1 Reply Latest reply: Jul 8, 2010 4:39 AM by 370H55V RSS

    Teacher needs help choosing keyboard for student input.

    J.Elliott8652 Community Member

      Folks,

       

      Thanks for reading this thread - with luck, someone here can point me in the right direction. Bear with me for a few moments as I explain my needs!

       

      I teach math (algebra and geometry) at an alternative school. My kids have short attention spans, and being technologically inclined, I'm trying out some new things with computers. Painted the walls green for greenscreen video work, loaded up digitizing tablets, webcams, and other stuff. Put five quad-core computers in there at my own expense, along with a Canon T2i to get really nice video clips. My kids won't do worksheets so I'm going digital in a mad rush to get them interested in some fashion.

       

      I really don't want to spend my days arguing with these guys anymore about doing their work. There has to be a better way than worksheets.

       

      I plan on getting them to make their own instruction for each other as a means of increasing their engagement. They'll come up with their own problem sets for each other. The student arranging the work will shoot a quick video of a correct solution. After the other kids work out the problems, they'll be able to go back and compare their work to a known good solution. The big thing these days in education is to get kids to pay attention to their development and take ownership for it, and to increase their understanding of where they stand in the process of developing a new skill. I'll have them work out their problems on a Wacom digitizer and do a screen capture of their method. Then, they'll play back both the reference clip and their own method together. Wherever there is a difference, I'll have them note it and figure out what is going on. Are they making a mistake or simply taking a different route?

       

      Putting together instruction for each other should significantly increase their attention to their work. Comparing what they are doing to a known solution should help them develop an awareness of their own habits and tendencies, while assessing their current skillset.

       

      Basically, my needs vis-a-vis this software are to shoot math videos and spice them up with some top-shelf audio.

       

      I know almost nothing about Soundbooth, working with audio tracks, or what tracks we can legally include in our math videos. Still, I'm intrigued by the prospect of how really good audio can take a plain-jane video and ramp it to another level. I expect quite a number of our math clips will be a bit boring and humdrum by nature. I'm looking to audio to provide the pizzazz.

       

      I spend most of my time over in the Premiere Pro CS5 forum, trying to get the video part ironed out. It has occured to me that getting good ambient sound layered onto the clips is going to help a LOT, especially if fair-usage rules will allow us to embed their favorite songs playing in the background (even if this means portions of the songs, instead of the whole tune). For all of our sound needs, I plan on using the Soundbooth program included in the Production Premium collection I picked up last month.

       

      I've never used this program before or any other sound program.

       

      I have three main questions right now, if you please:

       

      1) I'd love to pick up a $200-ish electronic keyboard with lighted keys and some good learning software to prompt a few of our own kids to lay down some tracks for general use. We have kids who might not be able to read sheet music, but who can still play a bit. I'm thinking the lighted keys will grab their attention and help them try recording. It would be really cool to build up some audio made by own own kids.

       

      Thing is, I'm stuck at deciding whether the Yamaha EZ-200 or the Casio LK-270 is better. These come across as the two leading lighted-key setups. Some say the Yamaha has better action but the Casio definitely has better connectivity. Opinions on the web vary, and since I can't play, giving one a tryout isn't going to help much. So, I'm looking at specs and trying to predict my needs vis-s-vis Soundbooth and how it will work with the keyboard, whatever one I choose.

       

      Basically, I'm in the dark here on an important aspect. How do I best connect an electronic keyboard to my computer (and Soundbooth) in a way that will capture what is being played? MIDI, USB, or output jack? I see that the Yamaha doesn't have a USB connection, but perhaps the one the Casio does have doesn't actually transmit real-time what is being played into the computer. For all I know, neither of these will output the sound in any usable way other than through the headphone jack. And if this is true, will it sound like caca? Hissing, scratchy tracks needing a lot of cleanup won't work for us time-wise and attention-span-wise.

       

      My question boils down to this - what equipment specs are necessary to capture a clean signal off an electronic keyboard while someone is playing it? And does anyone know of an under-$350 keyboard that really stands out for work with Soundbooth and the needs I'm outlining? My school has grades 2-11. Wherever I can find a student who can play, I'd like to have them record something.

       

      2) Does Soundbooth or anything else in Production Premium come with some decent, free audio tracks we can use?

       

      3) I must get up to speed on fair-usage rights. Our clips could be significantly improved if the kids can lay in some of their favorite music. Can anybody point me to a place that explains such things? Can we legally include snippets of songs, say 30 seconds or so? If yes, then at least they could rotate through the best parts of their own music. They'd like that and it would give them something to work on in class.

       

      Thanks all for your help!

        • 1. Re: Teacher needs help choosing keyboard for student input.
          370H55V Community Member

          Yamaha vs Casio - Yamaha is more geared toward "professional musicians" as a general rule, so the Casio would probably fit your needs better based on what I read in your post (more "user friendly" for those not already quite skilled at the piano).

           

          Connecting - M Audio makes USB to RCA interfaces that work quite well for either Mac or PC. Check them out and I'm pretty sure you'll find a way to connect the keyboard of your choice, whichever one you choose.

           

          Free tracks - Soundbooth has free "scores" that you may (or may not) be able to download. I've personally had terrible luck with downloading them. It's a well known problem.

           

          Fair usage rights -  here's what I know: I have three friends with their own Karaoke businesses, and two with their own "cover" bands. I also am pretty close with two night club owners. Under the public performance right, a copyright holder is allowed to  control when the work is performed "publicly." A performance is  considered "public" when the work is performed in a "place open to the  public or at a place where a substantial number of persons outside of a  normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances are gathered." A  performance is also considered to be public if it is transmitted to  multiple locations, such as through television and radio. Thus, it would  be a violation of the public performance right in a motion picture to  rent a video and to show it in a public park or theater without  obtaining a license from the copyright holder. In contrast, the  performance of the video on a home TV where friends and family are  gathered would not be considered a "public" performance and would not be  prohibited under the Copyright Act. I seriously doubt that adding "snippets" of students' favorite songs in videos for the classroom would be a violation, and unless you put something on YouTube and it "goes viral", you likely will not be be hearing from ASCAP, BMI or the RIAA.

           

          Hope that helps.