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The Art of Alice: Adding a Musical Component

The Art of Alice: Adding a Musical Component. ALICE Symposium - June 2009. www.alice.org. Debra L. Smarkusky Penn State University Worthington Scranton Information Sciences and Technology (IST) Department dls102@psu.edu. Sharon A. Toman Penn State University Worthington Scranton

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The Art of Alice: Adding a Musical Component

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  1. The Art of Alice: Adding a Musical Component ALICE Symposium - June 2009 www.alice.org Debra L. Smarkusky Penn State University Worthington Scranton Information Sciences and Technology (IST) Department dls102@psu.edu Sharon A. Toman Penn State University Worthington Scranton Music Department sat11@psu.edu

  2. Penn State Worthington Scranton • 1,400 students • Average class size: 23 • 45-acre campus • 62 full-time faculty • 46 part-time faculty • Baccalaureate and Associate Degrees • First two years of a Penn State bachelor’s degree in over 160 programs

  3. Student Experience Using Alice(Overview of Programming Languages Course)

  4. Integrative Arts Course in Music and Animation • General Education Guidelines • “aid students in developing intellectual curiosity, strengthened ability to think, and a deeper sense of aesthetic appreciation” • Motivation • Interdisciplinary course in music and animation • Active Learning exercises to aid in the retention of knowledge • Excite students about using technology while being creative

  5. Integrative arts students • Many are first-generation college students • No technology background • Mix of mathematical and problem solving abilities • Freshmen or sophomores with knowledge of music and/or technology ranging from none to extensive • Majority had an interest in one or both disciplines • Decide on a potential career • Enforce what they already knew • Provide them with additional knowledge that they could apply to another course or project

  6. The art of alice (Creativity) • Interface, methods, control structures • Camera controls and event-handling • Background music • Music that will play for entire animation • Sound effects • When using playSound method in a sequence or other logical structure • When using playSound in a DoTogether tile • Using the duration parameter of playSound method to adjust time of the sound effect

  7. Positive student experiences when using alice • Easy-to-use, fun and creative canvas • Express their creative ability and produce animations quickly • Abstractions, drag-and-drop interface, and hidden syntax • Opportunity to use programming constructs without having to learn the intricacies of a programming language • See and manipulate objects directly avoiding frustration and confusion with learning a new programming language • Engaged in their creations and eager to add additional components and complexities to their worlds

  8. Music Software • Sibelius is a music notation program designed to write and play music in a variety of styles http://www.sibelius.com/home/index_flash.html

  9. Music Software • Sibelius allows students to explore digital music through the use of technology • Sibelius uses: • A basic point-and-click format for the insertion of musical notes • Editing tools for the management of notes, graphics, and texts

  10. Music Software • The musical sound file created by Sibelius can be easily converted to a WAV or MP3 file by using any sound converter tool such as Switch http://www.nch.com.au/switch/

  11. Learning Process • The process of learning musical concepts is very similar to that of learning animation concepts • Students are introduced to the theoretical and fundamental terms • And then required to apply what they have learned

  12. Music theory • Basic concepts of music theory are introduced: • Pitch • Rhythm • Time signatures • Major/minor scales • Major/minor key signature • Intervals • Chords • Proper set-up of a musical score • Music terminology

  13. Musical Math • Students work to problem-solve musical concepts through active-learning exercises created in Sibelius • Students complete “Musical Math” problems to learn the basic rhythmic values in music

  14. Integrated Project • Music Requirements • Required to re-create note-for-note, concept-for-concept a musical score in Sibelius that is the same as shown on a piece of sheet music they have been given • Additional instruments into the final score • Guitar line • Bass line • Drum line • Animation Requirements • Select a theme with three scenes (beginning, middle and end) • At least 5 different types of logical control structures • Event-handlers for at least 5 different objects and/or key strokes • Utilize the camera controls • Students must integrate their complete musical score into the Alice World using the proper methods and coding procedures • A student’s grade for this project is based on their completed musical composition, the technical components of the animation, and their creativity in selecting a theme, adding additional objects, animations, and sounds.

  15. Similar development processes • Sibelius allows students instant feedback on the quality of the musical score they are composing • Students realize that creating a musical score in Sibelius is comparable to creating animations in Alice • Both follow development process which includes analysis, design, implementation, and testing phases

  16. Student Comments • “It is a different type of class that helps to teach you about the different types of software. It also teaches you new skills.” • “It’s a new experience. Even if your major has nothing to do with what you learn using Alice, it is fun and interesting.” • “I learned a ton and would describe it as a good time and a great way to learn music and animation.” • “I have an increased interest in music theory after taking the class.” • “I believe that it can be a fun course and lets you be creative. Also, Alice is not that hard to use. I also think that this class can help with different majors offered on campus. Alice is also very different from other Art courses. You are able to do more what you want and it is an art course that lets you use computer programs and not many art courses really do that.” • “Alice is very user friendly, easy to understand, and simple to fix an error.” • “Alice is a great tool for teaching someone the basics of animation and object oriented programming. I had a great time experimenting in Alice and using it to strengthen the fundamentals of objects.”

  17. Demonstrations From Sibelius to Alice

  18. Future Efforts • Positive feedback from the students and the admissions staff • Average female enrollment of 25% in our course each semester • Summer STEM Academy (ages 13-15) to teach Sibelius and Alice with 50% female enrollment • Comparison of 3-Dimensional musical animations in Alice with 2-Dimension musical animations in Flash

  19. Questions or Discussion

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