Workshops

Monday

Kepner Middle School

by Nate

I thought to myself, on the way home from Kepner Middle School, that this feeling was the reason I teach. While I sat in the back seat of my friend's car on the way home, a flock of pigeons, that I mistook for golden eagles, flew high across Federal Boulevard. The three of us quickly began assessing the class. Only moments before, we were sitting with the students making music. Each sample, in each song, named for the student who picked it.

Prior to class, I prepared a video using Sony Vegas, a program I had never before used. The intention of the first half of the video was to demonstrate the history of music production from Duke Ellington to Miles Davis, from John Coltrane to Puff Daddy Combs; the second half was dedicated to playing videos of songs the students would know and then playing the original song that it was sampled from. These videos included Lil Jon, Ozzy Osborn, the Isley Brothers, Biggie Smalls, and James Brown among others. We did this to show them that music is fluid, that it is a conversation, and the cool thing about conversation is that it takes many to further the dialogue. I narrated for the students over the video.

Next, we covered the basics of music software and basic sample arrangement and editing using the overhead projector. Then, we compared the similarities between audio and video production software using the video we just watched and the music we just arranged for them in Acid. The students then heard some of the other student's music, featured on the website, and were treated to a live performance by the three of us using a MIDI keyboard, acoustic guitar, and a turntable. We played for the students in order to demonstrate to them the superb quality of music that can be made with little more than a computer.

We then split into two groups, each group responsible for picking samples from the sample bank and arranging those samples. We are with these students for a total of two hours, one this Monday and one next, and we hope to have two songs completed, including lyrics and video, for Kepner's open house next week. If we can do this together in this short of a time frame, then maybe anything is possible.  Look for the student's songs on the website a week from Tomorrow!

I heard Aaron had a great class at Deverux and I can't wait to hear about it. Cody and Robbie will be teaching the class I lead today, at Kempner, tomorrow. It is the first time they will be teaching by themselves. It seems we are all growing in neat ways.

Devereux Cleo Wallace

by Aaron

(Youth On Record accepts vehicle donations)

I can't stress enough how impressed I am with the attitudes that the students bring to the classroom.  After spending the morning preparing, and half the car ride rehearsing what I would say to the class, stepping into the role of the teacher was effortless, because everyone remains receptive and willing to fully participate in the classroom.

I explained to everyone that we are putting together a class album, and we want the class to demonstrate everything they've learned in one final song.  We will dedicate December to this project, and each student will get three copies of the class album to give to their friends and family.

We got a lot of work done today, thanks to Matt who lent us his office, with Kiara, Tamika and Justin, and Dylan and Nina all recording songs in less than an hour and a half.  This track was initiated way back when Kiara was in the Flobots.org program, and Cody from Youth On Record created a new track for this song based on the previous work.  The song is called "Make You My Boo"; check it out:

Kiara - Make You My Boo

We'll post the other music tomorrow after the students put their finishing touches on their tracks.  Stay tuned!

Tuesday

Kepner Middle School

by Robby

This was a week of milestones as Nathan took a big step and resigned from his day job to focus on Youth On Record full time.  We also managed multiple simultaneous classes throughout Denver, innovated a new class format out of the ether of sheer inspiration, and banded together to create a video entry to the Sambazon Warriors of Change Contest.  The river is beginning to flow very fast now, so stay tuned as we document our adventures with students across Colorado and beyond.

Devereux Cleo Wallace

by Aaron

On Monday, Robby joined me to gather film footage for the video we mentioned above, and we had two students, Justin and Dylan, record some new music.  They demonstrated the capacity to share limited time on the microphone in a way that made me proud, check out their songs and play 'em loud:

Justin - My Wife

('My Wife' uses the instrumental tracks from the song 'My Life' produced by Cool & Dre)

Dylan - Silo

On Tuesday, Robby joined Nathan and myself again to finish taking shots for the video, and we initiated a set of lessons that will culminate in a final project at the end of the month.  We're calling the program 'Mashup December', and that means the students are working on a production technique that involves layering two popular songs over one another in a way that is often funny or surprisingly good.  The ability to do it well takes time and calls into play most of the skills the students have acquired up to this point, so we will expand on what the students did on Tuesday, but Kiara and Justin nailed it on their first try.  We can't wait to see what comes of this, look to this space near the end of the month to see what the Devereux class comes up with.

Rachel B. Noel

by Cody

Monday we conducted our second class at Rachel B. Noel Middle-School as part of our partnership with the Flobots.org after school program. We had less students than we had hoped but the students we did have were there for one reason, the love of music production.  As a result of such a low number of students we were able to sit down with them as individuals and be as personal mentors to them.  Serenity finished a complete song,  including lyrics, fearlessly singing the lyrics she wrote just minutes before.

Serenity's Song

Another student, Marshown, buried his head in some of the most advanced music software and created a song out of scratch using advanced techniques in which he was able to understand due to the amount of individual teaching we were able to give him The song for the video "Cobras" is the result. We gave the students Cd's with the music they had put together in the previous week, this seemed to inspire them, for now they had a tangible product of their art.  We look forward to continue working with these students and cant wait to hear the music they produce. "Whispering Chocolate" is the result of last week's collaborative efforts at Rachel B. Noel.

Whispering Chocolate

by Nathan

We thought long and hard about ways in which we could approach today, Wednesday, at Rachel B. Noel. Although we had great things happen on Tuesday when our attendance was low, we wanted to drum up some support for our program while at the same time try to leave an impression with those with whom we worked. It occurred to us that production includes video documentation, for we, as instructors, use it not only in displaying the student's work, but also in teaching the students. It would make sense, then, to include video production with this group since exposure to all kinds of media production is what is important in a production survey of this length (three days as opposed to the many weeks we work with other groups) . The student's collectively decided which sequences they wanted to shoot, and we helped them produce them on film. It was more fun than we could have imagined- the video entitled "Cobra" is the result. Oh by the way, we also recorded group vocals and scratched records. What a great day!