GET SMART

Jul 1, 2000 12:00 PM, Marty Cutler

           
 

GVOX INTERACTIVE MUSIC NotationStation.com is a Web site from GVox where teachers can compose, edit, and listen to music. In this way, they are able to create lessons and post them online for their students.

NotationStation is compatible with Standard MIDI Files as well as native files from GVox's Encore and MusicTime music-notation applications. Music can also be input with a mouse, computer keyboard, or MIDI instrument. Students and teachers can edit, transpose, change time signatures, and audition individual tracks or an entire piece.

The NotationStation plug-in is free and can be used with the Netscape Navigator 5.0 browser on Windows PCs. (A Macintosh version is due shortly.) Minimum requirements are a Pentium ll/233 MHz PC with 32 MB of RAM, Windows 95 or higher, and either a sound card with a game port MIDI connection or a MIDI interface and an external MIDI keyboard. Teachers can download the entry-level MusicTime software for free. GVox Interactive Music; tel. (215) 922-0880; fax (215) 922-7230; Web www.gvox.com.

CODA MUSIC TECHNOLOGY Playing in tune can be one of the most daunting challenges when you're learning a musical instrument. Coda Music Technology has released the Intonation Trainer ($149.95), a software teaching tool that enables students of wind and brass instruments to both hear and see when they are playing in tune. The Intonation Chart Maker feature displays the intonation of every note played; alternate fingerings can also be charted.

The program teaches students to stay in tune when playing intervals or chords in just intonation. You can also learn how to diagnose which notes on your instruments are flat or sharp, thereby anticipating intonation problems.

The Intonation Trainer comes with the software on CD-ROM, a microphone, and a footpedal that allows you to operate the program and still keep your hands on the instrument. A printed teacher's guide shows how to use the package in band rehearsals, sectionals, private lessons, and individual practice.

Minimum requirements for the Macintosh are a Power Mac 603e/180, Mac OS 7.6.1, 32 to 64 MB of RAM, and a serial port for connecting the footpedal. Windows users will need at least a Pentium/166 MHz, Windows 95 or 98, 32 MB of RAM, a Sound Blaster 16-compatible sound card with full-duplex audio, and support for DirectX. Coda Music Technology; tel. (800) 843-2066 or (612) 937-9703; fax (612) 937-9760; e-mail finalesales@codamusic.com; Web www.codamusic.com.

ONLINECONSERVATORY.COM Despite advances in interactive music-education software, nothing can equal a one-on-one lesson with an experienced music teacher. OnlineConservatory.com has combined the advantages of computers, the Internet, and MIDI with the benefits of personal music instruction. This Internet-based service allows teachers, students, and operators of music schools to work together from any location on the globe.

With a MIDI keyboard, a computer, and OnlineConservatory software, interested parties can meet at the OnlineConservatory.com Web site. Teachers can set up their own online school from the site, or join the staff of an existing school. The software application that enables teaching online is designed for the student as well as the teacher: they both have the same display on their screens, simplifying the technological aspects of the session. Student and teacher can talk to each other and play in real time.

The software requires at least a Pentium PC with 16 MB of RAM, Windows 95 or 98, a 28.8 Kbps Internet connection, a MIDI-compatible sound card, and a MIDI keyboard. OnlineConservatory.com; tel. (709) 758-0340; fax (709) 753-0255; e-mail students@onlineconservatory.com; Web www.onlineconservatory.com.