8th grade music
8th grade students begin the year with a unit on basics of using MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) to program music into Garageband, a Macintosh-based digital audio workstation. Our 8th grade tech lab is equipped with 32 iMacs and MIDI keyboards, meaning every student is able to work with 1-1 technology in class. We cover simple functions like how to record and edit, as well as more advanced techniques such as panning, mixing, and using audio effects. Students complete one project a trimester, and are able to work solo or in pairs as desired. The three projects include:
- 12 bar blues project
- Students create a short 12-bar project based on this historically significant chord progression..
- EDM project
- Students explore dynamics and form by learning about the composition of electronic dance music.
- Cover project
- This project is a full culmination of all skills learned in three years of Byers music class. Students will choose a song to either cover or parody and record their own version from start to finish, including vocals.