How Andy Bliss Uses OmniFocus

Speaking of The Omni Show, Andy Bliss (performing artist and musician’s coach), was on a recent episode.

Andy talks about the intentionality of performing, teaching, and learning, in a way that really resonates with me. I think this is partly because he uses his technology to both help him meet his varied goals, but also as a part of the reflection process which determines them in the first place.

Listen below.

How Andy Bliss Uses OmniFocus:

Today, Andy Bliss joins us to share his insights on using OmniFocus to supercharge work as a performing artist and musician’s coach. With a background in both the arts and technology, Andy knows a thing or two about the intersection between creativity and efficiency.

Conference Presentations –> OMEA PDC 2022

Are you headed to the Ohio Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference this week?

I hope to see you at one of my two sessions this Friday.

☎️ 2/4, 12:30 pm – Communication and Collaboration Apps for Music Teams

🎷. 2/4, 5:15 pm – Teaching Intonation with Tonal Energy

Both in room 21. Stay tuned to this blog for session notes and two podcast episodes which will compliment these topics.

Guest APPEARANCE: iPad Pros Podcast

I am delighted to join the iPad Pros Podcast again, this time to talk about how I use the iPad to teach middle school band and run my private teaching studio.

Listen below or in your favorite podcast app.

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You can also check out my most recent guest apperance below, to talk about notation apps on iPad.

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The Music Ed Tech Talk Holiday Gift Guide, featuring Dr. David MacDonald

David MacDonald joins Robby to share their favorite books, hardware, apps, services, and musical gift ideas.

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Show Notes:

Books

Hardware

More Hardware

Software

Rogue Amoeba Apps – Fission | Audio Hijack | Loopback | SoundSource | Farrago – Offers educator discount
Drafts
Craft – Offers educator discount
OmniFocus – Offers educator discount
Things
Dorico – Offers educator discount
StaffPad
An evening with StaffPad – YouTube

Services

Misc

Music of the Week

Robby – Sarah Jarosz

David – Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Tech Tip of the Week

Robby – Focus Modes

David – CopyChar.cc

Where to Find Us:

Robby – Twitter | Blog | Book

David – Twitter | Website | Blog

Please don’t forget to rate the show and share it with others!

live! —> Paperless Seating Charts

Lately, I’ve been going live at least once a month to cover some kind of way that I use technology to be more efficient in the classroom. I’m doing this mostly for fun, but also to provide Patreon subscribers with more content (the videos remain permanently available to supporters).

I’m going live tomorrow, September 4, around 11 am EST to talk about how I make and work with seating charts digitally. It should be fun! Join me on Twitch, YouTube, or Twitter to tune in. You can follow me using the social icons at the bottom of this site.

Dorico iPad update removes 12 player limit

The Dorico team has been hard at work since their release of Dorico for iPad.

In case you missed it, Dorico for iPad 1.1 is out. It removes the 12 player limit for subscribers. That, plus many smaller tweaks and bug fixes.

Want to learn more about Dorico for iPad? I’ve got a post, video, and interview with Daniel Spreadbury, their Product Marketing Manager, here.

Swap between reading and listening to the same book with Kindle and Audible

I’m trying to read more these days.

It might be extra of me, but I am finding more motivation to read by buying duplicate copies of books on Kindle and Audible. The read position syncs between the two. It’s easy to swap between reading and listening depending on whatever is most convenient at the moment.

The Kindle app will even play the Audible recording and highlight each word as it goes by. Though the audio quality is smoother in the Audible app. Audible books are discounted when you already own the Kindle version.

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Scale Play-Along Tracks on Sale Until November 30 ($15–>$5)

My Scale Play-Along Tracks are on sale for $5 from now until November 30. Use code THANKFUL at checkout.

The code is for 10 dollars off so it will also get you a discount on the stems for the play-alongs if you would rather go that route.

The tracks feature three speeds of a chromatically descending Remington pattern, and the following scale patterns in all 12 major keys: whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, scale in thirds, mini scale ending in arpeggio.

Each pattern has a beat underneath and drones in just intonation. You can read more about them here.

New book out–> Pass the Baton: Empowering All Music Students

Past Music Ed Tech Talk guest, Theresa Hoover, has a new book out with Kathryn Finch.

Pass the Baton: Empowering All Music Students: Finch, Kathryn, Hoover, Theresa: 9781951600549: Amazon.com: Books

All too often the music classroom stifles students with one-size-fits-all curricula and repertoire. In Pass the Baton, authors Kathryn Finch and Theresa Hoover turn that paradigm on its head, offering a vision of music education that empowers students as critical thinkers who exercise voice and choice to question, discover, connect, and play like never before—in and out of the classroom.

Pass the Baton offers readers a comprehensive guide to crafting engaging music lessons that transform students from passive consumers to vibrant creatives. Whether you’re looking to rethink general music or overhaul your ensemble groups, Pass the Baton is chock-full of generative, actionable, and impactful tools. Finch and Hoover have drawn on deep research and years of experience in the music room to provide a guide for all music educators to create a learner-centered environment and give students the opportunity to truly own the creative process.

Giving students leadership in the classroom is the one sure way to make sure they understand and engage with your instruction. Though this book has been in development for a long time, I think it’s worth noting also that these strategies have huge relevance in an online or hybrid learning environment, just as they do in person. Click the link above to check the book out on Amazon and purchase it.

You can listen to Theresa discuss the book with me on the podcast episode she was on here. That episode was great fun to record and we covered a ton of topics including student engagement, tech tools, productivity tips, and virtual teaching strategies.

Quick Thoughts from Today’s Apple Event

Apple had an iPhone event today. Here are some quick thoughts…

While I would love to get the new iPhone mini, the software features, camera upgrades, and battery life in the 12 Pro Max are too tempting.
Love the new flat edge sides inspired by the iPad Pro and the blue color.
Mag Safe! I love that Apple is re-using this name and I am kind of excited that they are making a leather wallet attachment for the back of an iPhone. It looks like the exact amount of minimal I have been looking for in a new wallet, plus magnets!
HomePod Mini. As a home automation nerd, this was my favorite announcement. The price ($99 is aggressively cheap for Apple) and features finally have convinced me that it is worth owning more than one HomePod.
HomePod software. Features like intercom, CarPlay integration, and more are going to be huge winners in our household. My wife and I have tried to use the walkie-talkie feature on our Apple Watches with little success but this looks to solve the problem of communicating around the house in a nice way.

At some point, I will have to reconcile my HomePod excitement with the fact that we still have a bunch of Sonos speakers in the house. I prefer the Sonos system for a number of reasons and would think of any possible HomePod mini purchases as "Siri" purchases more than I would smart home speaker purchases. I hope to write more about smart home audio soon.

You can watch the Apple Event here.