The iBook I read for this assignment was all about urban orchestration and soundscapes. A soundscape is a visual drawn from an individual’s attitudes and emotions from listening to a particular piece of music. For this assignment, students would first need an introduction to urban sounds. Mark Shillitoe, author of the book, introduced students to artists such as Kraftwerk, David Bowie, and Underworld to give them an idea of urban sound. After this, students were introduced to Garage Band and taught to use it to create their own urban orchestration. The pieces were then uploaded to Sound Cloud, and students gave each other feedback and comments using the site’s social media function. Finally, a visual aspect was connected to the auditory by making students create a soundscape based on their emotions and thoughts while listening to one of the pieces. This assignment was used in a fourth grade classroom, but could be altered to suit any age/grade level. For younger students, I could choose a piece and have students create and share their own soundscapes using an interactive whiteboard app such as Educreations or Vittle. Then, we could use Garage Band to create our own orchestration as a class. This book gave me a unique idea on how to use Garage Band in a general music classroom. I would recommend this book to any music educator looking to shake things up.

Download the free iBook here!

Grade: B+