S6: E127 Mini Soundtrap Project

 Season 6

Episode 127

Mini Soundtrap Project

In the last few episodes I’ve shared some Soundtrap lesson ideas that I created and used with students.  Podcasts, Fictional Character Themes, Found Sounds, and Poem with Loops.  Check out the resources provided for each of these lessons in the show notes or on the blog.

Today’s episode is about a simple Soundtrap project that could be done as a collaboration by several students or by an individual in whatever time frame you provide.  The benefit of this lesson is that it’s incredibly flexible.  It could be done in as little as 20 minutes or as much as 45 minutes or more.  The idea is to allow students to create a piece containing a specific amount of loops that includes an introduction and ending.  Like I said super simple.  This might be a great way to introduce students to loops and even form structure depending on how you set up your rubric.  

This was a lesson I used while I was out this past week and needed something that a substitute could monitor.  Students already had experience using Soundtrap for different projects and knew how to use tools within Soundtrap.  I created a Screencastify video demonstrating how to create the song and explaining expectations.  I also provided a link for them to make a copy of the project in Soundtrap, and gave them the rubric so that they could visually see the expectations.  You’ll have access to the rubric in the show notes and on the blog at afternoonti.blogspot.com.  

This lesson can be used to teach specific things within Soundtrap or as a filler activity before a long break, a lesson for a substitute to use, or even a quick one period classroom activity between new concepts.  I used it as a sub plan because we are at the end of our trimester and students needed an activity that they could do without much guidance that also allowed them to have freedom in their decisions, demonstrate their understanding of arranging a piece of music using a style they like, creating original loops (if desired), and finding sounds that complement each other.

I did this as an individual project, but you could have students collaborate together.  Here are the basic outcomes each student needed to demonstrate:

Introduction - fading in of track, sound effect, or one loop starting the song

Loops - at least ten used, multiple timbres, arranged in a way that several loops are playing together, but not an entire piece of 10 loops playing nonstop all at the same time for four minutes

Form - ABA form (though you could choose whatever form you desire and specify length of each section if desired)

Musical Choices - did they make sense?  Was it creative?

Ending - is it clear that the song is over or is there a track that just keeps going for five minutes because the student didn’t edit it to end?  Does the ending make sense and sound complete?

The students liked the freedom they were given to create and found it easy to put together because they were so familiar already with how the program can be used. And as with any Soundtrap project - tell them to save, save, save!  Saving their work along the way helps so much.

Rubric for the Mini Soundtrap Project