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Roland VP-770 Keyboard

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

I am not the greatest keyboard player in the world, but seeing the YouTube demo of the Roland VP-770 keyboard makes me wish I was.Â The guy doing the demo is Ed Diaz, a regular presenter at the Roland booth at the conventions I have attended.Â He's a lot of fun to watch no matter what equipment he is working on, but seeing him play with the vocalization features of this new device is really cool.Â Check it out on YouTube and find out more about the VP-770 on Roland's web site.

A First Look Sibelius 6

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

Sibelius 6 Box On May 19th Sibelius released the latest version of the Sibelius music notation program.Â This version boasts a lot of new features, many of which are very significant improvements over the previous version.Â But what exactly are the new features of Sibelius 6 and is it worth the investment?

Online Music Lesson Directory Now Open For Registration

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

Several months ago I posted an article titled How To Teach Music Lessons Via The Internet.Â Following the publication of it I had had several people contact me asking if I knew of any directories where potential students could find teachers that are willing to teach instrumental or voice lessons over the Internet using videoconferencing.Â While there are several places out there that people can find a music teacher there were none that I could find that specialized in this new, virtual type of instruction.Â I finally got around to putting together an online music lesson directory, but decided to go beyond just providing a place for virtual lesson instructors.Â

Metropolitan Opera Archives Free Access May 1-3

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

The New York Metropolitan Opera has been doing some incredibly cool things lately by putting archived productions of hundreds of operas, audio files, and even high definition video online for subscribers to view at any time.Â They have even gone so far as to stream live operas directly into theaters all over the United States.Â Now they have announced that for one weekend only (May 1-3, 2009) they will be opening up the web site for everyone to view or listen to the archives for free.

Internet MIDI and Teaching Piano On The Internet

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

I just finished a Skype chat with George Litterst, the founder of a company called TimeWarp Technologies.Â George is a pianist and music educator that I have used as a source for other articles I have written on the topic of teaching music over the Internet.Â He is going to be Skyping in to speak with the audience of a session I will be giving in a couple of weeks at the Iowa Bandmaster's Conference, and he wanted to give me a tour of his Internet MIDI product.Â I went into the call expecting to just see little more than a glorified on screen MIDI keyboard, but came out realizing that he has really got some potential there that could become a serious technological tool for the music education classroom.

An Ohio Serenade- Video Story from New York Times

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

Schools all over the country are struggling with money issues, some are cutting music programs to the detriment of their most needy students.Â In a video news story from the New York Times a student from a school in Newark, Ohio shows just how important music programs can be.Â If we cut back on music programs what will be left for students like this one?Â Take a look, and pass this one on.

The Ultimate Band Director's Gig Bag?

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

I have been on a quest for the past several years.Â The quest has been to find something that would make my life as a travelling band director easier and more efficient.Â Carrying three arm loads full of instruments, music, and supplies between three different buildings each week is a hassle, and I have been on the lookout for something that would help me simplify things a bit. Ordinary gig bags are good, but I am looking for something exceptional.Â I may have found it...

$10K Prize Given For Futuristic Musical Instruments

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

While acoustic instruments are in no danger of falling into the scrap heap of history, there can be no doubt that music of the future will look (and sound) quite different than the music of today.Â As analog gives way to digital so to does acoustic give way to electronic.Â A perfect example of this evolution happened in March at a competition designed to feature newly invented musical instruments, and provide a cash prize to the winner.Â While not as grand or awe inspiring as Burt Rutan's Space Ship One flying into space with no NASA logo needed, taking a look at these new instruments can be very enlightening and send the mind wondering exactly how and what we will be teaching our kids to play in another ten or twenty years.

Need a Good Laugh? Funny Things Said In Music Class!

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

I was recently trolling through the MENC forums and stumbled across a very long thread titled "Really Funny Things We Have Said In Class." If you need a good laugh then you have to take a closer look. We've all done these kind of things before, but it is always nice to know that we are not alone.

The Teresa CarreÃ±o Youth Orchestra: A musical sensation from Venezuela

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

For those of you not familiar with TED, it is a wonderful resource site filled with incredible videos and speeches on a wide variety of educational topics.Â Each year the TED Prize is presented to several innovative thinkers who are given $100,000 and one Wish To Change The World.Â The video pasted below is a high definition video clip of a youth orchestra from Carracas, the conductor of which is a student of Jose Abreu, creator of El Systema, a national music education program in Venezuela that has garnered incredible reviews.

Instrument Repair and Maintenance Video Collection

Details: Category: Tales From The Podium

Clarinet I have just added a large collection of musical instrument repair and maintenance videos to our video collections here at MusicEdMagic.Â These videos come from respected instrument suppliers and information services such as the Woodwind and Brasswind, Expert Village, and others.Â Visit the Music Ed Videos section on the site to see the complete category listings.Â Many of these videos are excellent supplimental materials to give to beginning students or students that are switching from instrument to instrument.

Note:Â For users that are behind a firewall that blocks YouTube content, consider using a service such as YouConvertIt to download YouTube videos directly or to have them sent to you via email.