Learning Resources:
Trad to Tech

GarageBand is an easy-to-use music-making app. It is a free app and often comes pre-installed on newer models of iPads. Within it are instrument sounds such as keyboards, guitars and drums, and you can also record sounds and voices then create looped music. It can be a useful and accessible tool for music sessions.

In this project we use a microphone with the vocal effects in GarageBand. It’s a fun way to encourage people to use their voice and explore different vocal effects such as making the voice higher or lower or adding reverb or an echo. In our accopanying video, we have used a type of microphone preamp called an iRig to enable the sound from the iPad to be heard through a speaker. It bridges microphones to smartphones or tablets that don’t have XLR inputs.

It is best to use a wired speaker as opposed to Bluetooth, as the latency with Bluetooth creates a small delay in sound, which can be confusing for the vocalist’s sense of cause and effect.

Getting started with vocal effects on GarageBand:

1. Microphone → iRig: Plug your microphone into the iRig and turn it on.
2. iRig → iPad: Connect the iRig to your iPad using a cable.
3. iRig → Minirig: Connect cable from the iRig’s headphone/line-out to the Minirig’s input.
4. Turn the iRig switch to on (green light).

Set up GarageBand:

1. Open GarageBand and start a new project.
2. Select Audio Recorder (microphone icon).
3. Open Track Settings and make sure the input matches your iRig, usually Input 1 or Front Left.
4. Turn Monitor ON. This lets you hear your microphone through the Minirig speaker.

Adjust the levels:

1. iRig Gain: Speak into the microphone and increase the gain until the light flashes green. If it turns red, lower the gain slightly to prevent distortion.
2. Minirig Volume: Keep the speaker at a moderate volume.
3. Avoid Feedback: Place the Minirig behind the microphone or as far away from it as possible. This helps prevent the microphone from picking up the speaker and creating a loud screeching feedback loop.

One More Day

(in G; Roud #704)

This song is a shanty (work song) which originates from the Mississippi river area in the United States of America. It was often the last shanty sung by sailors aboard ship before landing ashore and getting paid. The chorus describes the ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ motion of the boat and all the jobs on board they must only do for ‘one more day’.

We adapted the lyrics to make it related to the things we do in our daily life, such as cooking lunch or listening to music. For inspiration, we have given an example of the lyrics devised by the young people in our Folk Unlimited sessions.

After exploring the different vocal effects, in our accompanying video you’ll hear a straightforward reverb effect used with the microphone while singing. We found it useful to encourage improvisation and discussion to devise lyrics. You can use pictorial prompts for ideas. In the video you can see our participants using PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) lyrics to help remember the call and response lines in the verses and in the chorus. The arrangement can be tried in different ways e.g. singing an improvised word or sound which the group copies, or leaving space for an instrumental.