App of the Week: Timery for Mac

I started time tracking around this time last year as a way to see how long I was spending on making virtual ensemble videos and other creative projects I was pursuing in my personal life.

Toggl is absolutely the tool for this job, and Timery is the best Toggl experience on iOS.

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        <div class="image-caption"><p class="">Using Apple’s Catalyst technology, Timery for Mac is built off of the iPad experience, with tweaks that make it adhere to macOS standards.</p></div>
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The hardest thing about time tracking is remembering to start and stop the timers. Because Timery has such a user-friendly design, it becomes way easier to trigger timers. Support for always-visible iOS widgets and support for Shortcuts make the experience even more frictionless.

The app is now available for the Mac using Apple’s Catalyst technology which I have recently taken about on my podcast (listen and subscribe below). forScore for the Mac is also made using this technology.

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        <div class="image-caption"><p class="">A TImery widget on iOS can be fixed to your Homescreen where you can see which timers are running and quickly launch the ones you need most.</p></div>
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I enjoy using the same apps for doing things across platforms. Timery is no exception. And because the Timery app takes advantage of macOS platform norms (like putting all of its commands in the menu bar), you can do cool things like automating it with Keyboard Maestro.

The only reason I might continue to stick with the standard Toggl app on Mac is because it does even more to take advantage of the system. For example, you can pin the window so it stays permanently visible on the screen no matter how many other windows you have open. It can also detect when your keyboard and mouse aren’t in use and offer to backdate the time you were idle (or working) based on your computer activity.

If you want to learn more, check our the MacStories review, linked below with a quote:

Timery Comes to the Mac and Makes Time Tracking With Toggl Easier Than Ever — MacStories:

I’d still like to see reports added to Timery in the future, but I’m glad the Mac was addressed first. Time tracking is the sort of activity that needs to exist everywhere to be most effective. I’ve spent the past couple of years using Toggl’s Mac app, which has improved dramatically in that time, but I’m glad that I can now learn one set of keyboard commands and use them across both the iPad and Mac. If the lack of a Mac version of Timery was holding you back, now is a perfect time to give the app a try.

3 Soundtrap Projects Your Students Will Love

Listen to the podcast episode and subscribe below!

Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

This is the first year that I have had consistent access to a cloud-based DAW and notation editor with all of my students. The result of this experience has been dozens of new Soundtrap project ideas. I plan to do an episode and post about how I am using these tools for composition projects in the band classroom later this year.

In the episode above, and in this post, I give an overview of three of my most successful Soundtrap projects this year. These projects can be done in any digital audio workstation, including Bandlab, GarageBand, Logic, Ableton Live, etc.

Listen to the episode for a more thorough explanation of each idea.

C Melody and Loop Audition

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            <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5595df9ce4b0ce9ff9ecd1a8/1622399213019-7WQQF3CV9DF9WDNEE1YH/Melody+Loop+222.png" alt="Melody writing in Noteflight and producing in Soundtrap go hand in hand. Because of Noteflight’s many export options, you have many ways to get your melody out of Noteflight and into your Soundtrap project." width="544" height="708" style="display:block;object-fit: cover;width: 100%;height: 100%;object-position: 50% 50%" loading="lazy">

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        <div class="image-caption"><p class="">Melody writing in Noteflight and producing in Soundtrap go hand in hand. Because of Noteflight’s many export options, you have many ways to get your melody out of Noteflight and into your Soundtrap project.</p></div>
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After giving students some time to experience the user interface of Soundtrap, I have them write a short, 8 measure long, melody in the key of C using Noteflight.

Next, I have them export this melody as a MIDI file and then import it into a track in Soundtrap. Next, I have them add three more tracks and create an accompaniment for their melody using at least one of the three loop types.

  1. Bass

  2. Percussion

  3. Harmonic (guitar, synth, piano, etc.)

Here is a recent submission of this project one of my students made. This assignment was submitted later in the semester when we had expanded the project into composing two alternating melodies which became the basis of a song-form in Soundtrap. By alternating between both melodies (and varying the loop accompaniment) the student made a song that follows the form: Verse—Chorus—Verse—Chorus—Bridge—Chorus. This particular student chose to improvise the blues scale over the bridge.

Row Your Boat Multi-Track

This idea was taken from the amazing Middle School Music Technology class content in MusicFirst. I recommend checking out their subscription options if you like this idea. MusicFirst combines the activity with curated YouTube and Spotify playlists that give students an idea about early recording studio practices for multi-track recording before music was produced digitally.

I am giving an overview of this project with permission from MusicFirst. Full Disclosure: MusicFirst is a past sponsor of the Music Ed Tech Talk blog and podcast.

To start, the student performs the song Row Row Row Your Boat into a software instrument track in Soundtrap. After it is recorded, they quantize it to the nearest 1/8th or 1/16th note so that it is rhythmically accurate.

Next, they duplicate this track two times. Using the piano roll to edit the MIDI content of each loop, students select all notes and drag them higher to create harmony. I have them move the second track a third higher and the next track a fifth higher so that they get a nice three-part voicing.

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        <div class="image-caption"><p class="">After multi-tracking the melody of Row Row Row Your Boat, this student moved the starting point of each region to create a round.</p></div>
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Next, I have them move any notes that land on black keys as a result down to the nearest white key so that every note of each voice is in the key of C.

Next, I have them duplicate these three tracks and transpose them up an octave. Next, I have them take the lowest voice and transpose it down three octaves to add some bass. You can have students make the final result as dense as you like.

Optionally, students can experiment with using different instrument sounds and adding groove-based loop accompaniment.

Here are three recent examples of my student’s submissions:

All-Star Remix

In this assignment, I take a popular song that students choose and separate the voice from the instrumental accompaniment. Then I add it to an audio track in a Soundtrap template and match the tempo and key of the Soundtrap project to the vocal track.

This way, students can drag and drop loops and have them match the pitch and tempo content of the vocals.

I have a post with more details about this project here.

You can watch a video of how to do it below.

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Here are two examples of my own student’s recent work:

For a Soundtrap project idea for teaching band/choir/orchestra students to compose, check out the podcast episode and blog post below:

Episode Info

See below for all notes associated with the podcast episode…

Description

Robby overviews his three most successful Soundtrap projects in 2021.

Chapters:

  • 00:00:00 – Intro

  • 00:00:14 – Sponsor: DMV Percussion Academy

  • 00:01:24 – About this Episode

  • 00:03:51 – YAY SUMMER

  • 00:05:11 – 1: Melody Composition / Loop Accompaniment

  • 00:14:35 – 1: Student Examples

  • 00:16:15 – 2: Row Your Boat Multi-Track

  • 00:22:19 – 2: Student Examples

  • 00:24:27 – 3: All-Star Remix

  • 00:34:38 – 3: Student Examples

  • 00:36:00 – Grading for Mastery Not Creativity

  • 00:37:47 – Tech Tip of the Week

  • 00:39:20 – App of the Week

  • 00:40:00 – Album of the Week

  • 00:42:44 – Conclusion

Show Notes:

App of the Week: 
Reeder 5

Album of the Week:
Alison Balsom – Paris

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, the DMV Percussion Academy. Learn more and register here.

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

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