ICT in Prmary Music- and the Super Duper Music Looper!

Well... I must admit I was a bit of a sceptic when first introduced to the topic of using ICT in primary music. I've previously used recording equipment in music lessons to record children's compositions and performances, this has always worked well as they love to play them back and listen to their achievements. I also think that using ICT to display words or music for a song is useful (by the way, I think we should sing in whole cohort lectures more often!!). But using ICT to compose music...hmmm?

Music is a creative subject, and I think that keeping it practical with real instruments is still the best way for children to experience and experiment with musical concepts. However, after using the Super Duper Music Looper my eyes have been opened to different ways of incorporating ICT to build on children's musical awareness. I think that it is a great way of building on what the children already know. They can use their previous knowledge acquired by practical experience to create music using ICT. The Super Duper Music Looper creates lots of opportunuties for children to experiment with instrumentation, rhythm, texture...well, all of the elements of music! It could also be used by teachers to demonstrate a certain element which they may be focusing on.

In our specialist music tech seminars we use Logic to compose and record music, this is a complicated programme and I usually struggle to remember how to use it from one week to the next!- So definately not one to be used in the primary classroom. What impressed me the most about the Super Duper Music Looper is its simplicity. It is very easy to add and delete samples- a piece of music can be created in minutes. The number of samples for different instruments is also impressive; it gives a lot of room for variaion. If I had one critcism it would be that there is almost too much choice, as children could spend a whole lesson just picking which samples to use!

All in all, my mind has been changed about ICT in music. I don't think it should be used all the time, as practical activities in music are essential, but for use now and then, I think it is a good tool for reinforcing children's learning.