Do you know "Ableton Live"? This is a music production software developed by Ableton company in Germany, which has a lot of operational and exquisite UI with high degree of freedom.
The Gizz model participated in a music production workshop using "Ableton Live" held on December 21-22 last year. The venue is the Koushou College Middle School in Osaka Prefecture. In fact, this workshop is conducted as a curriculum for students in the first year of junior high school in this school.
"Music production in class" = music subject? I thought so, NO. This is held as a special subject "Inquiry" course in Joushoumen Middle School, and many new discoveries have been made in this rare combination of "Ableton Live" × middle school students.
This is an interesting interview that can change your mind about education, from the initial description of the "research section" to the introduction of the seminar.
And this time also interviewed the video, please watch it together!
What kind of subject is "Inquiry"?
As a subject in middle and high school of Zhuoshou College, Inquiry was established in 2020. It is responsible for the "time of comprehensive learning" in middle school and "time of comprehensive inquiry" in senior high school.
Different from the disciplines seeking correct answers in the past, as a subject of learning "self-existence style, life style" and "discovering and solving problems", teachers think about the curriculum alone on the basis of learning guidance. The purpose of the subject is described below by Mr. Yohei Ikeya / Mr. Tyson, director of the research section.
Japanese children have a low sense of self-affirmation or commit suicide. I don't think this should happen in the context of education. I don't necessarily think that self-affirmation must be very high, but I hope you have a little self-confidence and such a thing, this is the greatest goal.
I can put it this way, there is a place on the 10th, use it, but different from people, and continue a lot of such details, a little bit more confident, can be expressed through a little bit, rather than a simple word, I think this will make my complexity more complex.
The theme of the first year of junior high school is "oneself". Through the five senses, carry on the course of watching yourself. In the previous courses, I felt very happy just listening to them, such as saving face and making three-dimensional models on the street.
In this seminar, you will learn to use Ableton Live to make songs using sight, hearing and touch.
For those of you who want to learn more about the "Research Section", please see the Owand media "O-DRIVE" of the Research Section!
Close to the creativity of junior high school students!
The workshop was divided into teams of about 2 to 4 people (the first was held in October and this was the second). Each table has a MacBookPro with Ableton Live installed and a dedicated controller Push2 that can operate the Ableton Live visually. The lecturer was appointed by Ableton as coach Ayako Okamura.
In addition to the melodies and patterns provided in Ableton Live, the seminar sampled and produced songs from their own live recordings. Ask what kind of sound was recorded, the imitating sound of my friend Mickey, the sound of ice in the cup, the bell of iPhone, the voice of the Times, etc., there are really all kinds of sounds.
In addition, in the use of Push2 at the same time, real-time performance and effects, production is very formal. Everyone has no sense of resistance and operates freely. "that's enough!" "if you are in such high spirits, you will continue to finish the song. In particular, the use of controllers such as Push2, the operation, intuitive sense of change, middle school students are also in high spirits.
During the production of the song, Mr. Okamura, a lecturer, instructed: "Please prepare the images imagined by the students and prepare for the music produced." It seems that the video will be performed with music during the presentation. It's the so-called VJ. Not only to learn the techniques of music production, but for the purpose of publication and communication, to learn "what is performance" from all angles, which I think is very important. Because there is no fixed form, the possibility will be increased by understanding a variety of methods.
At the end of the workshop, it is divided into people who explain songs in the team, people who play music, and people who play videos.
The music varies according to which group, from the abstract to the environmental style, frankly speaking, it is not like the completion of the music written by middle school students. When junior high school students are in the first grade, many people do not realize that this is a type of music. in this sense, it feels like music created without preconception.
Images range from specific things (bicycles, telephones, characters) to more magnificent impressions of nature and the universe. This is taken for granted, but I really feel that "everyone has different feelings".
What's even more surprising is that all teams use Push2 real-time app playback, that is, DJ-style distribution. The most important thing is that everyone operates without hesitation. In my own case, I'm afraid of failure. I don't think I can do anything bad, but I don't see such hesitation.
Because there is no "correct answer", so I am not afraid of making mistakes. This is the power I feel in the course of "Inquiry".
Know yourself through "expression"
What did the middle school students learn through this workshop? Of course, I think the use of the software and the production of music are all about learning, and more importantly, we have learned to express the value of "no correct answer".
In the existing disciplines, we will get into the habit of looking for the right answer anyway, but in many cases there are no correct answers in the real world. For example, to communicate with others, what you want to do, how to live, etc., the correct answer is less fixed.
In my opinion, starting from junior high school students, mastering the values of "seeking truth from facts without correct answers" will make the world easier to survive and happier.
We did not evaluate the students in this course. It is precisely because it is a subject that does not have the right answer that is taken for granted, but it is difficult to make a "no evaluation" decision within the framework of the school. I think you take your students seriously.
Also, this is a very personal story, but I also make music with my hobby, so my life becomes very rich. The production itself is very interesting, because if you stick to it, you will have more music friends.
In my case, I fell in love with music with the MTV playing at home when I was in primary school, but I thought it was important to create opportunities for adults to be exposed to expression in some form. I think it can be media or education.
Whether you do it or not, as long as you know that you have this choice to express in your teens, the future may be brighter. Because they can only be!
Ableton helps students increase their enthusiasm for music learning through music production on the basis of the "Ableton for the Classroom" project every day. In terms of supporting equipment in the school curriculum and providing teaching materials and other educational sites, must interested teachers log in to the dedicated newsletter on the basis of confirming more details?
Https://www.ableton.com/zh/classroom/
Ableton documentary "Teachers blazing a New path in Music Education": https://www.ableton.com/zh/blog/creative-element-three-music-teachers-forging-path-music-education/
About Ableton Live:https://www.ableton.com/zh/live/
About Ableton Push:https://www.ableton.com/zh/push/
Ableton JP official Twitter:https://twitter.com/AbletonJP
