Back It Up
Hedging your bets against technical problems isn't the only reason you should backup. Imagine that the first version of the song or composition you recorded weeks ago is much better than your current version. If you back up regularly, you can easily go back and start over from there. Need some more backup space?
Try this:
1 Terabyte (wow!) SimpleDrive USB 2.0 External Hard Drive $0.00 Save $459.99

Slow and Steady
Use software like Ableton Live and Pro Tools M-Powered to slow down an audio recording without affecting pitch or changing the key. This is a great way to help students learn difficult parts - slowly bring them up to speed as they become more proficient!
Try:
Ableton Live 7.0 $299.95 Save $300.04
Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4 Educational $0.00 Save $299.95

TI:ME for a Change
Network with other Music Educators about technology integration at www.ti-me.org, the Technology Institute for Music Educators. You'll find tips, resources and an active community of technology buffs who live for integrating music into everyday teaching.

Make a Note of It
Find lots of free online resources from Sibelius, known for its award-winning notation software. Check out www.sibeliuseducation.com for FREE ready-made teaching materials to build your lessons, or upload and share lesson ideas too!
Try:
Sibelius 5 Notation Software $249.00 Save $350.00

Sounds Good!
The Garritan Personal Orchestra Sound Library offers great sounding orchestral instruments sampled to perfection. Check out their FREE online course, "Principles of Orchestration," based on Rimsky-Korsakov's classic. In this interactive edition, you can simultaneously hear and see examples where audio follows the score. Online professors help moderate the course.
Find out more here:
http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=77
Try:
Garritan Personal Orchestra Sound Library for Mac and Windows $0.00 Save $199.00

Digi Delivery
Check out the online archive of Digidesign's Digizine for free tips, tricks and resources for using Pro Tools and other Digidesign products. All past issues are available as PDFs for your perusing pleasure, free of charge.
Check it out here:
http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?navid=6&ref=ms&langid=1
Try:
Digidesign Mbox 2 for Mac or Windows $349.95 Save $145.05

Communicate with the Community
Make sure your parent and community music education benefactors know where their money is going! A great way to highlight student achievement is to share the musical results. Toward the end of the school year, duplicate several CDs of your students' compositions and mail them to everyone who provided financial backing for your music classes, including parents, alumni, local newspapers, small businesses, corporations and foundations. The cost of CDs has come way down, making this an inexpensive but effective way to thank donors while generating future support!
Try:
Imation 100-Pack of 52X 80-Minute White Thermal Printable 700MB CD-R Discs $39.95 Save $30.00
TEAC 52x 1 To 1 CD Duplicator - No computer required! $214.95 Save $35.00

Erik Johansen conducts Parent Band Night

There's no better way to truly understand another's concerns and fears than by walking a mile in their shoes. That's the kernel of wisdom behind the fun and innovative concept of Parent Band Night, an event that I participated in firsthand at the Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School in Greenlawn, NY. Here's the idea. Parents come in one evening with their child's instrument. They get a lesson on the basics of how to use that instrument and are given some simple parts to learn. Parents practice the parts together and then are sent home with the music and a directive to practice every day. The next week they all come back in, run through their parts and give a performance for their kids.

Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it was probably one of the most fun, crazy and clever school events I've participated in. It really opened many of the parents' eyes to what it takes to learn a musical instrument. The goals are both to get parents involved in the school music program and to encourage parents to make sure their kids practice and take their instruments seriously.

The first night started with an introduction from Tom Gellert, Director of Music and Art for the Harbofields Central School District. Then we were split off into instrument families and ushered to nearby classrooms. There top high school students aided in distributing parts and teaching us the basics of how to get a sound out of the instruments.

I'll admit it. I had an edge. As an elementary school student myself decades before, I had taken flute lessons in the fourth and fifth grade. So while I couldn't remember how to play a single note, I could at least position my lips in the right way so that a sound would come out. Many parents weren't so lucky. And while we were only taught the fingerings for four or five notes, it was a real challenge for most participants to play them clearly and in rhythm.

We practiced and practiced together and then were sent home with a mission: YOU MUST PRACTICE FOR AT LEAST 20 MINUTES EVERY DAY. After all, that was the hope that the band teacher, Erik Johansen, had for all of our kids. And, of course, since the tables were turned, it was our children's job to make sure we did it!

You can be sure that they kept their end of the bargain with relish! It was very comical to hear, "Mom, did you practice yet today?" after dinner each day. I did it faithfully and returned to Parent Band Night the following week ready for our big show.

We all went back to our original classrooms so that our student-teacher could run through our parts with us before the big show. That is when I experienced the biggest eye opener of the project. As we began to practice, I heard more and more comments like these: "That note is too hard, I'm just going to skip playing when that one comes up." "I still can't make a sound, it's too difficult." "My lips hurt." "My arms hurt." "My fingers hurt." Wow! What a bunch of whiners, I thought. If their kids had been the ones speaking those words, these same parents would have all rolled their eyes and told them to keep at it!

It really made me and all the other parents realize that yes, it is hard to learn a new instrument. But gentle encouragement to keep going is welcomed and needed by their kids. As Mr. Johansen put it, "My favorite part about parent band night is it gives the parents an appreciation of how difficult it is to play an instrument. In turn they understand the importance of daily practice and encourage their child to do so." Mr. Gellert added, "Parent band night makes parents aware that it's not easy to learn an instrument. Kids have to apply themselves. You know, when a child comes home with math or English homework, we are eager to help them. But when they come home and say they have to practice a new instrument, we send them to their rooms and have them shut the door. What kind of signal does that send? Parent Band Night is our hook to get parents involved and excited to be partners in their child's musical experience."

And the reward? The parent concert following was a blast! We certainly didn't play every note correctly, but we had heart. We had been told the week before to bring sunglasses, and during the last number, we stood up, put on our shades and swayed in unison to the final turnaround. The response? A standing ovation from our kids. WOW!

Do you have an innovative music program at your school you'd like to share? Please email me at tips@academicsuperstore.com.

Product spotlight:
Are you a band director? Here are some helpful products suited for you:

Sibelius Music Software
If you're an instrumental teacher, award-winning Sibelius 5 notation software makes it quick to create exercises, worksheets, scan in and transpose pieces, and produce accompaniments and arrangements - you'll never need to write out parts by hand again! Sibelius will even have your computer play each part back so you and your students can hear them. Or Sibelius will play all but one part of your scores, serving as a music-minus-one practice tool.
BUY NOW... Only $249.00

M-Audio MicroTrack II
Get a surprisingly impressive recording of your band rehearsal or performance with the palm-sized M-Audio MicroTrack II. It's compact, super easy to use and the sound is just great. Easily transfer recordings to your Mac or PC to burn CDs for your students and parents.
BUY NOW... Only $198.95

TEAC CD Duplicator
The 1x1 52X CDR Duplicator from TEAC is a stand-alone disc-to-disc CDR Duplicator system that requires no PC connection. Make copies of your school performances for parents, students administrators and the community quickly and easily.
BUY NOW... Only $214.95

Yamaha YT20 Auto/Manual Chromatic Tuner
It's amazing how much better your students will sound when they are in tune! A chromatic tuner can easily help them to adjust their pitch and keep the tuning tight.
BUY NOW... Only $29.95

It's not just for kids with iPods. Connect to parents, students and other educators with this easy new tool.

Don't you hate when someone tells you that something is, "So easy. Yeah, you should do it!?" Of course it's easy for them, they've done it a million times. I've heard that over and over again, but decided I'd better try podcasting for myself before I told you that you should try it!

The basic advantage to podcasting (a new word derived from Apple's ubiquitous iPod and the word broadcasting) over just posting an audio file somewhere is this. People - like parents, students and other educators - can "subscribe" to a podcast just as they would subscribe to an eNewsletter. Then, when new content is posted to that podcasting series, it is automatically pushed out to everyone that subscribes. They can hear it on their iPods or other media players, or on their computers using programs like iTunes. The cool thing is that once a subscriber determines that they think this information will be of interest to them, they will get future installments without having to lift a finger. And guess what? Podcasts can be video content too (also known as vodcasts!), opening up a lot of possibilities for educators to share what's going on in their programs. You can even assign the generating of podcast content to your students and get them involved. They'll love being in the spotlight.

Here's a part that confused me. The element that enables a podcast to be pushed out when new content is added is something called an RSS feed. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, which is somewhat reassuring (I like the word simple...). It's code that you add to your file when you post it.

I had to ask for help to understand how to do it, and I turned to a friend and educator, Marc Schonbrun (see www.marcschonbrun.com). As Marc explained, "Try a free service like feedburner.com to make an RSS feed for your audio file. Make sure your file is posted somewhere first, have the URL handy and fill out the form there. Of course, you may want to add it to sites like iTunes, too, so that more people will be exposed to your podcast. Feedburner can help you do that automatically too."

Now, you may not want outside exposure. Your podcast might just be for parents in your district. So publicizing it through take home flyers and the school's newsletter might be enough. But if you do want to share your content with the world, then try adding it to other sites beyond your school website too.

Sure, there are tons of great applications for podcasting, and hence, a good reason to spend the time to learn how to do it. For example, you can broadcast upcoming band events with snippets of audio content and include some comments from the principal and other administrators. And yes, after the initial fear of "messing something up" that I often have when faced with the technological unknown, it really is easy.

There is a whole list of specs and tips on how to create and post a podcast on the iTunes Store website (see http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html), but if you're like me you don't have time to read all of that technical stuff. So here's the down and dirty synopsis.

1. Record your audio (or video if you're even more ambitious). I used an M-Audio MicroTrack II along with its accompanying stereo microphone. I leave how you do it to you for now. Maybe some tips will come in a future article (and podcast!).

2. Save it onto your computer and make sure the audio is set up the way you want it to be - that the levels are good and it's not too soft or too loud, it starts where you want it to and ends, well, at the end. Also, make sure your file isn't too huge, so that others don't have a hard time receiving it.

3. Create some kind of artistic icon to go with your audio file. Don't take too much time. It can be a logo or just a square of text, but think of it as the sort of "Cover Art" for your audio file. You should size it as a square preferably at 340x340 pixels (and 72 dpi). Don't worry if you can't do this, you can post without a graphic too. On iTunes or other feed sites, it's nice to have a graphic to call attention to your podcast. But if you're having trouble, maybe one of your students would be willing to help!

4. Post your audio file onto your school website. This is where your audio will be served. Your IT department should be able to set this up for you if you don't already have a mechanism for posting content. Make sure you have a URL for your audio file.

5. Go to a free RSS scriptwriting website like this to create the code that you need to make your audio files into a podcast.

This type of site will add the RSS code that you need to broadcast your files so that others can subscribe. You can do it at the site www.feedburner.com too and many others. There are tools built into other programs too, like Garageband, that make it easy to podcast. This is the code that goes along with your audio file to make it into a podcast.

6. Here's what the code from my podcast looks like:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
	<rss version="2.0">
	<channel>
		<title>Academic Superstore Podcasts</title>
		<link>www.academicsuperstore.com/podcasts</link>
		<description>Music Education Podcasts from Academic Superstore</description>
		<language>en-us</language>
		<copyright>©2008 Academic Superstore</copyright>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:31:43 GMT</lastBuildDate>
		<generator>tdscripts.com Podcast Generator</generator>
	<webMaster>laurabw@mac.com</webMaster>
		<ttl>1</ttl>
		<item>
			<title>Podcasting 101</title>
			<description>Some tips for music educators on how to create and publish a podcast</description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:31:43 GMT</pubDate>
			<enclosure url="http://www.academicsuperstore.com/podcasts/podcasting101.mp3" length="412000" type="audio/mpeg" />
	</item>
	</channel>
	</rss>	

Don't get scared! This is just code that runs in the background to let viewers know it's a podcast. Next time you can just update it with the information for your next offering and you're good to go. Publish this code along with your file (your IT department can help) and you're podcasting!

OK, I admit it. This still seemed a little confusing to me, so I looked around a little more. That's when I found that there are podcast hosting sites like www.switchpod.com. These sites will let you upload files onto their server up to a certain size for free and will make a podcast for you. So your podcast is hosted by them, and they give you a URL. That's kind of cool. Now you don't have to rely on anyone to post your podcast. Just make sure you check your school's policy for posting files on outside sites.

And finally, a word about copyrights. Of course, with podcasts, the same copyright rules apply as with any other use of copyrighted material. So just keep that in mind.

Product spotlight:
Want to try Podcasting? Here are some products that could be helpful to you:

M-Audio MicroTrackII
Record simply and easily with the palm-sized M-Audio MicroTrack II. It's compact, super easy to use and the sound is just great. Easily transfer recordings to your Mac or PC for instant podcasts!
BUY NOW... Only $198.95

Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9
An affordable solution for recording on your PC. Record live instruments and vocals, edit and restore audio, apply studio-quality effects, and convert files with lightning speed. Runs on Microsoft® Windows® XP or Windows Vista™
BUY NOW... Only $49.95

Ableton Live 7 LE
Ableton Live 7 LE gives you an intuitive interface and pro features for recording, songwriting, remixing and more. It's an easy way to record and edit your podcast and get it up in a flash. Available for Mac and Windows.
BUY NOW... Only $0.00

M-Audio SoundCheck Microphone
Designed for recording vocals and guitars with computers, SoundCheck is a rugged, dynamic mic. Its unidirectional design helps to eliminate unwanted background noise, producing clearer, more professional-sounding recordings without hassle. The mic includes a hard mount, case and XLR cable.
BUY NOW... Only $49.00

M-Audio FastTrack USB Guitar and Vocal Interface
If you want to record directly to your computer, you'll need to plug your microphone or electronic instrument into an audio interface first. An affordable solution is the Fast Track USB. Just connect Fast Track USB to the USB port of your computer and you're ready to record. Fast Track USB has an input for instruments like guitar, bass and keyboards, plus a microphone input for recording vocals or other acoustic instruments.
BUY NOW... Only $99.95

Resources:
http://www.tdscripts.com/webmaster_utilities/podcast-generator.php
http://www.podcasting-tools.com/podcast-faq.htm
http://www.switchpod.com
http://www.feedforall.com/podcasting-tutorial.htm
http://www.podcastingnews.com/2008/04/22/podcasting-plain-english/
http://www.feedburner.com