Glory Be To Jesus - A MIDI Hymn Project

Here's an example of the MIDI Hymn Project you are about to embark upon:



The procedure for making a MIDI hymn is (simply) as follows:

1. Set the key of Garageband to match the key of your hymn (see red annotations in second screen shot). Input the four voices of the hymn Glory Be to Jesus (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) into separate tracks in Garageband. 

   

   First four tracks in Garageband

2. Tracks must be green (software instruments) to enter MIDI information in Garageband. Notes can either be clicked into regions by first command-clicking (hold down the Command key while clicking with your mouse) in an empty track, then command-clicking onto the staff in score view as shown below:

   

   Adding MIDI notes to a track

3. After entering the SATB tracks, then it's time to start researching the ranges of orchestral instruments and their families (woodwind, brass, and string) to see which instruments can play in the ranges of the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices.  A good source for finding the ranges of orchestral instruments is Wikipedia.

   

   Wikipedia: Trumpet range

4. We've been using Apple's Jam Pack 4: Symphony Orchestra (manual) to get high quality samples of real orchestral instruments in Garageband '11 (6.0.5) in our Music Tech lab. When you double-click on a track header (or click the "i" button in the lower right corner of your screen) you'll be presented with the instrument panel.  Choose "Jam Pack Symphony Orchestra" from the dropdown menu, select the instrument family you need (Horns = Brass) and select the orchestral instrument that can has the same range as that voice of the hymn.

   

   Selecting Orchestral Instruments in Garageband '11(6.0.5)

   5. Make new tracks for each new instrument you add to your project.  Option-drag (hold down the Option key while dragging) a soprano region into a soprano instrument's track (such as Flute).  Some instruments sound more natural when played in a high or lower range.  You can adjust the octave that an instrument plays in with the pitch slider in the the track editor.  +12 = an octave higher (up 12 half steps).  -12 = an octave lower (down 12 half steps).  Bass instruments sound good an octave lower than written, but just make such the range of the instrument can handle it!  Sometimes an entire instrument family can play an octave higher than written.  Sometimes it works well to have one instrument playing at pitch (+/- 0) which it's doubled either an octave up (+12) or down (-12).  Listen carefully and go for the most natural sound of each instrument you choose.

Final Commercial Project

Now that you've finished one commercial project, replacing the soundtrack of an existing commercial with new music, it's time to go wild and choose your own commercial to replace the soundtrack.  Look for a commercial that is has a mainly music soundtrack, but listen for other ambient sounds to keep, like we kept the sound of the man typing on his computer, clicking the iPod wheel, door slamming, and narrator's voice.

Looking for ideas?  Nathan Birkholz did an excellent job not only of replacing the original music from this Evian water commercial, but he also added sound effects of rollerskates, grinding on a metal rail, chain link fence, and babies laughing. Watch the original commercial first, then watch Nathan's "Baby Nathan" version:

Original Evian water commercial:

Nathan's "Baby Nathan" version:


Check out these student's commercials as well for more ideas: Nathan Delelandre, Bethany Westphal, Josh Meyer, Mykenna Schneiter

After you've found a commercial to work with, you'll need to download it from YouTube.  We've been using KeepVid successfully for many years, but it needs Java to run and it might not work correctly if you are using a Chrome browser.  Watch the top of the screen for a yellow bar and click on "Allow Java to run on this site".  When prompted with a dialogue box, click a checkmark in "Allow".  Then watch for a list of files in blue with the extension .MP4.  If you are working on an older iMac, choose the 480p file.  If you are working on a newer iMac, choose 720p or 1080p.

If you are trying to use KeepVid.com on a new Mac running OS X 10.9 Mavericks, use Safari instead of Chrome.

Watch this screencast to see how to use Keepvid.com to download YouTube videos using Chrome:



Choose a new commercial to replace its soundtrack with new music. Propose your commercial, replacement music, and other sound effects (foley work, voice overs, etc.) to Mr. Witte.

If you need music at a specific number of beats per minute to match the action in your commercial, use one of the following websites to calculate beats per minute (BPM) of the original soundtrack

• Tap for Beats Per Minute BPM
• BPM CounterTap
• BPM - Online Beats Per Minute Calculator and Counter

Want to take your replacement soundtrack to the next level? Start listening for other sound effects in your original commercial which happen during the music which you are replacing.  To make your commercial soundtrack believeable, you will want to find new sound effects online and download them into your Garageband project.  See the student's work above for screenshots of soundeffects in Garageband.  

Can't find the perfect sound effect online?  Maybe it's time to get into a little foley work.  Watch this video to understand the role of foley work in films:

Screencast: How to Export a Commercial Project from Garageband to YouTube

Commercial Project - First Steps

Block 3: Please click through this presentation and the links inside to understand the first steps of the Commercial Project.

Commercial Soundtrack Replacement - A History

The culminating project for digital audio manipulation has been the replacement of an existing commercial's soundtrack with music of a student's choosing.  I've written about this project a number of times over the years:

11/1/13 - Commercial Soundtrack Replacement
10/2/12 - Commercial Soundtracks
1/19/11 - Dance Project Lessons (scroll down to 5. Commercial Project 1)
9/18/09 - Saving a YouTube Video

How to Crossfade in Audacity

Read this Crossfading article from How To Geeks

Dance Project 1 Blog Requirements

Finish blogging about Dance Project 1.  Include in your blog article:

1. An explanation of Dance project 1 for the person who has not been in this class.  Include in your explanation
1. The goal of the project (Why did we shorten "I Like That" down to 0:39 seconds?)
2. What techniques did you need to learn in Audacity to do your work? (e.g. What does "Spilt New" do?, What are "Christmas Trees?")
3. A simple step-by-step guide so someone could recreate your project if they wanted to. (Emphasis on SIMPLE)
4. Why did you select the parts of the song that you did? What parts of the song do they represent?
2. A screenshot of your Audacity project with annotations (arrows, circles, text) that explains what you are looking at. (Remember: "A picture is with a thousand words."). Command-Shift-3 takes a screenshot of the entire window



My Audacity Dance Project 1 Tracks

Command-Shift-4 allows you to select a portion of the screen to copy




3. Your Google Presentation on Audio File Formats with a paragraph explaining why you made the presentation and what you learned (or what the reader will learn if they click through your slides).

 

 

1. An embedded widget from SoundCloud of your edited version of Dance Project 1.

 
1. A summary statement for your article  that includes one of the following topics:
1. What did you learn in this project?
2. What was the coolest part of this project?
3. Something else that struck you as you were working on Dance Project 1.

EXTRA CREDIT: links to your sources (e.g. Dance Project 1 Instruction Sheet)