Digital Audio

I believe that there are great advantages in using looping software and intelligent composition software in the music classroom.  Looping software, such as Ableton or Garage Band, allow users to create an original composition using pre-composed looping samples.  Garage Band has a large library of samples to choose from with a wide variety of instruments and sound effects.  

There are many ways that this type of program can be used in the classroom, including:

1. Fulfilling MENC National Standard 4: Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.  Students could easily use a program like Garage Band to create and record their own compositions.
2. Fulfilling MENC National Standard 5: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.  Using a looped audio file, teachers could assess a student's ability to recognize various qualities of a piece of music (such as the instruments used in the piece).
3. Fulfilling MENC National Standards 1 and 2: Singing or performing with instruments.  Garage Band also gives the user the ability to record voices or instruments using built-in or external microphones.  Once the track is recorded, it can be layered on top of other pre-recorded instrument tracks and saved as one compressed file, such as an MP3.

The applications for this type of software are only limited by the imagination.  There are numerous ways that it can be used in and out of the classroom.