Soundtrap is an online DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation.

1. Go to https://www.soundtrap.com/ Links to an external site.

2. Create an account (don't do the educator version, just individual for now)

3.  Stay logged into Soundtrap and follow along with this 30-minute tutorial  to  create  your  own  original  piece  of  music.Introduction to Soundtrap Links to an external site.

4. Upload your composition here. 

5. Explain your compositional process in a paragraph.

6. Describe how you could use this software in a lesson plan (grade/type of music class)

Example:

https://www.soundtrap.com/playlink/154f02e7-d2c3-4a8a-9688-4fd3e888f6c5/ Links to an external site.

"COVID-19 Disco"

I first picked a disco beat because I love disco. I didn't want to layer in another beat like Spencer did because I didn't want to cover up the unique sound of a disco beat.  I next picked a disco bass and loved the dark sound of Disco Nouveau. I wanted something string-like to add third since most disco music has some kind of violin riff, but they only had classical examples. I decided a synthesizer would be closer. I chose Phat Brass 2 because it's in a major key and I love how the major/minor sound against each other. This reflects the darkness I feel now with this COVID-19 pandemic, with the major tonality reflecting my attempts to stay positive and see the goodness in each day. I chose the tempo marking of 120 because it felt right to how I dance disco steps to this beat. I added a handclap pattern on beat 4 of each phrase because (again) that's typical of the disco sound. I then adjusted the volume of the new part lower because it was too loud. I didn't want to quantize my notes, because they were in time the way I played them originally. 

This would be most useful with secondary music classes, middle school general music, or even embedded in a band or choir class as a special topic. I'd do it exactly the same way I did! Following along with a tutorial or teacher demo.

This module should take approximately 75 minutes