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Meet our team: Tod Machover

Hyperscore was invented by the Opera of the Future group of Tod Machover, the Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media at the M.I.T. Media Laboratory. A Pulitzer Prize-finalist and Emmy-winning composer, Tod is creator of City Symphonies. In 2016, he was named Composer of the Year by Musical America. Called a “musical visionary” by The New York Times and “America’s most wired composer” by The Los Angeles Times, Tod is an influential composer and inventor, praised for creating music that breaks traditional artistic and cultural boundaries and for developing technologies that expand music’s potential for everyone, from celebrated virtuosi to musicians of all abilities.

Hyperscore software, developed by his Media Lab team, has enabled children around the world to compose music which has been performed by chamber music ensembles like the Ying Quartet, rock bands, and major orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Tod studied with Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions at The Juilliard School and was the first Director of Musical Research at Pierre Boulez’s IRCAM in Paris. He is widely recognized for designing new technologies for music performance and creation, such as Hyperinstruments, “smart” performance systems that extend expression for virtuosi, from Yo-Yo Ma to Prince, as well as for the general public. The video games Guitar Hero and Rock Band were invented by graduates of Machover’s group at the Media Lab.

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Sycamore Canyon Composing on iPads

Twelve 4th graders from California’s Sycamore Canyon sound like they’re enjoying composing with Hyperscore on iPads. The teacher reports that she frequently hears the words “That’s so cool” in class! Students have also been eager to share tips with each other. Students find it easiest to save on an iPad is using the “safe” icon at the bottom of the screen. iPads also will make recordings. When the Cloud platform is activated, saving will be the easiest part of Hyperscore. Thanks to Sycamore Canyon for being Beta testers!

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Composing in Lucerne

In 2015, Tod Machover and the M.I.T. Media Lab Opera of the Future team went to Lucerne, Switzerland, to develop a symphonic portrait of the historic city. “A Symphony for Lucerne” was premiered by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in September, 2015. In this video, Machover is coaching students at a school who are composing original pieces using Hyperscore. The students worked collaboratively with each other and created a variety of wonderful pieces that expressed their energy, feelings about their city, and sense of humor.

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Kirkwood 3rd and 4th Grades Have Fun and Problem-Solve

I would like to welcome our 3rd and 4th grade Beta testers from Kirkwood Elementary in Iowa! Currently, the students are writing Hyperscore music with an average of 93% of the 55 students completely engaged and enjoying the opportunity daily! Unfortunately, gamers need to beware a teacher that keeps her eye on your work ethic!! The music teacher reported that one of the students was frustrated by an issue. Thankfully, she returned to work with a smile once the teacher helped her problem-solve. Now, their daily average is up to 95%! The 3rd grade online music class chose to work muted with their screens off (not a surprise to online teachers!). However, they asked questions in the chat and more students wanted to share their work with the class than time allowed for. That’s a SUPER indicator of interest–thanks Online Academy and Kirkwood!

Problem-Solving Hint from Kirkwood: not seeing the play button on the Rhythm Sketch Window when you are ready to listen?

Where is the play button?

Click on the Window you want to see and then click on the “View Window” tool!

Now you see the WHOLE window (below)!

Celebrate this hint and happy problem-solving Kirkwood Beta testers!

Do you see the play button now? Thanks View Window Tool…

Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Director of Education: cecilia.roudabush@newharmonyline.org

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Get ready…set…WRITE MUSIC!

Want to learn how to present Hyperscore to your students? We’ve done all the work for you! I have posted the video trainings on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSccCX2HRqavoJ5-yvUI6qA/videos. First, I present each Element of Music. At the end of each video, the students/clients learn how Hyperscore allows them to use the Elements. They will write a Rhythm, Melody, and Harmony, choose Dynamics and Tone Color and create Form. In other words, WRITE MUSIC!

You can use your own favorite way to present the Elements, or email me for a copy of the modules. All modules were designed for junior high or high-school non-musicians, but, you can personalize the videos for the age and abilities of your students/clients. You can also change the definitions to fit your facility or school’s user-friendly music vocabulary. Contact me with any questions or to get your free copy of the modules: cecilia.roudabush@newharmonyline.org

Our July 23, 2021 training edited for time and split into sections
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Beta Model Pilot Fall 2021

New Harmony Line will be piloting the Beta Model of the Web-based version of Hyperscore in the Fall of 2021 with music, technology and special education teachers, a Girl’s Choir leader and her directors, two Strings teachers, a 6th-grade teacher who has her students write musical accompaniments to their poems and a speech pathologist. Director of Technology, Peter Torpey, has updated the workspace, added new tools and features and made Hyperscore an even more user-friendly interface for anyone with access to the internet who wants to create music! Modules for using Hyperscore and teaching the Elements of Music (Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Dynamics, Form and Tone Color) have been designed for use by the Pilot Participants. Contact Director of Education, Cecilia (Cece) Roudabush, for training, questions or pilot support:

cecilia.roudabush@newharmonyline.org

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Refreshing!

We have exciting updates about the future of New Harmony Line and Hyperscore. Until now, Hyperscore has been compatible only with the Windows operating system. Over the past year, we have been hard at work developing a platform-independent web-based application. Our new version of Hyperscore is on its way and we can’t wait to share it with you soon.

This summer, we will be holding training sessions for teachers who would like to learn about using Hyperscore for the Web in their classrooms. If you are interested in signing up, please contact us.

If you would like to support our mission to put this powerful music composition technology into the hands of school kids, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. Hyperscore for the Web will also be available to the general public, with sales revenue going to support our educational mission.

We are grateful for the enduring engagement from educators, youth groups, orchestras, and universities, and cannot wait to bring more people together. We are excited to expand our community of people who enjoy composing, want to share their creations, and connect over a love of music.

Thank you for joining us.

– June Kinoshita, Executive Director

Empower kids to tell their stories through music.

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