5.3 Arrangement Details
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Description: Add crashes, reverse crashes, impact sounds, risers, atmospherics, subtraction, and drum fills to student final projects to give them more detail and refinement.
Musical Objectives:
Learn about the different transitional and impact sounds that are added to create more detail in a track.Technical Objectives:
Adjusting volumes of detail sounds to create a balanced mix. -
Prep:
Familiarize yourself with detail sounds before teaching the lesson. Try to identify them in the music that you and your students listen to. The better you are at identifying them, the easier it will be to get your students to hear them in their music and put them in their compositions. Add detail to a track that you have created. This is the step in the production process that can be the most tedious - take the time and make something that you are proud of. Share your project and any struggles you had with your students while giving the lesson.Materials:
5.3 Project Rubric -
As a Class:
Watch the top video and discuss the different types of details that can be added to an EDM track.
Complete some of the connection activities to build confidence and understanding of the material.
Add details to the teacher example song as a class.
Individual:
Instruct students to copy and paste their 5.2 project URL to open it in the 5.3 studio page.
Have students watch the short step videos and add detail to their final projects.
Remind students to check their work by viewing the checklist.
When students are done, they can show each other their projects and make edits.
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Informal Assessment:
Check for understanding of the different detail types by asking questions after the top videos.
Walk around the room while students are completing the individual portion of their projects and check to see if their details are being executed correctly according to the project parameters.
Formal Assessment:
The completed projects can be graded by the instructor against the rubric. Students should present their final projects to the class, other classes, the student body, and beyond.
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Guided Listening Listen to student and teacher-selected music together and identify drum fills, crashes, reverse crashes, subtraction, impacts, risers, and atmospheric sounds together. Feel free to pause and rewind songs to give students chances to hear the different details. Once identified, have a discussion about what the specific sounds do for the song. Would the song sound the same if they weren’t there?
DIY Detail Listen to a song as a class that has minimal details added. This could be a student or teacher-selected song from a genre that doesn’t incorporate some of the EDM details that are in 5.3 OR a project that the teacher has created that does not have any transitional sounds or impacts. Put students into groups and have them come up with a narrative of what types of transitional and impact sounds they would like to create, where in the song form they would like them to be, and how they would like to create them. Students can make these sounds in any creative way they choose: by vocalizing them, using acoustic instruments, or manipulating found objects. Groups can then practice their detail performances and present them to each other. This activity will get students thinking creatively about the types of details they would like to add and allow them to think more conceptually about them when they go to add them into their own projects.
Fish Out Of Water Scavenger Hunt There are many instances of EDM details that are used in different genres of music. Rock, metal, hip-hop, or even country tracks have impacts, risers, subtraction, and drum fills. Put students into partners and have them find examples of drum fills, crashes, reverse crashes, subtraction, impacts, risers, and atmospheric sounds in non-EDM songs. Have them present their findings to the class after the working period to share their work and their musical tastes.
Detail Spotter Instruct students to make signs for drum fills, impacts, subtraction, crashes, risers, and atmospheric details in groups. These signs can be decorated to reflect the type of detail that they are identifying. Listen to a student or teacher-selected song a few times as a class. Give students time to practice identifying the various examples of detail for the song. After a few practice listens, instruct students to lift up their signs when they hear the detail type in the recording. Groups can also make music videos with these signs by recording a video of their sign holding performance.
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Enrichment: Automation can be used to add more dynamic detail to a song. Students that need a challenge can add automated filters and/or volume changes using the automation graphs for each track. Remind these students that the gradual changes should service the overall form and add to the tension and release that has been created by the existing detail that is already in the song.
Remediation: The list of details can be shortened for some students to make choices easier. It is recommended to keep impacts, subtraction, and rising and falling sounds in student arrangements to make it easier for them to complete their projects. They can also use the exact same types of detail choices that Eric makes in his example project but use different sound choices. This will still result in a polished-sounding final project without having to do all of the heavy lifting of the arrangement.
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As they say, the devil is in the details. It is easy for students to get lost in adding details to their projects and sometimes these can detract from the song. Make sure that the volume levels of the added material aren’t too loud and that the transitional and impact elements are complementary to the original ideas. When students are finished, there needs to be some sort of sharing and celebration for their work. Plan a launch party for the class’s work and invite other classes, teachers, and parents to hear some of the work. You can create a virtual playlist with a QR code to navigate people to copies of the tracks. Students can even come up with album art and share their tracks by creating posters with the QR codes.
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Core Arts Standards
Creating:
Anchor Standard 1 (Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work): Students learn to identify and conceptualize different transitional and impact sounds (e.g., crashes, reverse crashes, impacts, risers, atmospherics, subtraction, and drum fills) that add detail to a track.
Anchor Standard 2 (Organize and develop artistic ideas and work): Students organize these sounds to enhance the detail and refinement of their final projects, creating a balanced mix.
Anchor Standard 3 (Refine and complete artistic work): Students refine their projects by adding and adjusting detail sounds, ensuring they complement the original ideas without overpowering them.
Performing:
Anchor Standard 4 (Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation): Students discuss and select different types of details that can be added to an EDM track, then apply these to their own projects.
Responding:
Anchor Standard 7 (Perceive and analyze artistic work): Students analyze selected music to identify various detail sounds and discuss their impact on the overall track.
Anchor Standard 8 (Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work): Students present their final projects, discussing the purpose and effect of the added details.
Connecting:
Anchor Standard 11 (Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding): Students connect their use of detail sounds to broader musical contexts, understanding their role and impact in different genres.
Technology Literacy Standards
Empowered Learner (ISTE Standard 1):
Students use digital tools to add detail sounds to their projects, track their learning progress, and reflect on their work.
Creative Communicator (ISTE Standard 6):
Students experiment with adding and adjusting detail sounds and effectively communicate their musical ideas through their final projects.
Career Readiness
Music Production: Skills in adding and refining detail sounds to enhance music tracks.
Sound Engineering: Technical knowledge of balancing volumes and creating a polished mix.
Broadcasting and DJing: Understanding how detail sounds can impact the energy and flow of a track.
Multimedia Production: Integrating detail sounds into various multimedia projects to create a more immersive experience.