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 Embracing
Technology
By
Diane Gudat
Time-saving, life-enhancing tools for the courageous
old-school dance teacher
Do you know
how to set the automatic start button on a coffeemaker or set
a hotel room’s alarm clock? Can you get a VCR to quit blinking
12:00? Neither can I, so when I told my students that I was
writing an article about using technology in the dance studio,
they all laughed out loud. I am the one who cannot get one CD
out of a five-disc player, the one who took years to figure
out how to hook up the stereo. So when I tell you that
learning to use new technology in the dance studio is
possible, you can believe it!
Three
things have greatly improved the way I work: the iPod, or MP3
player, and two kinds of software: music editing and studio
management. All three require basic computer skills and the
ability to work with programs or equipment, and none of them
is anything to be afraid of. I learned everything I know from
trial and error. Sometimes it was frustrating, but it was all
well worth it.
I am from
the generation that used to cut reel-to-reel tape with
scissors. You would listen, push the “stop” button when you
wanted to make a cut, then pull out the tape and mark that
point with chalk. You would then put the tape back in, listen
until you found where you wanted to resume the song, then cut
out that section and tape the ends back together. Even in its
ancient form, you could be proud of the results and the fact
that you could manipulate some of what you were not happy
with. (Hey, it was an improvement over prehistoric times, when
early dance teachers just etched the song into big rocks.)
Then came
the decade of the dual cassette player and “pause” button
cutting. The timing of hitting the button was crucial, and we
would search forever for a machine that would grab the tape
without hesitation. The results were much better than with the
reel-to-reel system, plus we could now fade out music that was
too long. I laugh now when I remember how many songs faded
away without any clear reason or resolution as a result of
that technological development.
Today, with
the invention of MP3 technology, everything is possible.
Choreographers now enjoy the power to manipulate recorded
music in every way imaginable. But to get started you have to
have the perfect song, so let us look at the editing
technology first.
A
music-editing program allows you to mark desired sections,
fade or make sections louder, add new sounds or sections,
remove or scramble undesirable lyrics, and change the speed of
the song. You can create medleys; some programs even help you
match the tempo of one song with that of another. More
sophisticated systems allow an entire drum track to be placed
under a song or female vocals to be changed to a male voice.
Many
music-editing programs are available, and many can be
downloaded onto your computer for a 30- day trial period to
let you get the hang of the program before purchasing it.
Although I do not recommend a specific program, I will say
that a simple, inexpensive one will allow you to get a feel
for the process, begin to understand the language, and help
you define your long-term needs for this type of program. I
have spent lots of time at big electronics stores like Best
Buy and Circuit City discussing my needs with the floor staff
there. During the daytime hours these technicians are usually
bored and are happy to talk about what they know best. Some
will even demonstrate a thing or two about their favorite
program. Your own children or older dance students might
already have access to and experience with this type of
program, and one of them might be willing to help you get
started.
The best
method to learn how to use a new program is spend some time
playing with it. Do not buy a
new program the night before you need
something cut for a performance and expect to make it work!
However, most programs are user friendly, with help sections,
clear explanations of most functions, and toolbars with
pictures of erasers, paintbrushes, scissors, and speakers.
The first step in editing music is to import your chosen song
into the computer. It can be transferred from your music
library that you have already stored in your computer or
“ripped” off a CD placed in your CD/DVD drive. It will be
imported into your editing program as a wave file. “What’s
that?” you ask? Imagine a heart monitor with the red line
marking the peaks and valleys of the heart’s rhythm across the
screen. This is almost exactly what music looks like on the
screen of an editing program. Once a song (a wave file) has
been opened in an editing program, you can watch the music as
it plays and see the high notes, the thicker loud sections,
the fades.
My advice for cutting music is not to cut it at all but to
layer one section over another. Use two copies of the song,
each on its own track, one under the other, and fade out one
track while you fade in the other. With practice, this method
makes it virtually impossible for a listener
to hear the cut. Often the wave section you would like to cut
visually matches the place you are fading out. After my
choreography is complete, I can return to the cut song and add
cymbal crashes, explosions, or extra percussion to accent a
kick or major move. This helps draw the audience’s attention
to the movement.
Work fearlessly—you cannot ruin your computer, destroy the
song, or otherwise hurt your equipment by cutting a piece of
music incorrectly. But do remember to save things as you go
along and create a file to store your new creations so that
you can easily find them later. Storing a large amount of
music on a computer’s hard drive can slow it down; solve that
problem by storing all your music and photos on an external
hard drive.
Store the original wave cut from the editing program by
choosing “save” from the File list (just as you would for a
text document), and then create a new MP3 version. Wave files
are large and must be converted to the smaller, digital MP3
files before they can be stored in an MP3 player. Often the
MP3 option can be found in the File list labeled “Render As”
or “Convert To.” You never know when you might want to make a
slight change, and you certainly do not want to have to start
from scratch by not saving the cut file.
MP3 players now have the technology to store photos, DVDs, and
documents, and phones now come with tiny MP3 players. For me,
though, simpler is better. I have owned an iPod for almost
four years now, and it still operates perfectly. I can no
longer imagine working without one. I no longer have a car or
backpack filled with CD and cassette tapes. All of my music is
at my fingertips
 on
this device, which is smaller than a pack of cards. The songs
are arranged in playlists with custom titles. My model says it
can hold 4,500 songs, but it holds many more than that because
the pieces of cut music I have stored are not as long as a
conventional song.
The music you want to put on your MP3 player must first be
loaded into your computer and stored there. CDs are inserted
into your computer’s CD drive and then copied through a
music-management system, such as iTunes
and Music Matchbox. Most computers are preloaded with some
type of music-management program, which opens automatically
when a CD is placed in the drive. These programs can access
the Internet and give you information about the CD if it does
not immediately appear on the screen. If the track titles do
not appear, you might have to type them in manually.
Music-management systems can create playlists by allowing you
to take music from the complete library of your songs and
separate them into smaller groups. This helps you find and use
them more easily. For example, I have created a playlist for
my ballet CDs, which are listed by title with the tracks
appearing exactly as they do on the original CD. When entering
the ballet tracks I type in the time signatures, such as
“Tendu moderate 2/4” or “Plié slow 3/4.” I have playlists
labeled “Tap Warm-Up for Children,” “Tap Warm-Up Jazz,” and
“Tap Warm-Up Old School.” Other examples are “Jazz Long
Plays,” “Lyric Male Vocals,” “Modern Music 3/4,” and “Kids
Songs.”
Music on most MP3 players can be accessed in alphabetical
order, which can be very helpful for ballet class. If you
would like to use an adage in 3/4 time, you can pull up the
As, and all the adages will be listed in alphabetical
order. Some also allow you to pull up songs according to an
artist’s name or the song type. Others allow you to create new
playlists, but most require you to do so on the computer. The
only missing feature is the ability to control the pitch once
the music has been loaded into the player. I am sure that
technology is just around the corner.
Now, on to studio-management software. These programs allow
studio owners to keep track of their students, money, and new
contacts in every possible way. Also user friendly, they have
adapted to meet the needs of the growing dance business.
Names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, siblings,
birth dates, school and grade, and parent information are the
basics that get you started. Class lists can be created and
printed for attendance books; phone lists can be designed;
birthday lists can be printed; and class birthdates and age
averages are at your fingertips for filling out competition
forms. You can export the class lists for use in programs or
newsletters. (See sidebar for more studio-management software
tips.)
I’m not alone in learning to overcome my technology fears. I
have a friend who had owned an MP3 player for a year before
she gained the courage to load it. She is now thrilled to be
using it and was surprised at how easy it was. So take some
time and explore the possibilities of the technology available
to you. You can teach an old dancer new tricks!
Here are more timesaving and organizational advantages of
studio-management programs. They can:
·
create specific mailing lists for your students so that you
can send a letter or bill to one member of your performance
group or an announcement of a special event to an entire age
level;
·
store lists of students who are waiting for space in
overbooked classes;
·
keep track of people who have called for information but did
not register, and print labels for flyers to send to them for
the next studio promotion;
·
create a class measurement list and then store the information
and check it against a costume company’s measurement sheet;
·
help you design your recital lineup or create one that will
allow time for students to change costumes or place siblings
on the same night if there is more than one performance;
·
keep track of student payments;
·
calculate studio earnings; send bills monthly or when payments
are overdue;
·
allow adjustments to accounts for sibling discounts,
scholarships, or special fees like costume payments;
·
help integrate multiple studio locations; eliminate hours of
paper shuffling and calculating;
·
allow the studio owner to remain organized and save time and
energy for less tedious projects;
·
be password protected to allow the studio secretary to have
access only to specific sections of the program.
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