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Example of maximized-zoom for complex modules 

Example of maximized-zoom for complex modules 

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This paper proposes a new model for music education based on the use of the application Soundcool, a modular system for music education with smartphones, tablets and Kinect developed by Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) through UPV (2013, Spain) and Generalitat Valenciana (2015-2016, Spain) projects. Soundcool has been programmed in Max, a...

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... to be taken into account when analyzing this situation. In general, music teachers received their musical training in classical conservatories, and they usually offer some resistance to practical implementation. Technology is not perceived as a tool that helps to break down the practices that prioritize western music from the infinity of currents that are merged into the conglomerate of cultures that coexist in society [6]. Our contribution is focused on the transformation of these practices by designing a tool that integrates ancient and modern approaches. In the instructional design of Soundcool , various training scenarios were developed that allow classroom collective work in small groups [2]. These scenarios encourage peer learning and foster the autonomy of our students through the control of the system, creating spaces and environments that improve creativity. The last of the scenarios consists of a performance where all that the students have learned in the previous scenarios can be applied to a concert spectacle where music, sound, images, dancing, etc. will be produced. The concert can use acoustic and electronic instruments along with additional sounds and processing by Soundcool , controlled by devices like tablets or smartphones. The designs of the different scenarios and the use of the Soundcool system allowed us to develop different projects, see [7], which are presented in this paper. Soundcool is a growing modular system which deals with the basic concepts of audio processing. Soundcool modules include (Fig. 1): record (from any input device or from another module); play (at an indicated speed with optional looping); feedback delay , panoramic , transposer and pitch shift ; audio routing ; mixer , with 8 inputs; VST host to incorporate VST instruments and effects; keyboard , to receive MIDI notes and controls from a smartphone/tablet via TouchOSC; spectroscope and oscilloscope to visualize audio signals in the frequency and time domains; sample player to load and play up to 12 audio samples in one module; direct input module to capture microphone or line-level input; filter , with 10 different filter modes; signal generator , to create different kinds of waves based on Frequency Modulation, Amplitude Modulation or Ring modulation; sequencer, to automate sounds from the signal generator module; envelope ; and audio Module to configure audio in/out and MIDI devices. Most of these can be controlled by iOS or Android tablets/smartphones, and Kinect, with very simple and homogeneous interfaces (Fig 2). The teacher or students should setup the desired combination of modules and their connections in the computer or computers available in the classroom for each concrete activity. Then, each student can control one of the modules with his/her own smartphone/tablet or Kinect being placed in whichever place around the class the activity needs. All the modules are executed with Max Runtime/Max player. In general terms, modules have inputs and outputs, and outputs are connected to inputs similarly to the way it is done in Max. The main difference is that in Max the connections are done with “cables”, but when using Max Runtime/Max player that capability is not available due to the restrictions of the free version of Max. Instead of this procedure, the modules are connected “wirelessly” by using Max native objects “send” and “receive” (and their signal versions “send~” and “receive~”). There are input and output buttons in all the modules, and the connections are made by pressing an output button first and then an input button. An output can be connected to several inputs and each input has a disconnect button as well. As for the OSC communication between the computer and other mobile devices, all the devices must be connected to the same network and the sending address of the mobile devices must be set up to the IP address of the computer where the modules are being run. Additionally, the receiving port for each module can be configured to match with the sending port of each mobile device so that each device can control a different module. The different modules are being tested by authors A. Murillo, and E. Carrascosa, pedagogues and music teachers, responsible for pilot tests at several European countries through the Erasmus+ Project 2015-1-ES01-KA201-016139 (Fig. 3). The Soundcool interface addresses two important issues: the lack of resolution of many data projectors in the classroom and the absence of graphic lines or “patch cords” between the Soundcool modules, which are represented as individual windows. Modules are designed to fit in a standard screen of 800 x 600 pixels. Flat colors and simple design help each student to identify the module for which they are responsible during the collaborative performance. In order to avoid the overlapping of the windows, we designed three custom window states: minimized (Fig. 4) and normal (Fig. 1) for simple modules, plus maximized-zoom for complex ones (Fig. 5). This makes the creation and the editing on small screens even easier. To visualize the relationships between modules, we opted for codes of colors and numbers to allow the users to see at a glance which inputs and outputs of each module are connected with each other. This code is located at the corners of the window as an icon of input and output, identifying which module is connected at all times and allowing changes with a single mouse click (Fig. 6). We are planning to include a collaborative creation system based on Web 2.0 and Social Networks. With this system, students from different schools will be able to share their projects and contribute to repositories of sound samples or modules that can be used for the creation of other projects by other students and institutions. As mentioned above pedagogical architecture is based on three scenarios (Fig. 7) or teaching situations that allows interaction between the various agents involved in the classroom. Working with these scenarios allows, on one hand to provide a framework for researchers observation, and on the other hand, to place the focus of the research not only in the tool, but also in the interactions that unfold through collaborative creation actions. Working in these three scenarios in the pilot study allowed the researchers to develop both technical features of the tool and didactic aspects. The first scenario or didactic situation focuses on the teacher-student relationship redrawing a dialogic situation, allowing the educational agents to relate in a more horizontal way. The objective of this scenario is to share, as an open debate, the various working proposals to allow the “chorality” of the voices participating in the process. Normally, students are used to follow a more directed style of Finally, the third scenario is the result of filtering the proposals made by the small groups and facilitate progress from micro to macro creations. Completion of the final musical creation is made from the selection of the different pieces of a puzzle that must be fitted through a selection process involving the general consensus of the large group. The third scenario explores shared listening; it is during this type of group listening that the multiplicity of sound ideas are exposed and shared by the different groups participating in the performance.The end result is a concert or a stage performance. Live performance provides a new framework for observation, the different actions of collaborative construction, adjustments in interpretation and the shared feeling in the same concert bring new ideas that improve the same building or suggest further corrections for subsequent compositions. Likewise, the concert context is an undeniable social interaction space since the performance allows the consolidation of the group, strengthening ties to emotional and social level among students, the teachers and the public participating. Recently, various researches [8] argue that technological tools shape their teaching purposes but do not determine them; more even, in some cases there is a gap between the intended uses of the tool and what eventually occur in the classroom. Each of the Soundcool proposed scenarios allow developing elements, which feed the different actions of creation and help focus classroom work in how technologies are used and not on what technologies are used. Moreover, [9] note that the new technologies are difficult to implement in the classroom because sometimes their use is not linked to the needs that arise in the classroom. Given this set of assumptions, the Soundcool system was designed with a clear pedagogical objective: to rely on technology to encourage more creative thinking in the classroom. For this purpose we advocate a new paradigm focused on collaborative and creative learning, where the tool is treated just as an extension of that creative thinking. As [10] states, "the technological means are extensions of our bodies, our desires, they open doors to perception and extend our perception" (p.45). Another aspect to take into account about Soundcool is its ability to integrate the musical instruments available in the classroom, such as Orff instruments or recorders with ICT (Information and Communication Technology). Soundcool was not designed with the intention to replace or remove the musical instruments that are usually available in the music classrooms, but the objective was to offer students and faculty the ability to transform that same classroom towards a concept of sound laboratory, suggesting the fusion between digital and analog sound, between old and new. In this way, the system can enrich the sound palette available in the classroom without having to discard musical instruments that are part of standard practice in many music classrooms. Soundcool ’s ability to integrate facilitates the change towards a real transformation in the concept of classroom that would connect the experiences of the students and ...

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This paper exposes the possibilities of creating a collaborative network website for our technologic and educational music project: Soundcool. It means a new model for music education based on the use of this application, a modular system with smartphones, tablets and Kinect developed by Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) through several gra...

Citations

... Soundcool is used in different fields, from the artistic professional to the educational, and, more recently, to the health sector as a system used in non-pharmacological therapies in situations of neurodegenerative diseases [7]. However, it is easiest to see the functioning of Soundcool in educational programs and projects originating in 2013, including (1) tests at a secondary school [8], (2) the first educational Soundcool Erasmus+ European Project KA201: "Technology at the service of learning and creativity: weaving European networks through collaborative musical creation," involving several primary schools, a secondary school and music schools from Italy, Portugal, Spain and Romania [9], (3) the collaborative creation for socially distanced education developed for the pandemic situation [10], and (4) developments for a Soundcool web-based system [11]. See [12] for a history of Soundcool, awards, Soundcool free edX courses, funding and a summary of its educational, professional and functional diversity projects. ...
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... A pesar de esta tendencia, en los últimos años hemos asistido a la proliferación de un número significativo de trabajos que han explorado nuevas posibilidades tímbricas de las TIC, gracias sobre todo a la inclusión de los sintetizadores y los secuenciadores de sonido 1 . Estos estudios han demostrado las oportunidades transformadoras de estos instrumentos en el diseño de actividades (1) integrándolos en el aula como un instrumento más de la educa- ción primaria (Wiggins, 1991), (2) diseñando aplicaciones ad hoc para la creación de nuevas experiencias (Mygdanis, 2018;Sastre, Carrascosa, Murillo, y Dannenberg, 2015), (3) describiendo su uso creativo en los procesos de composición (Nilsson, 2003;Nilsson y Folkestad, 2005;Palazón-Herrera, 2016;Savage, 2005;Smith, 2011;Walzer, 2016) y (4) recopilando aplicaciones educativas que incluyen su uso (Miralpeix, 2013;Román Álvarez, 2017). ...
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... En la enseñanza musical de régimen general, las experiencias con el sintetizador tampoco eran habituales. Sin embargo, el 37,5% de los expertos señalaron proyectos que habían fomentado el conocimiento de este instrumento, como Fem música amb l'ordinador (Flores Sánchez y Fuertes Royo, 1993), Soundcool (Sastre et al., 2015) y Els compositors entren a l'aula (Getino Diez, 2018). ...
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This article presents a free framework for collaborative creation of interactive and experimental computer music called Soundcool. It is designed to fill a gap between rigid ready-to-use applications and flexible programming languages. The system offers easy-to-use elements for generating and processing sound, much like ready-made applications, but it enables flexible configuration and control, more like programming languages. The system runs on personal computers with an option for control via smartphones, tablets, and other devices using the Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol. Originally developed to support a new music curriculum, Soundcool is being used at different educational institutions in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Romania through EU-funded Erasmus+ projects. In this article, we present our system and showcase three different scenarios as examples of how our system meets its objectives as an easy-to-use, versatile, and creative tool.
... 6. Concierto en Valencia con Metròpolis (la ciudad) Objetivos -Un objetivo de esta investigación era analizar una metodología derivada del uso de la App Soundcool (Sastre et al., 2015). ...
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RESUMEN Las escuelas del siglo XXI necesitan crear espacios que fomenten la creatividad, y a la vez debieran ser un modelo de innovación en el uso de las tecnologías con el fin de implementar con éxito las acciones que aseguren la calidad de la educación y la igualdad de oportunidades para todos los estudiantes; siempre resulta paradójico hablar de este tema en la educación española. En este estudio vamos a mostrar nuestra investigación y nuestra experiencia en educación con un programa único en educación musical basado en el uso de la aplicación Soundcool, un sistema modular con dispositivos móviles desarrollado por la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV). El sistema está basado en software libre que permite el uso de instrumentos virtuales y sonidos en diferentes formatos utilizando interfaces táctiles sensibles, tales como tabletas, teléfonos inteligentes y Kinect (cámara controlada una interfaz a través del movimiento del cuerpo) para crear composiciones musicales, la creación de vídeo y proyectos artísticos multidisciplinares en tiempo real con la posibilidad de grabación digital de las actuaciones. Las pruebas piloto de Soundcool se llevaron a cabo en el IES Arabista Ribera (Carcaixent, España) con gran éxito e impacto en los medios de comunicación españoles. Los estudiantes han ofrecido varios conciertos y está prevista la incorporación de esta herramienta en el sistema educativo valenciano a través de negociaciones con la Conselleria d'Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport, que apoya el proyecto. La arquitectura pedagógica de Soundcool se basa en tres escenarios de educación musical que permiten la interacción entre los distintos agentes que intervienen en el aula. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del estudio llevado a cabo en diferentes centros educativos de la provincia de Valencia que incluyeron la