52 Tapes are Digitized!!

I continue to digitize my audiotape collection.  I have gotten more selective, though.  I have weeded through tapes that are copies, and if I own the originals, I have set the copies aside to be recycled.  I am NOT, I repeat, NOT digitizing my whole audiotape collection!  I am looking through the contents, selecting the one or two songs that I have used in the past and think I may want in the future, and converting those to .mp3 files.  The process is simple:

1. First, I use a separate tape player to rewind/fast forward and find the selections -- does anyone remember how cumbersome that process is?    
   
2. Once the song is cued up, I take the tape and load it into the AGPtek player.  
   
3. Open GarageBand and start a New Project.  Choose Voice.  
   
4. Save As... [title of song].band  (Don't worry about Tempo, Signature, Key), and Create.  
   
5. Automatically there will be two tracks:  Male Basic and Female Basic.  Just ignore these.  You can delete if you want, but I did not.  
   
6. Plug the AGPtek USB into your MAC computer (this unit did come with PC directions, too).  An acknowledgement window pops up that you have added an input.  Select "Yes" that you want to use it.  
   
7. Add a new track (+ sign on the bottom left corner) by selecting Real Instrument (the Microphone) and Create (it will say "No Effects" and that's fine).  
   
8. I found that if I pressed "play" on the AGPtek first and then quickly pressed the GarageBand Record button, the recording starts smoothly.  But you can always "Command T" and cut excess or unwanted portions from GarageBand.
9. In order to hear what was recording, it will be necessary to wear headphones attached to the AGPtek   
10. Next, select File "Save As" again to make sure the title is what you want it to be. 
11. Then Share -- "Send Song to iTunes".  If I was using more than one song from a tape, I went into iTunes ahead of this step and set up a Playlist.  Be sure to give as much information as you know so that you can recall later who the artist is, album name, etc.  

That's it!  Sounds like a lot of steps, but it goes quickly once you get in the groove.  It is time-consuming because you are waiting around for the selections to actually record.  There is no "hi-speed dubbing" with this process.  But remember, the AGPtek was only $20!!

I am delighted to have these songs in my iTunes Library now!  I have 52 tapes digitized at this point, but of course I'm not done yet.  The important thing, as I've said in a previous post, is that I understand the process for how to do this.

I would love to hear from you if you try this process and it works for you.  Or, if you have another way of doing this, I'd love to hear that too!

The Final Day (but it feels like a new beginning)

It is amazing how far we have come, thanks to technology.  Not only do all of us here at the Institute have this time together, but with e-mail, blogging, and Facebook, we have the ability to be connected in many more ways.  I am in awe of all my colleagues here.  I love the time to chat, compare notes, and share, and I hope we can keep this going!  Think about it -- there is a wealth of experience and expertise right here in Vermont!!!

View from my workspace this week!

One thing I explored is just how easy it is working with Google Docs.  I prepared a Google Doc presentation for the blogging session, but then I also shared not just one item, but hundreds of files just by sending a folder to Google Drive!  Wow.  So now I have a way to share and receive items.

I do hope that people will subscribe to each other's blogs and will take a quick moment to comment on the blogs to keep the dialog open.  Hopefully, our song will never end!

Day 3: Focused, and Multitasking

I am more focused today.  Instead of looking at my suitcase of audiotapes and feeling overwhelmed, I decided to pick out the individual tapes that I know I will want to use and get those converted to .mp3 files.  OK, you may say, "Well, why didn't you think of that in the first place before lugging that suitcase all the way down and up those stairs here at Champlain College?"

In my mind, I think of the ultimate task:  Pull everything together and figure out how to make life easier!  I am a sorter.  And recently I have become a purger of unnecessary stuff.  I remember days of copying tapes-to-tapes and then tapes-to-CD's.  Then that process stopped and now I've just forgotten about the tapes because of the ease of using my iTunes library.  Really what I am taking away from this experience is that I now have an understanding of the process, which I think is the most important thing I have learned.

My only purpose in using these newly created .mp3 files is for classroom use.  I do not intend to remix, resell, etc., and I will be careful about what I say on my blogs so I don't break copyright laws.  Because I am between two schools I am always moving in and out of buildings, and believe me, I have lots of stuff to cart back and forth.  When I do unpack, I need my sound "library" with me wherever I am.

This was not all that was going on today, however...  Multitasking, at a premium.  I used to think this was procrastinating, but not anymore!!  What a great day it has been!  I love doing this Independent Project because I have the flexibility to confer with music colleagues -- and I'm learning a TON...  As I read my proposal for this Independent Project, I stated that I wanted to "digitize my music classroom".  That's more than just converting audiotapes to .mp3 files!  Sue Persson, Connie Wilcox and I have been sharing back and forth via Google Drive the many, many PowerPoint files we have created.  We all discovered just how easy this is.  It almost feels like Christmas!

Then the last session of the day was with Dr. Jim Frankel.  He was so inspiring!  I will never know everything there is to know, but I plan to find out about all that I can.

I walk out of this Institute every day with a big smile on my face.

Working With The AGPtEK

Yesterday, after I posted about the day's happenings, Adam Podd and I got together and he showed me a few tricks for playing with sound from the GarageBand files I was creating.  In a nutshell, I am using the AGPtEK Super USB Cassette Capture to input songs into GarageBand.  From there, I am saving the files and then sharing them to my iTunes library as an .mp3 file.  I started with a recording of my organ teacher, Dr. Claire Coci, performing a concert at West Point that I taped years ago (I didn't even write the date of the performance). Wow!  She had passed away in a car crash in 1978, so to hear her playing again was such a joy!  But I was listening to an old audiotape with lots of hissing noise when the organ passage got soft and then crackly when the passage was loud. I am not looking for a studio remastering!  I just want the ability to hear those sounds again, and I want the ability to fix whatever I can.

Today I selected an audiotape to work with in order to try out some of the tricks that Adam showed me yesterday.  One idea was to record the whole side of a tape on a single track and then divide songs later by setting up cycle regions.  That was great (I thought)!  I pressed "play" and let the tape roll while I did a few other things.  Then I went back and located all the breaks in between songs.  I also labeled each of these sections with the song titles.  I saved the file as a ".band" file.  Then I shared the file to my iTunes to create the .mp3.  Uh-oh!  It all converted over as one file.  I guess there is no simple way to do this!

So the next step in this process is to cut the cycle regions, one at a time, and paste into new files and save each track separately. This is going to take some time!  So maybe I will not make a dent in my suitcase of tapes for my independent project.  So here is my new goal:  Figure out HOW to do this so that when I want a song that is on a tape -- a song I use enough times that it would be worth going through the process -- I will know what to do!

There has been a lot of talk at this Summer Institute about blogging.  Word is out that this is a good communication tool!  I attended a demo about blogging with Noteflight from Tyson Valyou.  I found this very interesting because in my blog research I had not come across a blog set up like this.  Tyson designed this blog as a teaching tool geared directly toward his students.  That will allow him to track their progress.  He has lots of interesting items in there, including activity templates for his students to complete.  Very cool!

Next I am looking forward to a session presented by Giuliana Sarullo on GarageBand for iPads...

Independent Project Begins

Today is Day 1 of the Summer Institute and so I am launching into my independent project.  It is also a day to meet other Summer Institute music colleagues who are participating in other sessions. There is so much value in talking -- especially face-to-face -- with other music educators.  It's not so lonely out there!

Here is what my work station looks like:

Notice the suitcase of old audiotapes... I'm finding some oldies-but-goodies here!

I am just beginning to figure out the process for transferring my audiotapes to .mp3 files.  I know there is an expert here at the institute:  Adam Podd, who can help me work with some of these old tapes to make them sound better in a digital format.  I will just be happy to have them accessible once they are transferred and available in my iTunes Library!

Blogging in the Music Classroom

Today, Sandi MacLeod and I presented a pre-institute session on "Blogging in the Music Classroom." Technology can be so finicky, so always be prepared with a back-up plan. At first, the projector in our classroom at Champlain College would not recognize my MacBook Pro, and then once that problem was fixed, we needed to figure out how to get the sound to work. I had created a Google Doc of my presentation called "Blogging for Music Classrooms" with the idea that participants could revisit the presentation at their leisure, but this ended up being my back-up plan! This was really a life-saver because the participants were not waiting while I was fumbling around trying to get the projector to work.

For the first part of the session I presented an overview of what blogging is all about and also gave some suggestions for different types of blogs. Showing examples of blogs helps develop preferences for the look, as well as content of appealing blogs. We also discussed readers and how to subscribe to favorite blog sites into a format that allows you to know when new posts are made and revisit old posts later. The readers I suggested (since Google Reader deserted us) are Feedly and Newsify. The advantage of a reader is that you are customizing what news you want without filling up your e-mail inbox. This is a separate entity. You can also unsubscribe to blogs if you find they are not really what you are looking for and don't have time to read them.

The second half of this session was used for creating blogs. All six participants created a blog and hopefully they see the benefit and future uses for this communication tool.

   

(Sorry, we can only see five of the six participants!)

Getting Ready For The Institute

In order to prepare for my Independent Study this week, I went to both schools recently and collected all my audiotapes.

I have this new unit called an AGPtEK Super USB Cassette Capture that will allow me to convert these old tapes to .mp3 files.  The unit was $19.99 and I purchased it through Amazon.com.

It is not fancy.  I’m treating it with kid gloves!  I am not planning to convert EVERY song on EVERY tape.  That would be crazy!!  But there are some songs on tapes that I would love to have in my iTunes Library, or else I have to dig out my old tape deck to play them.  I do not plan to throw these tapes away, but I believe I am repurposing them by converting them to a digital format.  Another post will detail how I do this.

Summertime and PD Activities

What do music teachers do in the summertime?  Hopefully there is time to rest, relax, and have some fun.  It is also a time to gear up for the coming school year.  Time to purge outdated stuff and revamp the resources.  Professional development ("PD") is so important, but not just any development -- meaningful professional development!  When courses are offered that are relevant to your teaching situation, sign up!  It may be necessary to seek out these opportunities, and it may mean travelling afar to get what you need.  Or these opportunities may be right under your nose (well, almost)!

This summer, 2013, there are two PD offerings that I am very excited about.  The first one is with the Music-COMP Music & Multimedia Summer Institute.  I am choosing to do an Independent Project since I have always wanted to have time to do certain things but never seem to get around to doing them.  My project is entitled "Bringing Digitized Materials Into the Music Classroom."  This may include such music technology tasks as converting old audiotapes to .mp3 files, adding audio files to existing Microsoft PowerPoint files, creating accompaniments for repertoire used in my music classroom using GarageBand, exploring and utilizing a document camera (I just got a NEO3 Hovercam), and creating .Notebook files to be used with the AppleTV/projector and iPads.  I also hope to create new lessons using technology (i.e. student iPads).  So there is lots to do.

This blog will serve as the place for me to review and reflect on each day's work at the Summer Institute.  If I get done even a fraction of what I mentioned above, I'll be in a better space than I am right now!

The second PD opportunity I found out about through The Fun Music Company's on-line blog and newsletter.  For the first time ever, there will be a 2013 Virtual Music Education Conference!   I signed up right away as I saw the list of presenters that are lined up for this.  The great part is that I can continue to do other things and then access the conference site when it is convenient for me.  Janice Tuck at The Fun Music Company asked participants to submit questions for the presenters, so I took some time to look at each of their bios and I generated a question for the people I'm most likely to check out during the conference.  The Fun Music Company is located in Australia, but I can access this without a plane ticket and I can refer back as often as I like.  I'm very excited about this.  I will update this blog after the conference begins at the end of July.