Yesterday’s trip to Cody was exciting to say the least. To get some perspective on the lesson, let me first tell you a little about the teacher. (James, DE Programmer).
James taught programming at his own high school in Ypsilanti– when he was still in high school. He also wrote music for his high school and college marching bands. So… he’s basically a genius and built for this volunteer project.
When James started devising his lesson, he asked if he could go two weeks in a row because he had so much to share. Yesterday was part one of his two part lesson on computer programming and music.
He started out by showing the kids some things he’s done with music– without any fancy (expensive) software. He played them an arrangement he wrote for his marching band, and all the students recognized it as the Lil Wayne’s hit song Lollipop.
Next, he had the kids download Audacity (a free music mixing program) so they could start recording their own sounds. Everyone broke up into groups and began playing around with the software. James showed them how to layer three separate audio tracks on top of each other. The students were very interested because they could see the potential of the skills they were learning. James had just given them all the tools they needed to make their own music!
Time flew by so fast, I barely remembered to take pictures. (I only snapped the one you see!) Next week, James is going to expand on this lesson by turning their keyboards into drum machines. Then they will record sounds, loop them, layer tracks, and create works of musical art! (All with free software btw!)
I’ll let you know how it goes!
~Bryan
