The Role of Technology in Learning to Compose

Music technology, such as notation software and digital audio workstations (DAW), as well as the development of MIDI instruments and a host of other music creation tools and apps, allows for more inclusive access to music creation for anyone with an interest in music. What this means for the average student is the potential for an increased ability to explore, play with, and manipulate sound to create new sonic experiences, as well as imitate and recreate music they hear in their lives both in and out of school. At its most basic level, whether students are using computers or mobile devices, music technology allows students to become sound explorers.

Being a sound explorer is a trait we want to instill in our students, specifically with regard to composing. Since most of us do not necessarily have the skill of Mozart or Beethoven, who could put to paper the music in their mind’s ear, music technology affords anyone at any age the ability to “play with sound" Music creators at any level of ability or expertise can immediately determine what sounds good or interesting to them through the act of manipulating the musical elements. When one thinks of the term “play" one is generally more apt to think of infants and toddlers discovering and exploring the vast array of objects and sounds that encompass their young, new, and exciting world. For many teachers of older students, the term “play" in educational settings brings to mind games, and other less serious off-task endeavors (Pegrum et al., 2013).

The research on open-ended play and interest driven learning allows for the generation of new ideas and inventions. As suggested by Howell (2017), “open-ended, exploratory, imaginative play . . . plays an important role in the feedback loops between technology, context, informal learning and innovation" (p. 252). With regard to music, allowing students to play and tinker with the materials of music and sound can accommodate multiple ways of thinking for a diversity of students (Resnick, 2017; Resnick & Rosenbaum, 2013; Turkle, 1995). Wohlwend (2017) points out, “Players play while they learn and learn while they play, creating a balanced, bidirectional relationship between play and learning” (p. 597).

As students enter the upper grades, the focus in many school music classes generally shifts away from the visceral aural sensation that made music a pleasurable experience for them in the first place, toward a more visual and abstract endeavor. Learning to play music in a school setting typically has more to do with learning the symbol system surrounding the study of music than with the actual musical sound itself. Often, students are learning “about” music in the abstract rather than feeling and experiencing music through sonic explorations. Rather than learning the principles of music as theoretical concepts of Roman numerals and rules, music technology can turn abstract mental exercises into concrete active listening and doing experiences, allowing students to actually hear and most importantly, manipulate chords, chord progressions, melodies, rhythm, timbre, form, dynamics, and expressivity.

Whereas many music teachers have shied away from incorporating music composition in their classes until their students learn some music fundamentals such as traditional notation and basic music theory, music technology makes possible an approach to music composition that is more intuitively oriented. This approach allows students to begin exploring musical ideas before they know all the formal rules of composing. In fact, growing up with the ability to hear a diversity of musical genres anywhere and anytime, today’s students, as suggested by Bamberger (2003), have some highly developed musical intuitions for music teachers to tap into. Peppler (2017b) believes music technology can help serve as a bridge between what our students intuitively know, and the formal understandings we wish to impart.

Brown (2007) views the computer as having three distinct musical roles: he sees it as a tool, a medium, and an instrument. As a musical tool it makes tasks more efficient and allows the user to accomplish goals that otherwise might be more difficult or in some instances not even possible. As a medium, Brown writes,

When using the computer as a musical medium, the musician acts as an explorer. The possibilities of musical and sound transformations afforded by the computer can be depicted as a vast landscape. The computer as medium represents that terrain and various software applications or computational functions are vehicles for the musician to explore that terrain. (Brown, 2007, p. 10)

According to Brown, its role as an instrument, as with any instrument, allows the musician a means for communicating musical ideas. He also discusses the bond that develops between a musician and their instrument, where the instrument almost becomes an extension of the musician. Unfortunately for many music teachers, the perception exists that making music with and through technology is “not quite real music,” which they believe can only be created with and through traditional instruments.

Williams (2014; 2021) suggests in his writings and discussions regarding the iPad as a musical instrument, that much like any musical instrument, the iPad or in fact any other computing device, requires the “human touch.” That is to say, the sounds a traditional acoustic instrument or technologically enhanced device produces, along with expressive qualities and other aspects of musicality, are entirely dependent on human input and interaction. As with playing an instrument, without the human factor, whether it’s in the programming of a computing device or the actual playing of a laptop or mobile device, no sound or music will be produced.

I would be remiss however for not pointing out that music technology in the form of hardware and software is neither neutral nor a blank slate. Even with algorithmically created music, there exists a human programmer somewhere in the background helping to determine the outcome. What we can do with the technology is oftentimes affected by the intent and limitations imposed by the technology’s designers (Brown, 2007; Peppler, 2017b). Of course choosing the proper hardware and software environments for your compositional objectives is crucial, and the design of new music technologies can have the inadvertent effect of favoring some ways of music knowing over others (Peppler, 2017b) This is all to say, if the goal is to have students create music with and through technology as a composition tool in a school or afterschool setting, one needs to choose music technology that allows students to explore their musical intuitions without too many technological barriers. Ease of entry, a low price point, and choosing software that allows for the teaching of broad concepts should be the major considerations for music technology choices (Greher & Heines, 2014).

In this chapter I will provide strategies for employing a variety of music software applications and platforms for developing an understanding and ability to compose music with both novice and advanced students. There will be a focus on how students can use technology to manipulate sounds and organize their musical thoughts through a range of approaches for lesson activities and considerations on choosing the right tools for one’s learning objectives. From easy entry points for young musicians such as the use of looping software, to more advanced approaches to music composition involving recording, editing, and mixing within a DAW, readers will gain an overview of the role technology can play in engaging students. Simple music coding, through a program such as Scratch, which is a visual programming language developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at MIT’s Media Lab under the direction of Mitchel Resnick, can be employed to aid students in learning about and manipulating musical form, as well as teach students the basics of algorithmic music composition.

Learning about timbre and lessons on layering and combining sounds will be discussed through the use of MIDI instruments and the role that notation software can play in music teaching. Teachers will ultimately gain an understanding of the benefits and constraints of the types of platforms one can use to access music technology in their classroom, such as whether to use cloud-based or desktop-specific applications, as well as digital apps that can be used if teaching in a bring-your-own- device (BYOD) classroom.