Over the next ten days, I will be writing small blog posts about the ten tech tools to assist an elementary teacher for a concert. Many of us are just coming off a concert season or will be having a concert right after winter break. Whenever your concert is, I hope that these ten tech tools assist you.
This list is not meant as a list that a teacher should use every tool. It is meant as a list to grab one or two tools that might assist you better for a concert. Each day will have a tool with a description. Once we get to number one, there will be a webinar demonstrating all ten tools.
#10: Audacity
This free software has been around for years and it keeps being updated. This software can be downloaded for Windows, MAC, and Linux. It also still includes legacy downloads for older operating systems.
Uses for an Elementary Music Teacher before a Concert
Change the Key: If you are using an accompaniment track for your concerts, but the pitch of the song is too high or low, you can place the track into Audacity and easily change the key. This works wonderfully for key changes of a minor second to a major third. After that, I feel that the track becomes distorted.
Change the Tempo: If your accompaniment track is too fast or slow, you can place it is in Audacity and change the tempos without distorting the sound of the track.
Remove the Lyrics: This does not work for every song, however, it has come in very handy when needed and when it works.
Exporting the File: Audacity makes it intuitive to export the track as an aiff or wav (for better sound quality) so that you can easily import it into whatever you use to play accompaniment tracks from for your concert (iTunes, Spotify, CD, etc).
How to Use Audacity
Once the countdown reaches #1, there will be a webinar showing how to use all of the items on the list.
There are other apps and software that can do what Audacity does and they are great apps. However, Audacity is free, which makes it an optimal app.
Hope you are having a wonderful break!
Amy, What a helpful series! Another way I love to use Audacity when preparing for a concert it to Slice and Dice! I can easily remove a verse, skip a section, shorten an ending, make a transition longer, create a medley by fading the first song out while fading the second song in, or add the 2nd part only in certain sections, etc. Breaking sections down and exporting to Explain Everything or Seesaw (as a video) enables me to create practice tracks with lyrics for homework. Audacity is a fabulous tool for so many reasons!! I love reading your posts!! – Cherie