Yamaha Education News

Yamaha Launches free music technology guides for educators

Pictured here: the first set of free education system guides, now available for teachers to download

With music technology described in OFSTED's 'Making More of Music' UK music education report (Feb 2009) as 'underused', Yamaha has launched a set of free 'educational system guides' aimed at UK music educators, from primary and secondary to university and conservatoire level, which look at seven common music technology applications and suggest easy-to-use and robust set-ups, using Yamaha equipment.

Schools and colleges face major problems with the selection, purchase and effective use of the right music technology for the right job. Then there is the issue of how teachers can keep up to date with the fast pace of change in technology in order to use it to enhance the learning experience for young people. Following a 'windfall' allocation for music education of an additional £332m in late 2007 from the UK government department responsible for education, it is now widely expected public spending will be pruned in order to repay the national debts incurred dueing the current downturn.

But, at the same time, the UK government has launched its Digital Britain campaign, in which broadening access and the use of technology remains a national objective which will extend to the education sector and which will have a price tag that schools will still need to budget for.

All the more reason for them to examine not only price but the build quality and expected longevity of any technology they buy. We hear regular reports from music departments which have made purchases at what seemed a very keen price, until poor quality components and build quality meant that their investment didn't stand up to the heavy industrial application that a school or college music department will subject their equipment and instruments to. They may be faced firstly with unexpectedly high, budget-munching repair bills and then the final insult of having to replace equipment in a much shorter time than if they'd spent just a bit more and got something that was built to last!

Yamaha is famous for a build quality and longevity that has propelled the company to become the world's largest musical instrument and equipment manufacturer. The fact that there are so many professional advocates of Yamaha instruments, mixing desks, recording devices, PA systems, etc, speaks volumes to professional users, for whom reliability is vital.

We have now produced a set of guides for some of the most common music technology applications that music educators in the UK and Republic of Ireland have asked us to help them with. We've suggested some starting points for each kind of music technology application, using the most appropriate Yamaha gear. It may be a little more expensive but it is built to last, minimising repair bills and frequency of replacement. We've also been careful to include technology that's not complicated to use, so teachers can be up and running quickly, teaching with confidence on good equipment with a global brand that young people recognise and warm to.

All seven of the Educational System Guides - 1-page, A4, pdf documents - can be downloaded free from Yamaha Education Friends, Yamaha UK's on-line music education community. Guides produced so far range from a very affordable 'small computer' recording and mixing solution ( a simple-to-use small recording set-up), to those allowing more inputs, say for a medium-sized ensemble or rock band recording, centered around the acclaimed N12 digital mixing desk. Additional guides then propose set-ups for portable recording, portable PA - each of great use in schools - music composition and music production, each allowing the user to produce high quality results with simple operation as a benchmark.

The music composition and music production set-ups are particularly suitable for schools, colleges and universities, where dedicated systems are often required in order to deliver music technology, songwriting, composing and music production courses at higher levels.

For music teachers and leaders who wish to access more of Yamaha's free educational resources, find more about some of our education projects and activities or simply network with other music teachers, you can join the site, again free of charge, and access the members-only areas.

We look forward to meeting some of you there!

Further details from: www.yamahaeducation.co.uk.

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(posted September 2009)