Grade 7 (Term 1/L3/2015/2016): Working with Arranging (GarageBand)

As developing musicians, it is important to understand the compositional context surrounding the music that you play on your instrument. For this reason, you are asked to prepare a short GarageBand presentation in pairs where you examine the concepts of arranging, and prepare an original composition based on the principles surrounding rhythm and melody.

Using GarageBand, make a loop based composition of 1 minute in length. Your job is to make the composition sound as good as you can, which will force you to make musical decisions along the way. Use both rhythmic and melodic loops and see how they sound together. You may find groups of loops work really well while others sound strange together. Mix and match the loops and eventually decide on the best combination of loops for your composition.

You will have 3 class periods to complete this assignment. It is due the week before your Fall break. Please submit your work by saving the MP3 to your Google Drive folder. The name of your file should be the first and last names of both group members. You are advised to work on the project in the following order:

• Start a new file in GarageBand and begin to preview different sounds you’ll want to use (see handout “Navigating GarageBand” in Google Drive)
• Drag and drop the loops you would like to use to the main window. You will need to use both rhythmic and melodic loops (see handout “Using GarageBand Loops” in Google Drive).
• Adjust volumes, effects, and pans to make the arrangement sound the way you want. Please make the song no longer than one minute
• Select “Share” and “Export Song to Disk” to export the file. Submit the song by saving the MP3 file to Google Drive.
  Please work in pairs for this assignment and be sure that you use rhythmic and melodic loops. 
  
  
  You will be assessed on the following:

• Form and Organization: Logical form, suited to the genre of the loops.
• Genre and Use of Loops: Rhythmic and melodic loops are used. Logical, creative, and
  able to combine loops to develop ideas with sophistication.
• Use of Technology: Editing techniques, mixing techniques.
• Overall Impact: Ability to sustain listener’s interest for the entire piece ... encore!