Tuesday, June 26, 2012

UCET12: Rock Your Curriculum with GarageBand Song Parodies

Rock Your Curriculum with GarageBand Song Parodies
--Diane Main

https://sites.google.com/site/rockstarteachercamp/isterockstar/garageband
http://www.dianemain.com/
Email: dianemain@gmail.com
Twitter: @dowbiggin

Side Notes:
To make a quick QR code for a URL, use the goo.gl shortener, then add a .qr on the end and it will create a QR code for you.
Google Certified Teacher applications due in July for New York.
Flip Teaching by Ramsey Musallam - Watch the TED talk.

GarageBand Karaoke: Steps to Achieving Awesomeness

Get Started
Pick a song you want to parody.
OR pick a topic you want to create a song about, and identify a song that works well for that topic.

Get the Song
Go to iTunes and buy the real song and a karaoke version of the song.
Preview the karaoke versions, as there may be a lot to choose from.
Usually the ratings (popularity) are helpful.

Get to Know the Song
Spend some time getting to know the real song.
Listen to it several several times through to get the feel for the rhythm of the lyrics.

Get the Lyrics
Go online and find the lyrics to your song.
Skim through several versions to make sure you get an accurate set of lyrics.
Some of them are pretty messed up.

Get Your Doc On
Create your document (Google Docs) and copy and paste the lyrics into it.
Have the original lyrics on the left and start adding your parody lyrics on the right.

Get the Standards
Go to the State/Common Core Standards and find the content you are making the song about to try to customize the lyrics to the standards.

Get Ready to Rumble
Look in your iTunes "Purchased" and make note of the artist of your Karaoke song so it's easier to find in GarageBand.

GarageBand
Drag your karaoke song in as one track.
You can bring the original song in as another track too if it helps you. (Sometimes they line up well, sometimes they don't.) You can record along with the original and delete the original later.
Create a Real Instrument vocal track to record your vocals.
Add as many vocal tracks as you need for your vocal recording.
Decide which vocal effects you want for each vocal track. Try them out and see. (Live performance is good.)

Get Your Gear On
You will need:
  • Microphone - external mic (not the built-in, not the mic on your iPhone earbuds)
    • Snowball mic from Blue
    • Yeti
  • Headphones or earbuds (otherwise the song will record over itself)
Get Ready to Clean Up
You may need to record your own background vocals to cover up and background vocals on the karaoke song because you can't remove them.
Record those background vocal first.

Get Real
Give yourself permission to record in pieces. It's too difficult to get the entire song perfectly in one take.
Make sure the audience can understand your lyrics!

Get Your Groove On
Clean up your pieces of recording and listen to it several times through to find parts that don't sound like they fit.

Get Tricky
Use multiple tracks of the same vocal effect and volume to make it sound like more than 1 person is singing or to cover up when you needed to take a breath or couldn't sing something fast enough.

Get This Show on the Road
You can export the song as an mp3

Get Crazy!
Create a podcast in GarageBand with images to accompany your song.
You can create an enhanced podcast in GarageBand or create a movie in iMovie or create slides and time your recording in Keynote.

Examples:
http://www.dianemain.com/
History Teachers on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/historyteachers
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFGGMTmBbx4
Out Here Graphin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1OtKtfWiDA

Create your own to teach concepts.
Have the students create their own about concepts they have learned.
Don't worry about how your voice or the kids' voices sounds. Just have fun with it. And it's not live performing, it's pre-recorded, so that is easier.

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