C Melody and Loop Audition

Melody writing in Noteflight and producing in Soundtrap go hand in hand. Because of Noteflight’s many export options, you have many ways to get your melody out of Noteflight and into your Soundtrap project.

After giving students some time to experience the user interface of Soundtrap, I have them write a short, 8 measure long, melody in the key of C using Noteflight.

Next, I have them export this melody as a MIDI file and then import it into a track in Soundtrap. Next, I have them add three more tracks and create an accompaniment for their melody using at least one of the three loop types.

1. Bass

2. Percussion

3. Harmonic (guitar, synth, piano, etc.)

Here is a recent submission of this project one of my students made. This assignment was submitted later in the semester when we had expanded the project into composing two alternating melodies which became the basis of a song-form in Soundtrap. By alternating between both melodies (and varying the loop accompaniment) the student made a song that follows the form: Verse—Chorus—Verse—Chorus—Bridge—Chorus. This particular student chose to improvise the blues scale over the bridge.

Row Your Boat Multi-Track

This idea was taken from the amazing Middle School Music Technology class content in MusicFirst. I recommend checking out their subscription options if you like this idea. MusicFirst combines the activity with curated YouTube and Spotify playlists that give students an idea about early recording studio practices for multi-track recording before music was produced digitally.

I am giving an overview of this project with permission from MusicFirst. Full Disclosure: MusicFirst is a past sponsor of the Music Ed Tech Talk blog and podcast.

To start, the student performs the song Row Row Row Your Boat into a software instrument track in Soundtrap. After it is recorded, they quantize it to the nearest 1/8th or 1/16th note so that it is rhythmically accurate.

Next, they duplicate this track two times. Using the piano roll to edit the MIDI content of each loop, students select all notes and drag them higher to create harmony. I have them move the second track a third higher and the next track a fifth higher so that they get a nice three-part voicing.

After multi-tracking the melody of Row Row Row Your Boat, this student moved the starting point of each region to create a round.

Next, I have them move any notes that land on black keys as a result down to the nearest white key so that every note of each voice is in the key of C.

Next, I have them duplicate these three tracks and transpose them up an octave. Next, I have them take the lowest voice and transpose it down three octaves to add some bass. You can have students make the final result as dense as you like.

Optionally, students can experiment with using different instrument sounds and adding groove-based loop accompaniment.

Here are three recent examples of my student’s submissions:

All-Star Remix

In this assignment, I take a popular song that students choose and separate the voice from the instrumental accompaniment. Then I add it to an audio track in a Soundtrap template and match the tempo and key of the Soundtrap project to the vocal track.

This way, students can drag and drop loops and have them match the pitch and tempo content of the vocals.

I have a post with more details about this project here.

You can watch a video of how to do it below.

Here are two examples of my own student’s recent work:

For a Soundtrap project idea for teaching band/choir/orchestra students to compose, check out the podcast episode and blog post below:

• Getting Performing Arts Students to Compose

Episode Info

See below for all notes associated with the podcast episode…

Description

Robby overviews his three most successful Soundtrap projects in 2021.

Chapters:

• 00:00:00 - Intro

• 00:00:14 - Sponsor: DMV Percussion Academy

• 00:01:24 - About this Episode

• 00:03:51 - YAY SUMMER

• 00:05:11 - 1: Melody Composition / Loop Accompaniment

• 00:14:35 - 1: Student Examples

• 00:16:15 - 2: Row Your Boat Multi-Track

• 00:22:19 - 2: Student Examples

• 00:24:27 - 3: All-Star Remix

• 00:34:38 - 3: Student Examples

• 00:36:00 - Grading for Mastery Not Creativity

• 00:37:47 - Tech Tip of the Week

• 00:39:20 - App of the Week

• 00:40:00 - Album of the Week

• 00:42:44 - Conclusion

Show Notes:

• Noteflight

• Soundtrap

• MusicFirst

• How to Make a Song Remix Project in Soundtrap (Blog Post and YouTube Video)

• Reddit: Isolated Vocals

• Neural Mix Pro

• Lalal.ai

App of the Week: 
Reeder 5

Album of the Week:
Alison Balsom - Paris

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, the DMV Percussion Academy. Learn more and register here.

Please don’t forget to rate the show and share it with others!

Subscribe to Music Ed Tech Talk:

Subscribe to the Blog

Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

3 Things I Started Doing with My Band Class During COVID That I Will Do Every Year From Now On

It seems plausible that some people subscribe to this blog and do not follow me on Twitter, so allow me to expand this recent Tweet thread into a lazy blog post.

🧵🪡🎶👇 Thread: a few things I am doing in my band teaching this year, that I previously didn't have the time or resources to organize, but COVID forced my hand. (I will definitely be doing each of these every school year from now on)...

— Robby Burns (@robbyburns) May 10, 2021

Thread: a few things I am doing in my band teaching this year, that I previously didn't have the time or resources to organize, but COVID forced my hand. (I will definitely be doing each of these every school year from now on)...

A chart designed by my colleague Ben Denne. By thinking critically about music that will challenge, but not overwhelm them, students pick their select their own, grade appropriate, solo music.

1. Solo prep: by asking colleagues for rep ideas across all instruments, I created a resource in my LMS that guides students through a process of selecting appropriate solo rep for our district Festival and then registering for it. Student enrollment is up over 300 percent this year.

2. Composition: students LOVE writing short themes and ostinato patterns in Noteflight After recording their comps, they will make unique band arrangements out of each other’s recordings in Soundtrap by dragging them on top of one another and splicing/editing them, like loops. Inspiration for this idea and supporting materials provided by Alex Shapiro and can be found here.

3. Recording: having my students record video performances is not new. But having them record in a DAW, with respect to measure number, beat placement, and a metronome has been huge for our understanding of rhythm and form. Also it requires them to practice way more.

And then there are 100 new things I can do in my general music class simply by having access to a notation editor and DAW. I don't have enough time to detail them now but here is one example:

As much fun as I have grinding in Final Cut Pro, I do NOT see virtual band videos becoming a thing beyond this school year. It was fun while it lasted. Here's last year's WW Quintet:

Are any of these ideas worth writing about in more detail? Let me know on social media or by heading over to my Contact page.

🎙 Music Ed Tech Talk #27 - Catching Up With Shawna Longo, with Shawna Longo

Shawna Longo joins the show to talk about our hybrid teaching gear, social emotional learning, cloud-based music tools, and our favorite apps/albums/tech tips of the week.

Topics include:

• COVID hybrid teaching strategies
• Teaching hardware (on a cart!)
• Teaching performance virtually
• social emotional learning
• music tools in the cloud
• the Canvas mastery grade book

Show Notes:

• Shawna's Microphone (Presonus Revelator)
• Shawna's Generic AirPods (Altec Lansing True Evo Air Wireless Earbuds w/ wireless charging case)
• Universal Control app
• Loopback
• Rogue Amoeba
• Music Ed Tech Talk episode #23 - Rogue Amoeba Audio Apps, with Paul Kafasis
• Presonus Studio One
• Develop Performance Skills Remotely with Cloud Software - My Presentation at the Texas Music Educators Association conference
• Rehearse Your Ensembles Remotely! - My Presentation at the MarylandMEA conference (Session Notes)
• Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators
• The Playful Classroom
• MusicFirst Junior
• Music Ed Tech Talk Episode #10 - Designing Curriculum and Assessing Students with FileMaker, with Ben Denne
• Spark Chasers Podcast
• Brene Brown Podcasts

Tech Tips of the Week:
Robby - Command+K (or Control+K) will create a hyperlink
Shawna - Mute All for Google Meet | Use AirPod mic as input in Google Meet

App of the Week:
Robby - TIDAL Shawna - Scannable

Album of the Week:
Robby - Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa Shawna - Happiness Begins - The Jonas Brothers

Where to Find Us:
Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book
Shawna - Twitter | Website

Please don't forget to rate the show and share it with others!

Subscribe to Music Ed Tech Talk:

Subscribe to the Blog

Subscribe to the Podcast in...
Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

Teaching Music Online During the Pandemic - Video Now Online for Anyone to Watch

The panel discussion I participated in, Teaching Music Online During the Pandemic, is now available on YouTube for anyone to watch.

Lots of ideas here, both inspiring and practical. Thanks to Katie Wardrobe of Midnight Music for hosting this video on her YouTube account.

My Online Teaching Setup (High-Tech Edition)

My studio computer and associated hardware.

When school let out in March, I wrote My Very Straightforward and Very Successful Setup for Teaching Virtual Private Lessons. The impetus for this post, and its snarky title, was an overwhelming number of teachers I saw on Facebook fussing about what apps and hardware they should use to teach online when all you really need is a smartphone, FaceTime, and maybe a tripod.

I stand by that post. But there are also reasons to go high-tech. I have had a lot of time this summer to reflect on the coming fall teaching semester. I have been experimenting with software and hardware solutions that are going to make my classes way more engaging.

Zoom

I have been hesitant about Zoom. I still have reservations about their software. Yet, it is hard to resist how customizable their desktop version is. I will be using Google Meet for my public school classes in September, but for my private lessons, I have been taking advantage of Zoom’s detailed features and settings.

For example, it’s easier to manage audio ins and outs. Right from the chat window, I can change if my voice input is going through my Mac's internal microphone or my studio microphone, or if video is coming from my laptop webcam or my external Logitech webcam. This will also be useful for routing audio from apps into the call (we will get to that in a moment).

Zoom allows you to choose the audio/video input from right within the call.

Zoom also allows you to AirPlay the screen of an iOS device to the student as a screen sharing option. This is the main reason I have been experimenting with Zoom. Providing musical feedback is challenging over an internet-connected video call. Speaking slowly helps to convey thoughts accurately, but it helps a lot more when I say “start at measure 32” and the student sees me circle the spot I want them to start in the music, right on their phone.

You can get really detailed by zooming in and out of scores and annotating as little as a single note. If you are wondering, I am doing all of this on a 12.9 inch iPad Pro with Apple Pencil, using the forScore app. A tight feedback loop of “student performance—>teacher feedback—>student adjustment” is so important to good teaching, and a lot of it is lost during online lessons. It helps to get some of it back through the clarity and engagement of annotated sheet music.

Selecting AirPlay as a screen sharing option.

AirPlaying annotated sheet music to the Zoom call using the iPad Pro and forScore app.

As much as I love this, I still think Zoom is pretty student hostile, particularly with the audio settings. Computers already try to normalize audio by taking extreme louds and compressing them. Given that my private lessons are on percussion instruments, this is very bad. Zoom is the worst at it of all the video apps I have used. To make it better, you have to turn on an option in the audio settings called “Use Original Audio” so that the host hears the student’s raw sound, not Zoom’s attempt to even it out. Some of my students report that they have to re-choose this option in the “Meeting Settings” of each new Zoom call.

If this experiment turns out to be worth it for the sheet music streaming, I will deal with it. But this is one of the reasons why I have been using simple apps like FaceTime up until this point.

My Zoom audio settings.

My Zoom advanced audio settings.

Sending App Audio Directly to the Call

I have been experimenting with a few apps by Rogue Amoeba that give me more control over how audio is flowing throughout my hardware and software.

Last Spring, I would often play my public school students YouTube videos, concert band recordings from Apple Music, and warm-up play-alongs that were embedded in Keynote slides. I was achieving this by having the sound of these sources come out of my computer speakers and right back into the microphone of my laptop. It actually works. But not for everyone. And not well.

Loopback is an app by Rogue Amoeba that allows you to combine the audio input and output of your various microphones, speakers, and apps, into new single audio devices that can be recognized by the system. I wrote about it here. My current set up includes a new audio device I created with Loopback which combines my audio interface and a bunch of frequently used audio apps into one. The resulting device is called Interface+Apps. If I select it as the input in my computer’s sound settings, then my students hear those apps and any microphone plugged into my audio interface directly. The audio quality of my apps is therefore more pure and direct, and there is no risk of getting an echo or feedback effect from my microphone picking up my computer speaker’s sound.

A Loopback device I created which combines the audio output of many apps with my audio interface into a new, compound device called “Interface+Apps.”

I can select this compound device from my Mac’s Sound settings.

Now I can do the following with a much higher level of quality...

• Run a play-along band track and have a private student drum along
• Play examples of professional bands for my band class on YouTube
• Run Keynote slides that contain beats, tuning drones, and other play-along/reference tracks
• and...

Logic Pro X

Logic Pro X is one of my apps routing through to the call via Loopback. I have a MIDI keyboard plugged into my audio interface and a Roland Octopad electronic drum pad that is plugged in as an audio source (though it can be used as a MIDI source too).

The sounds on the Roland Octopad are pretty authentic. I have hi-hat and bass drum foot pedal triggers so I can play it naturally. So in Logic, I start with an audio track that is monitoring the Octopad, and a software instrument track that is set to a piano (or marimba or xylophone, whatever is relevant). This way, I can model drum set or mallet parts for students quickly without leaving my desk. The audio I produce in Logic is routed through Loopback directly into the call. My students say the drum set, in particular, sounds way better in some instances than the quality of real instruments over internet-connected calls. Isn’t that something...

Multiple Camera Angles

Obviously, there is a reason I have previously recommended a set up as simple as a smartphone and a tripod stand. Smartphones are very portable and convenient. And simple smartphone apps like FaceTime and Google Duo make a lot of good default choices about how to handle audio without the fiddly settings some of the more established “voice conference” platforms are known for.

Furthermore, I can’t pick up my desk and move it to my timpani or marimba if I need to model something. So I have begun experimenting with multiple camera angles. I bought a webcam back in March (it finally just shipped). I can use this as a secondary camera to my laptop’s camera (Command+Shift+N in Zoom to change cameras).

Alternatively, I can share my iPhone screen via AirPlay and turn on the camera app. Now I can get up from my desk and go wherever I need to. The student sees me wherever I go. This option is sometimes laggy.

Alternatively, I can log in to the call separately on the iPhone and Mac. This way, there are two instances of me, and if I need to, I can mute the studio desk microphone, and use the phone microphone so that students can hear me wherever I go. I like this option the best because it has the added benefit of showing me what meeting participants see in Zoom.

Logging in to the Zoom call on the Mac and iPhone gives me two different camera angles.

SoundSource

This process works well once it is set up. But it does take some fiddling around with audio ins and outs to get it right. SoundSource is another app by Rogue Amoeba that takes some of the fiddly-ness out of the equation. It replaces the sound options in your Mac’s menubar, offering your more control and more ease at the same time.

This app is seriously great.

This app saved me from digging into the audio settings of my computer numerous times. In addition to putting audio device selection at a more surface level, it also lets you control the individual volume level of each app, apply audio effects to your apps, and more. One thing I do with it regularly is turn down the volume of just the Zoom app when my students play xylophone.

Rogue Amoeba's apps will cost you, but they are worth it for those who want more audio control on the Mac. Make sure you take advantage of their educator discount.

EDIT: My teaching set up now includes the use of OBS and an Elago Stream Deck. Read more here.

Conclusion

I went a little overboard here. If this is overwhelming to you, don't get the idea that you need to do it all. Anyone of these tweaks will advance your setup and teaching.

This post is not specific about the hardware I use. If you care about the brands and models of my gear, check out My Favorite Technology to read more about the specific audio equipment in my setup.

Panel Discussion: "Teaching Music Online During the Pandemic" this Wednesday, August 5, 2020

I am taking part in a Panel Discussion called "Teaching Music Online During the Pandemic" this Wednesday, August 5th. It is taking place on the Music Teachers Facebook Group at 8 pm through Zoom.

I will specifically be contributing ideas about practical instruction for performing ensembles. I am planning to discuss everything from large group rehearsal to break-out chamber ensembles, to music scanning apps, and software for assessing student performance.

Some great minds are involved. Here is a description of the panel from the Facebook Event:

Join us for a free online panel discussion with several of your Music Teacher Administrators and Moderators and special guests as we discuss the tools, techniques, and resources to move your music ensembles and music classrooms totally online or to a blended learning hybrid. Panelists include Jim Frankel, CEO of Music First; Katie Wardrobe, Director, Midnight Music Technology Training; Ron Kearns, retired HS band teacher; Tom West Blended Learning Instrumental Music teacher; Robby Burns, MS band teacher; Richard McCready, HS guitar teacher & music ministry; Tiffany Walker, MS band teacher; Krystal Williams, HS band teacher.

If you are interested, you can join the group here. Note: You will not be admitted into the group if you do not answer the questions.

Routing Audio from Your Apps Directly Into Your Zoom Call (Or Other Voice Chat App) with Loopback

UPDATE: Learn more about Loopback from my interview with CEO Paul Kafasis on my podcast. Listen and subscribe below…

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Loopback is an app that creates custom audio ins and outs for the Mac using the audio of other apps.

Have you been teaching a class in Google Meet or Zoom and wanted to play a song from iTunes for your digital classroom? Or perhaps a YouTube video or any other application with audio?

Sure, you can play it right on your computer and let the audio from your speakers go straight back into the microphone input of your computer. This works ok in my opinion. But it isn't going to produce a pure representation of the audio I am trying to send. And in some cases, it creates issues with echo, delay, or a nasty feedback loop.

So what do you do? Rogue Amoeba makes excellent Mac apps that, for lack of better explanation, hack into the audio system of your Mac. I have written about Audio Hijack here before, their app that allows you to record audio from other applications (and that's just the start of all the powerful things it can do). Rogue Amoeba also makes an excellent utility called Loopback.

What does Loopback do? Think about your computer's audio settings. You have an Input and an Output. The Input is, by default, your computer microphone, and the Output is the speakers. If you connect an audio interface that has higher quality microphone and speakers plugged in, you would need to set the Input and Output to that interface to get the input and out put the be the microphone and speakers, respectively.

Usually my computer microphone is a Device that can be set to the computer’s Input. In the scenario above, Loopback has allowed me to combine the audio from my microphone and the Music app into a new audio Device called “Music+Mic” that can be selected as the input of my Mac or any individual app.

Your Inputs and Outputs can be controlled from the Sound settings of your computer. Some audio apps also let you control how, specifically, they behave. For example, I have manually set up GarageBand and Skype to use my audio interface as the Device I use for input so that whether I am recording for my podcast, or simply catching up with a relative, they hear me through the microphone, no matter what Device my Mac’s audio Output is set to in the System Preferences.

Loopback allows you to create Inputs and Outputs that are accessible to your Mac's Sound settings as well as your apps. In the example above, I have created an Input that combines my Mac's microphone (the usual Input) with the output of the Apple Music app, something I might want to use to play a recording example for my students in a Google Meet.

Selecting my new audio Device from the System Preferences.

Look now as I go to my computer's Sound settings, and I can select this new custom Input to be used across the entire operating system! This way, when I am in a Google Meet, students are hearing both me speaking through the mic and all of the output of the Music app.

Now I can route my band warm up tracks, reference recordings, or any other audio I desire, into my Google Meet classrooms.