AnimusicTips-2

8/8/2019 AnimusicTips-2

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Teacher Tips 2

Activities and discussion ideasto accompany classroomviewing of the Animusic 2 DVD

Prepared byJames Frankel, Ed.D.



ANIMUSIC 2

Teacher Tips for Animusic 2 2

SuggestedTopic Selection Activity or Discussion

Pitch All selections Recognition of high and low sounds.Discuss which instruments arecreating high pitches and which arecreating low pitches. Identify when

the higher and/or lower sounds entera piece.Consider the instrumentation of eachmusical selection.

Which instruments are “pitched” andwhich are “unpitched”? Which soundscan you reproduce with your voice?

Rhythm Starship Groove

Pipe Dreams 2

Gyro Drums

Is there a steady pulse? What timesignature is this piece written in?

Break students into groups and havethem use tennis balls to createrhythmic patterns. Find differentsurfaces to throw the ball against tocreate different timbres.

Using percussion instruments in theclassroom and/or “found” instruments,have each student create a shortrhythm. Next, have one student start

their rhythmic pattern and slowly addstudents until all are playing.

Melody All selections

Gyro Drums

In each piece, have students identifywhich instruments play the melody.

Is there a melody in every piece?

Can “unpitched” instruments play amelody?

Given the rhythmic pattern in thisselection, have the students createtheir own melodies using eithertraditional instruments, synthesizers,or voice.



ANIMUSIC 2


Harmony All selections

Resonant Chamber

Heavy Light

What instruments play the harmonyduring this piece?

Do they also play the melody at anypoint?

Which “arms” of the instrument play

the harmony in this selection?

In this piece, there are a number of times when beams of light playtogether to form harmonies. Howmany beams of light are needed tocreate a harmony?

Can you count how many beams of light are used to create harmoniesduring this piece?

Using traditional Orff instruments (orpitched percussion instruments suchas the glockenspiel or xylophone)have students recreate some of theharmonies from the piece.

Dynamics All selections

Cathedral Pictures

Have the students describe thedynamics in each piece.

Have the students describe howdynamics are used to create differentmoods and textures in each piece.

What instruments are typically playingwhen the dynamics are very loud?

What instruments are typically playingwhen the dynamics are soft?

Texture All selections Discuss how each piece begins with asingle line of melody or rhythm,introduced and played by a singleinstrument. The melody or rhythm isrepeated, leading to a gradual layeringof sound provided by otherinstruments. (The visualrepresentation of texture provided in



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Pogo Sticks, GyroDrums

each piece helps reinforce thisconcept.)

For each piece, have the students onlylisten to the piece and identify inmusical order the various layers.Then let them watch AND listen to the

video to see how well they dididentifying the order of sounds.

What happens to this piece as morepogo sticks/drums join in? Does therole of the original instrumentschange, or do they remain in the samerole?

Tempo All selections

Resonant Chamber

For each piece, have the studentsidentify the tempo and make sometype of sound (clapping, snapping,tapping foot) while listening to themusic.

Have the students discuss whethereach piece has any tempo changesduring the piece. How do the changesaffect it?

How many different tempo changesare there in this piece?

Why do you think the composer putthem there?

Timbre All selections Have the students identify thedifferent timbres from each selectionand discuss whether there aretraditional instrument equivalents foreach.

Have the students describe how thevisual representation of eachinstrument relates to the timbre itproduces. Is there any correlationbetween the two?



ANIMUSIC 2


Pipe Dream 2

Fiber Bundles & Heavy Light

Discuss the sound qualities of thevarious animated instruments usedwithin each piece. Can you describethe sound? What are the qualities thatmake this particular soundeasy/difficult to recognize?

What would happen to the timbre of the instruments if we replaced themetal balls with rubber ones?

What other things could be used to hitthe instruments? How would theyaffect the timbre?

Have the students describe the tonequality of each color used in thesepieces (purple, green, red, blue,yellow, white).

Is there any connection between thecolor and the timbre?

Instrumentation All selections

Cathedral Pictures

Discuss the instruments beingrepresented in each piece. How wouldyou categorize these instruments? Ismore than one family of instruments

represented? Which ones?

Listen to one of the pieces on thisDVD. How you would alter theinstrumentation?

Does the choice of instrument effecthow you perceive a tune?

What is the role of each instrument?Which ones play the melody? Whichones play the harmony? Which onesplay the rhythm?

What traditional instrument does eachanimated instrument represent in thispiece? How does the animation relateto the traditional instrument?



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Form andstructure

All selections Have the students try to identify anypatterns in each selection?

Using icons, letters, or manipulatives,have the students chart the form andbe able to describe it.

Mood andExpression

All selections

Pogo Sticks

Heavy Light

What is the mood of each piece? Howdoes the animator achieve that mood?Is it the music, the images, or acombination of both?

How could the mood of each piece bealtered?

What happens to the mood of thepiece whenever the pogo sticks entera tunnel? What happens when theycome out of the tunnel?

How does the title of this piece relateto the mood of the piece?

Ostinato All selections Have the students identify whatinstruments play the ostinato patternin each piece.

Does the pattern change at all duringthe piece? How?

Using traditional and foundinstruments, have students composeostinato patterns in groups. Discussthe parameters of ostinato patterns.

Have the students relate their ostinatopatterns to those found on the DVD.

Arpeggio Resonant Chamber

Pipe Dreams 2

Have the students describe howarpeggios are used in this piece, andwhat instruments play them.

How does the animation in this pieceachieve arpeggios?



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Critique All selections Discuss the term critique with thestudents to create a chart to helpstudents write critiques. Once amodel has been established, have thestudents critique each piece on theDVD. Using musical vocabulary, have

the students fill out the chart, describewhat they hear and based upon thecriteria used to create the chart givean informed opinion of the piece.These critiques can be posted to anonline class blog.

Other project ideas and topics for discussion :

1. In each of the pieces on this DVD, the composer and animatorhas written music and created images that perform the music.How does each musical selection fit the animation? Do you thinkthat the composer/animator came up with the music first or theimages? How does one affect the other?

2. Have the students listen to one of the selections WITHOUTseeing the visual images. Based on what they hear, have themdesign and draw a machine in the style of the DVD that could

perform the selection. Give the students ample time to create.Listen to the music over and over while they draw. Once theyhave finished their drawings, have the students share their work.Have them describe their machines, and why they designed itthat way. How does their animation relate to the music? Havethe students compare and contrast each other’s creations. Oncethey have all presented their work, show the students theoriginal images from the DVD. Have the students compare andcontrast how their creation related to the original.

3. In CATHEDRAL PICTURES, have the students listen to theoriginal version for four-hand piano by Modest Mussorgsky andthe original orchestration by Maurice Ravel. Have the studentsdescribe how the three compare to each other. BecauseMussorgsky originally used artwork to inspire his composition,have the students draw pictures or write stories that are inspiredby the music. Show the original artworks associated with the



ANIMUSIC 2


movements performed in this selection. How does their imagecompare to the original? How does the animator’s versioncompare to the original?

4. See the CREATE YOUR OWN ANIMUSIC SOUNDTRACK! LESSONPLAN

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These animations can be a catalyst for many differentdiscussions! Please share you experiences w ith us so w e canshare them w ith others.

Email suggestions, comments or requests to:

[email protected]

or call toll free 866-692-6468

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About James Frankel:

Mr. Frankel is currently the Director of Instrumental Music at Franklin Avenue MiddleSchool in Franklin Lakes, NJ. He holds MA and Ed.D. degrees from ColumbiaUniversity.

His experience includes over 15 years of teaching instrumental and general music atthe elementary and middle school level in New Jersey where he has incorporatedmusic technology throughout his classes.

He is active in TI:ME – the Technology Institute for Music Educators – and strives tohelp teachers find out more about technology and the amazing applications that itcan have in teaching children music.

Visit his web site and blog for further information:

http://www.jamesfrankel.com

Blog: http://jamesfrankel.musiced.netPodcasts: http://fams.podomatic.com

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