1.2 The ingredients

• Objectives

  Musical:

  • Be able to identify the difference between drums, bass, chords, and melody.

  • Understand what the different ingredients do to a song.

  • Recognize song structure and phrasing in a loop-based performance.

  • Perform in musical time.

  Technical:

  • Start and stop the Elements Looper.

  • Mute instrument tracks on the Elements Looper.

  • Trigger one-shot samples.

  • Alter sounds using the filter pad.

• Procedure

  As a Class:

  • Watch the top video and discuss the relationship between music and food in relation to its ingredients. 

  • Watch the drum, melody, chord, bass, and all ingredients videos and talk about how the different instruments make the audience feel. 

  • Complete some of the connection activities to build confidence and understanding of the material.

  • Watch the final step video to learn how to use the Elements Looper and try it as a class.

  • Looper Instructions

    • Make small changes every 8 beats (15 minutes on the clock), medium changes every 16 beats (30 minutes on the clock), and large changes every 32 beats (full clock rotation). 

    • Use the clap on beats 2 and 4. 

    • Add in crashes on beat 1.

  Individual:

  • Have students watch the step video again on how to use the Elements Looper. 

  • Give them time to experiment with muting the drum, bass, chord, and melody tracks only. 

  • Have them fill out the looper performance PDF to plan out their 32 bar performance.

• Assessment

  Informal Assessment:

  • Check for understanding by asking questions during the class viewing of the step videos.

  • Walk around the room while students are practicing and check to see that they are purposefully muting and unmuting the ingredients in musical time. They should only be using the filter pad and one-shots to augment these changes.

  Formal Assessment:

  • Students can either play their 32-bar performance live to the teacher, for the class, or they can record it using screen capture on their device and turn it in. The performance should be graded on the rubric.

• Connection Activities

  Instrument Kahoot
  Students can complete the instrument Kahoot individually by clicking on the Kahoot link next to the video at the top of the lesson page to practice identifying if a sound is a melody, chord, bass, or drum. You can then use THIS LINK to create a class Kahoot and have students compete against each other.

  Guided Instrument Listening
  Listen to a student or teacher-selected song as a class. Pause the song at the end of each section (chorus, verse, intro, etc.) and parse out which elements are being played and what instrument is playing it. Have students try to find the answers and scaffold them to the correct response through questioning. Sometimes it helps to isolate one channel of audio (left and right) to hear specific instruments. Repeat this for all of the song sections and map out the form of the song and show which elements are playing where on the board. After doing this once as a class, this activity can be repeated individually or in small groups. Students can draw what the energy level looks like for the different sections based on how many instruments and what type of ingredients are being used.

  Identify The Instrument Team Game
  Students should get into small groups and make up a team name. Play a teacher or student-selected song or song section on a high-quality playback system on loop and have them name as many instruments in the track as possible—the more detailed, the better. Each correctly identified sound is worth two points. Each incorrectly identified sound counts as a one-point penalty. Repeat this process for a few songs and tally up the scores at the end to find the winner.

• Differentiation

  • The filterpad and one-shot triggers should be used by students who can purposefully execute the muting and unmuting of the ingredients in 2 bar, 4, bar, and 8 bar increments. 

  • Once students have demonstrated this, they can add in the other performance elements. 

  • Students that excel with these performance elements can watch videos on key drumming and add in extra drum patterns using the kick and clap triggers. 

  Remediation:

  • If students are having trouble or they are overwhelmed by the filterpad and one-shot triggers- only allow them to mute and unmute the instruments.

• Notes

  Parsing out instruments in a recording is a learned skill that takes practice. Take some time and work on this skill by yourself. If you need to, you can pre-listen to the examples and write down what you hear. Give your students time to play with the Elements Looper and have fun with it, but provide timed checkpoints when they are preparing their performances for assessment. If there are students who do really well with using the Elements Looper, have them plan a longer performance and do it live for an audience. Set up a sound system in a high-traffic area like a hallway, common area, or lunchroom, add lights, and have the student perform.

• Standards & Pathways

  Core Arts Standards

  1. Creating:

     • Anchor Standard 1 (Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work): Students identify and conceptualize different musical elements such as drums, bass, chords, and melody.

     • Anchor Standard 2 (Organize and develop artistic ideas and work): They organize these musical elements to understand their role in song structure and phrasing.

     • Anchor Standard 3 (Refine and complete artistic work): Students refine their understanding by practicing muting and unmuting instrument tracks.

  2. Performing:

     • Anchor Standard 4 (Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation): Students analyze how different instruments make the audience feel and interpret their role in a loop-based performance.

  3. Responding:

     • Anchor Standard 7 (Perceive and analyze artistic work): Students perceive how different ingredients affect a song's overall structure and energy.

     • Anchor Standard 8 (Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work): They interpret the function and impact of each instrument within the song.

  4. Connecting:

     • Anchor Standard 11 (Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding): Students connect their musical selections to broader contexts, enhancing their understanding of music’s role and influence.

  Technology Literacy Standards

  1. Empowered Learner (ISTE Standard 1):

     • Students use the Elements Looper and other music production tools to control their learning. They set goals for creating musical arrangements, track their progress, and reflect on their performances.

  2. Creative Communicator (ISTE Standard 6):

     • Students express their creative ideas by experimenting with muting instrument tracks and using the filter pad to alter sounds. They utilize various digital tools to present their work, effectively communicating their musical ideas.

  Career Readiness

  • Music Production: Skills in identifying and arranging musical elements.

  • Sound Engineering: Technical knowledge of audio equipment and software.

  • Broadcasting and DJing: Understanding of loop-based performance and audience engagement.

  • Multimedia Production: Integrating music with various multimedia projects.