Using Audacity and One Classroom Computer to Experiment With Timbre

Abstract

One computer, one class, and one educator can be an effective combination to engage students as a group in music composition, performance, and analysis. Having one desktop computer and a television monitor in the music classroom is not an uncommon or new scenario, especially in a time when many school budgets are being cut. This article investigates the creative applications of inexpensive software, such as Audacity, that students can use to analyze and create music individually or as a group. Audacity provides many tools to manipulate the musical elements of pitch, tempo, dynamics, and timbre. Analysis tools allow students to visualize sound waves and to experiment with the relationship of overtones to the sound of unique instrumental and vocal timbres. The manipulation of timbres provides one example of using a simple audio editing computer application to engage students in group instruction and experimentation. Several other strategies for using Audacity with students are included in a table. Teachers are encouraged to think of creative ways to use computer software beyond its primary function.