Yikes! The evil side of Google!

I consider myself a pretty savvy tech user. I know I’m by no means a guru but I’m way more knowledgable than many others!

So how in the world did this go under my radar?

Google has been storing a ton of my web searches since 2007! How in world would this be possible, especially when I know for a FACT that most of the time I am not even signed into my account when I am performing searches! I’ve read these stories, I know that what ever you do online leaves digital footprints but good grief! If I am not signed in and I do a search that is still being tracked? I guess I should clear my cookies out more often!

Do you want to see what is in your web search history?

1)Sign into your google account

2)Go to http://www.ggogle.com/history

THEN

3)Tap on REMOVE ALL WEB HISTORY!

Unless of course you don’t mind people tracking you! If I wanted what I was searching saved then I would simply look through my computers web browser history.

iPad Apps used on a daily basis in teaching Music

 

What apps do you use on a daily basis while teaching music? I teach Band every day to five different groups from 5th grade through High School. We also have one experimental group that is exploring the Pop, Rock, Electronic side of music creation and arranging.

I use a group of apps everyday in almost every class. Then I use another set of apps when not in class but still doing teaching related activities. There is of course a group of apps I use when I am creating and exploring music as well and one more group of apps that I use when I am not doing musical activities.

Here is my list of apps I use constantly while teaching;

unRealBook, ForScore, Avid Scorch, Tempo, ClearTune, Fingerings, SL-Remote, Filemaker Go, DropBox, AirSketch, PlanBook, YouTube, Music (the app) and of course YouTube and Safari. I wish our school had an instant messenger app for GroupWise. Why we are still using archaic technology like GroupWise I will never know! If we had an Instant Messenger app all teachers could use I would have WAY fewer phone interruptions!

My list of other apps I use for my job but not while I am teaching… (in addition to those listed above – because some of those listed above I still use while NOT teaching);

PlanBook, Pages, Keynote, MagicalPad, SmartMusic Inbox, AnyTune, Capo, Hokusai, Mail, Contacts, PDF Expert, Calendar, WunderList, Notability, NoteShelf, Skitch, Evernote, Hello, GMusic, AirSharing, SilverWiz, Photos, Videos, Camera, iMovie and PhotoSender. My newest find is iCam.

My list of Apps I love to use while creating, exploring, and playing music are;

MorphWiz, Mugician, GeoSynth, Seline, ThumbJam, Sunrizer, SampleWiz, CrystalSynthXT, GarageBand, Magic Fiddle and Piano, PianistPro, ProKeys, and my latest SampleTank and MelodyMaker.

The list of Apps I use when I am not making music, working on music classes or enjoying music…. in other words the rest of my free time;

ByLine (RSS News Feeds), Pulse News, Flud News, River of News (I can’t decide which I like the best but I did list these in the order I use them the most), Twitter, Flipboard, Showyou, Music, GMusic, WeatherBug or AccuWeather, Alarm Clock HD by the Alarm Clock Company, PackTheBag, AirVideo, Screens, Fandango, Flixster, What’s On?HD, Launch Points and Maps, and of course Safari, Mail, Contacts and Calendar.

What apps do you use constantly? I would love to discover new ideas and find out who else is using the same apps as I do on a constant basis. Leave a comment below.

Melody Music Maker app

I received a press release today about a very interesting app….

Melody Music Maker is an app that helps you with those melodies stuck in your head. The app gives you a quick way to play around with a melody line and chordal accompaniment. There are settings to pick what scale you want to use and what sound you want for the chords and melody. By picking a scale that you want to use you are then given visual recommendations on what notes might sound the best and what chords might be best to go to next. It is this part that I find interesting. I am constantly finding a mental block on what chord might sound good next when I am trying to write a song. When I am just simply sitting at the piano and messing around it would be nice be able have a few indicators as to what might work well next harmonically. The app developer uses colors to give these recommendations, as seen here in this video or in the screenshots below.

The same method is used when creating a melody – the notes that are from the chord are a different color than the other notes. The main notes in the melody section are only notes that are going to sound good. This is based on the scale you have picked and the chord you are currently playing. Coming up with no wrong notes is a goal of this app! Man I wish I could do that in Band Rehearsal!

The app looks like it could be useful even to myself and for sure could be a great tool to help explain scales, chords and harmonically sound choices for composition or improv. There is an good introduction video on the main page of the website. There is also a nicely done manual page with even more videos.

By the way there is also a a decent collection of built in sounds in this app for both the chord voice as well as the melody voice. The best part is that the app allows for controlling of other MIDI apps or devices. This means you could use the Sunrizer synth for some sounds or an external keyboard too. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities. The app also gives you the ability to send and share these recordings with other people.

This will become one more app in my arsenal of music related tools in my personal toolbox as well as a great tool to use in class.