Sibelius and my learning

SIBELIUS
(Ok, quick note, sorry if this seems to be all over but I took notes as I was going along)

Me? A composer? I don’t know that I would take it as a ‘profession’ or that anyone would actually pay me to compose, but it looks like fun.

I’m thinking back to the days when I was a little girl learning how to play the piano or flute (which didn’t last long, I lost interest quite quickly). What do I remember… hmm…not too much.

Alright, so I’ve played and played with Sibelius a lot now. I guess it’s time to get down to business! I just adopted a cute little dog on Saturday and want to show him off. This is something I will post on my blog for my family on the east coast to view as well. So, I created a short little video of his first 24 hours in his new home. I really wish I took a little video of his bath (so cute), but I was more worried about cleaning him up than catching it on film ;).

Now it’s time to compose…wish me luck!

Yea! I put it together, it’s a little rough and probably won’t win me any awards but I like the way it turned out. After a lot of playing I took the video of Casey, our new dog, and wrote down the times when he was doing what (playing, eating, etc.). Then I chose my instruments that I wanted to represent each activity. I created the music piece according the mood that I thought Casey was portraying. I think he could be the next Clooney.

After creating the video and the music piece I couldn’t figure out how to copy the music. So I took out my new video camera (a Flip) and recorded it. Then I played both videos at once and recorded it yet again with my camera. I’m sure there are many ways that I could have gone about doing this project, but the way I did it worked out ;).

There were many times during this activity that I hit ‘road blocks’. I was having trouble downloading the program, then I had to figure out how to use the program, using my new camera, creating a short video from various clips, matching music to video, choosing instruments to match mood (or my perception of the mood), putting those two pieces together, and then recording the whole project and putting online for my Cadre-mates and family to see.

For some of my ‘road blocks’ I used the knowledge of my friends in Cadre 12. Many were helpful and I noticed that there were many people willing to lend a hand to anyone that needed a little help. I also learned from trial and error. I have a tendency to rush right into things and I hate reading directions. I know, it’s bad, but I love to learn on my own. Some teachers call it ‘discovery learning’... I would probably save myself some time if I did read the directions, but I think I might have a little ADD or maybe it’s just impatience. Either way, it worked out and I completed and actually enjoyed the process of completing the project.

It was interesting to think about my learning process. I knew nothing about Sibelius and little to nothing about composing music. And just to make it a little more interesting I had to throw in a video of my new dog. Again, it was taped with a new device and using a new program as well. Do I like to make things more difficult? Maybe. I know that I like to make things interesting, for me and for people that will be viewing my work. I was concerned about it being boring. Again, maybe this has to do with my lack of patience (boredom = lack of interest). Something else I learned about my learning is that I now know when to ask for help. This use to be difficult for me, to admit that I didn't know. But, we can't know everything. If I don't ask for help when I need it then how will I learn? I think this is a major improvement in my learning. I think that I/we feel safe in this program and with my cadre-mates. We know no one will laugh at us if we have a question. It's a reassuring feeling to know that I have 24 cadre-mates' minds to tap into.