Loop-based software programs such as Apple GarageBand and Sony Digital Pictures Acid make it easy for almost anybody to produce music by selecting and copying audio clips onto a grid. This copy-and-paste technique requires literally no musical skill; in fact, it's difficult to produce music that sounds “bad” to many listeners with this software.

FIG. 1: This screen shot from Propellerhead Reason shows how controllers can be used to make a melody more dynamic. The first four measures have no controller variations. The second four measures show (in blue, from top to bottom) MIDI Control Changes for volume (Master Level) and filter frequency, which affects the timbre. To hear those, check out Web Examples 1a and 1b at www.metmagazine.com.

One problem with this technique, however, is that it can lead to the production of music that quickly becomes static, predictable, and uninteresting. Music that stands up to repeated listening usually involves the manipulation of musical elements such as melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics.

Let's be honest: most students don't need you to teach them how to combine loops in GarageBand; they need to learn to identify musical elements and manipulate those elements to produce better music. The editing capabilities available in music-production software enable students to access and control such elements. Here are some basic editing techniques you can teach your students so that they can produce more-interesting music.

There are several ways to create variety in a repeated melody. You can select and transpose melodic lines or phrases up or down; you can insert program changes in appropriate spots to create timbral variety; and you can produce a thicker texture by copying the melody to a new track and adjusting the parameters of the copied track. For example, you can create a bigger sound by transposing one of the tracks up or down an octave or a composite sound by using all or part of two different sounds, such as combining the percussive attack of a harp sound with the sustain of a clarinet sound.

Any piece of music can be made to sound more interesting by varying the levels of individual tracks. You can start softly and get louder, or you can start loudly and get softer. You can create textural contrasts by lowering the volume levels of specific tracks at different points during a song. In addition, you can make melodies more expressive by increasing or decreasing a track's volume and timbre (say, by varying the filter frequency) at the appropriate point in a phrase (see Fig. 1 and Web Examples 1a and 1b).

Harmony is usually the most difficult musical element for beginning music students to understand. Reharmonization usually isn't an option. The effect of the harmony track can be varied, however, by using different sounds, different octaves, and different volume levels (including muting the track).

In contrast, rhythm is the easiest element for students to manipulate. Different drum loops can be inserted at any point within a song to create rhythmic variety and contrast. Drum loops in various musical styles can be layered to produce all sorts of hybrid grooves. In addition, percussion clips of individual instruments such as tambourine, shaker, and congas can be muted and brought in at different times in a song.

Temporal fluctuations are among the biggest casualties of most computer-based music. The spontaneous interplay that occurs between musicians, especially in jazz and chamber music, often produces fluctuations in tempo that can add a striking dimension to a performance. That dimension is lost with music in which students play along with a click track. A song's momentum can be varied with slight increases and decreases in the song's tempo. For example, a sense of excitement or drive can be created by playing the refrains of a song at a slightly faster tempo than the verses. Students should be taught how to edit the tempo track to create those effects.

Students who are able to identify such musical elements and know how to manipulate them in music-production software are in a much better position to produce high-quality music.

No matter how many rounds of applause we give ourselves, some students are simply more talented than others. It is important to remember that your gifted and talented students need as much support and encouragement as other students do. One way to acknowledge your best students' musical achievements is to establish an electronic-music composition showcase at the district, county, or state level.

As an example, the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) sponsors an annual electronic-music composition showcase. All student composers receive a written adjudication of their work, and those who are chosen for the showcase participate in the state conference. This event presents a wonderful opportunity for talented music-technology students to be recognized, and it generates great public relations opportunities for school districts that have supported music technology in education. If you are active in your state music association, I urge you to consider doing something like this.

Don Muro (www.donmuro.com) is a member of the NYSSMA Technology Committee and sits on the Board of Directors of the Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME).