Becoming a Millennial

203. Guitar Hero

Ben's last day of work in the ETC was June 20.  His informal going-away party included some fun with the popular music video game, Guitar Hero. 

A month ago at the CCCU Technology Conference I had the chance to play a similar game, Rock Band, with a bunch of young techies from Trinity Western University. 

I can see why these games are so popular.  You don't have to be at all musical to "play".  You set your skill level and then compete against your partner, trying to keep up with the simplified musical notation.  If you like the music it makes the experience even more enjoyable. 

This was definitely a "millennial" experience for me.  Not quite sure what prolonged hours of this would do to my fiddle playing...

 

188. Fiddling Around -- Making Technology Work

I've been amazed at how my new lightweight laptop has "worked for me" in the sense that the technology is right with me -- whether I'm at a meeting, on the road traveling, or just sitting at home in my living room watching the Colts demolish the Ravens.   

Yesterday, relaxing on my couch, I Googled "learn to play fiddle".  For about a year now I have been playing with a gospel/bluegrass band uptown at what we can the Gray Barn.  I do well with gospel, but I've had to pretty much fake the fiddling.

Guess what?  I found a website that provided (for free!) mp3 downloads of the top 10 fiddle tunes:  Cripple Creek, Bilem Cabbage Down, Blackberry Blossom, Soldier's Joy, ...

I downloaded them all into iTunes and spent several hours listening to them over and over, and getting them figured out on my "fiddle".  It wasn't too hard -- they pretty much all sound the same :)  With a little more practice I'm going to be ready for our next shindig.

It's pretty exciting when computer technology can help you accomplish exactly what you want to do. It might be looking up your genealogy, finding that perfect quilting pattern, shopping for a used vehicle at CarMax ... or learning how to play two strings at a time like a real pro.   

129. Playing iTunes Songs on Your MP3 Player

If you purchase music from iTunes the files will be in the protected Apple AAC (m4a) format which will not play on many portable mp3 players (e.g. the Olympus WS-320M). A friend shared with me how he converted m4a to mp3:

Gary, it is a little clumsy, but this morning I burned an audio CD of purchased iTunes songs.  I then ripped the CD in Windows Media Player 10, choosing mp3 as the desired format (select Tools ... Options ... Rip Music ... mp3 ...).  The audio files created are in standard mp3 format.  I was then able to copy them over to my Olympus player and listen to them.  The downside in all this is that the original tracks are unknown by title to Windows Media Player.

127. Bluegrass in Upland

Last night we had our first "Saturday Night at the Barn" gathering.  It was a low-key event -- the idea was to get town-folk together to enjoy some popcorn, music, and hear some stories of their neighbors' spiritual journeys.  About 30 attended.  We had a great time. We're going to try to do this on a regular basis.

Our group got "famous" in the Upland Labor Day parade in September (pictured here).  We actually won first place in the float contest!  We beat out the girl on the horse and the old men riding their scooters around in circles :)  Actually, there were some 150 entries in the parade, with two or three thousand people lining the streets.  We love life in small-town USA. 

72. From My 23-Year-Old Son

Dad,
Wow spending money on Beethoven's symphony. I am going to have to dock you points on your report card cause this is definitely not what a millenial would download. If you want some good music with mandolins / sometimes violins or fiddles check out some Hootie and the Blowfish or Dave Mathews Band. These guys really jam. Haha love ya. Neal

61. eMusic

My co-worker, Ben, put me on to eMusic.  It is a site similar to iTunes from which you can download music.  It doesn't have quite the selection that iTunes has, but the songs are cheaper.  I signed up for a $9.99/month subscription which allows me to download 40 songs each month -- that's $.25/song compared to iTunes' $.99/song or Walmart's $.89/song. 

Last night I downloaded Beethoven's Sonatas for Violin and Piano.  Beautiful!  I've played the violin for a long time.  I took lessons for four years as a kid growing up in Japan, beginning in 4th grade.  My teacher was Mr. Uchida, a wonderful but tiny man -- I was already taller than him as a 9-year-old.  Following 8th grade I put the violin on the shelf for about 20 years, then picked it up again when I was 35.  Music is a wonderful gift.  Listening to the Sonatas last night on my Olympus MP3 player inspired me.  The violinist was unbelievable.

40. Two Amazing Tools

Two weeks ago a faculty friend asked if it was possible to record an audio stream and save it as an MP3 file. I said I didn't know.  The next day another faculty colleague emailed me with the solution.  It's a free download called Freecorder.  I tried it out today.  It records any audio that comes through your computer (from your CD, from an audio stream or podcast, from your Skype phone call).  Amazing! 

Are their copyright issues?  Definitely, but I'm not so sure they are any different than when the photocopy machine first came out. Our students are certainly using these tools.  We need to be aware of what is out there ... and take advantage of these tools ourselves when it is appropriate to do so.

I just learned about another free download from one of my staff members.  It is called MP3 Splitter.  If you have a long MP3 file this little utility will break it up into chunks.  You specify the size (e.g. I want each chunk 5 minutes in length) and it will automatically create the files.  This would be useful if you have a 20-minute commute to work and wanted to convert your hour-long podcasts into 20-minute segments. Or, if you wanted to email a large MP3 file to a friend you could break it up into smaller files.

21. The Power of Audio

You've just figured out what a blog is ... and along comes something new, the vlog.  What in the world is a vlog? 

Thursday night I drove down to Indy to pick up some friends at the airport. I took along my Olympus MP3 player and listened to a podcast I had downloaded earlier through iTunes.  It's a weekly podcast called TWiT (This Week in Technology).  Basically what I listened to was an 80-minute "free for all" where 8-10 people were sitting around a table at a computer convention in San Francisco.

But it was fascinating.  These were some of today's leading technology innovators discussing "vlogging", which is basically blogging using video. Yes, at times they were all talking on top of each other, but I was drawn in as they discussed the merits of different media platforms. You can watch a movie on the big screen, or view it on your 32" TV in your living room, or sit in front of your 17" computer monitor reading someone's blog, or take out your video iPod with its 2.5" screen and watch a vlog -- each is a very different experience producing different types of engagement.

Many of us have probably thought that pure audio (e.g. radio) would be going away in favor of living color video.  But as I sat in my car and listened to 80 minutes of audio I realized that this medium can be very effective.  My earbuds brought crystal-clear audio right between my ears and I felt I was in the middle of that meeting in San Francisco.  And the beauty of it was that I could be fully engaged in this event as I drove down I-69, something you couldn't (or shouldn't!) do with video.

What if we as educators could produce this type of content that would engage our students as they drive home on spring break or toss the frisbee back and forth on the lawn outside their residence hall?

16. Helpful Info From One of My Blog Readers

A friend of mine, Lee Erickson, read my blog today and shared with me that Windows Media Player could, in fact, save files in the MP3 format.  I realized as I checked into it that I was using Windows Media Player 9.  With Windows Media Player 10 there is an option to save to MP3.  Lee's directions are as follows: Windows Media Player can be forced to rip to MP3 format.  Go to “Tools/Options/Rip Music/ Format” and select MP3. 

Lee goes on to give some additional helpful information:  But Media Player is not my favorite tool.  When it creates a data CD it can only be read on computers.  The Nero software on my new laptop ... can create data CDs of MP3 files that can be played on my car CD/MP3 player.  The advantage of this is being able to get about 20 CDs worth of music on a single CD that I just leave in the car.   Thanks Lee!

13. Tunes in the Park

How many times have you needed some information, looked all over the place ... and then realized, "Duh, why don't I just go to the web?"  I had a similar experience yesterday at the Upland Strawberry Festival. 

It was raining, but we set up our church booth hoping for the skies to clear.  This was our fourth year to participate.  We do face-painting for the kids and give away free popcorn and gospel bracelets.

Mid-morning there was still a steady drizzle.  The park was deserted except for the strawberry booth that had a steady stream of people picking up their flats.  I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to have some music to listen to as I sit here waiting for the rain to clear up?"  Then I thought of my Treo cell phone. 

Recently I had purchased a 1 GB memory card and downloaded some songs that I had more or less forgotten about.  But I hadn't brought my headset.  Well, what about just holding it up to my ear? ... which I did and got suprisingly good sound.  So, I enjoyed half an hour relaxing and listening to a little jazz and B.B. King blues. Another time I might have opened up a pod-casted talk show or a recorded sermon, but on this occasion I just wanted to "veg" with a little music.