Oak Hills High School (Cincinnati, OH)
- Instructor: Grant Anderson
- Location: Cincinnati, OH
- School Profile: Public; HS; 9-12; 250+
- Class Title(s): Music Technology I and II
- Grades Levels Included: 9-12
- Structure of NTM Class(es): 45 minute class; semester only; class size up to 24; includes students 9-12; Open to all students. Project Based Learning – Both individual and team Oak Hills HABITS of Mind (21st century skill set). Using technology to create music in real world situations. Not a performance class. It’s about creating musical scores, video, commercials, gaming sounds. Open to Music and Non-Music students
- Software Used: GarageBand; Logic Pro 9 Studio; iLife; soon to use Abelton Live and ProTools.
- Hardware Used: iMac; fifteen Yamaha 735 pianos; ten Axiom 25 midi keyboards; variety of audio interfaces and mic equipment.
- Class NTM Activities: Recording and arranging songs; Creating podcasts; Adding music and sound effects to movies; Mixing music; Creating their own instrument recordings' Working with Apple loops; Music Videos; Learning about audio equipment such as microphones, wires, connectors, amps, stomp boxes, soundboard; Researching and exploring important developments in music technology (e.g., Development of the iPod).
- History: This is our first year of offering Music Technology at OHHS. Last year we visited Will Kuhn's classes at Lebanon HS and were blown away by the number of students enrolled in the program and its positive effect on the music program as a whole. Through the coordination with our Curriculum and Technology directors, HS principals, and a technology adoption year we were able to create a multi-purpose music tech lab that now houses Music Tech I and II, Basic Music Theory, AP Music Theory, Beginning Piano, and Intermediate Piano.
- Success Stores with NTM Students: This year has been amazing! We created original music to accompany images from 9-11. The project got picked up by a local news station and they came out and did a 5 minute spot on the project and class. My classes also created videos for Veterans' Day. The videos were then incorporated into our Veteran's Day ceremony. The Veterans were very appreciative of the projects and the students learned a lot about true heroes.
- Advice to Others Starting NTM Project: Find a program near you and beg, borrow, and steal any and all ideas! Building a positive relationship with other Music Tech teachers and audio guys is very important. They will help you figure out what you need to know in order to be successful. Get some books from Peachpit Press and learn your software programs. After this, go through each of your projects so that you know where the issues will occur. You may also want to invest in a subscription to MacProVideo. It's a great online non-linear tutorial website.
- Additional Comments: Some student perspectives to share: “I’ve never been so focused on my work before. It’s nice to finally see where I’m headed and see myself get to that place. I get to stay at my pace while still meeting expectations, which allows me, overall, to have a great time and still make progress at an amazing rate.” (Tanner H) Music Technology class “is extremely addictive and makes the day seem less exhausting. This class is important to me personally because it is expanding my career options and giving me a different look at technology, all while still in high school.” (Eric H)
- Date Submitted: February 2011