Tool: Hyperscore
One of the most memorable days of my corporate career was the rare opportunity to take a tour of the MIT Media Lab, led by composer and Academic Head, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, Tod Machover. Aside from all of the incredible futuristic technology that I saw that day, Tod introduced me to a software program that he created at the lab called Hyperscore. Hyperscore is a music composition program designed to unlock students' creativity, regardless of their level of prior music experience. I was blown away by the interface and the freedom it provided students to create music with some very powerful tools. The software was what I consider “the missing link” between notation-based programs and digital audio workstations (DAWs). But like many software programs of the late 1990’s and 2000’s, CD-ROM delivery became outdated - especially in the world of Chromebooks and mobile devices - and it sadly disappeared. There is some GREAT research that shows the efficacy of the program, so it was an extra bummer to see this software fade away.
Over the past 2 years, New Harmony Line has diligently re-developed this amazing creativity tool so that it can be accessed via the web. Woohoo!! It can now be purchased as either a standalone software product ($199/year for unlimited users in one school building) OR as an integrated software option in the MusicFirst Classroom for $2/user/year. So how does it work?
The interface resembles a collection of palettes. On each palette students can create short melodic and rhythmic motives. Different colors represent different timbres. They can also do something pretty incredible with a special harmony palette. This palette allows students to transpose their melodic and rhythmic motives by moving the line up and down which then transposes their work into complimentary keys. Kids can literally paint their harmonic progressions. Very cool.
What I like most about this program is that it breaks down barriers to musical creativity to students with little or no musical background, and at the same time, can be a powerful music making tool for students with lots of musical experience. Taking the fear away from being musically creative is an essential step for music teachers to unlock the creative being that I believe lives inside of every student we teach. They want to compose - they just may not know how or might be afraid of sharing their work with the class. In my opinion, Hyperscore is the perfect way around that. It is also a perfect companion to other DAWs, like Soundtrap. Kids can create their own melodic and rhythmic motives in Hyperscore and export them to use with projects in the DAW of their choice.
I strongly recommend signing up for a FREE 30-day trial to try out this incredible software for yourself.