Making Music with GarageBand and Mixcraft

Dr. James Frankel is the Managing Director of SoundTree, the leader in music, audio and video technology solutions for educators. Before taking the helm at SoundTree, he was the instrumental and general music teacher at the Franklin Avenue Middle School in Franklin Lakes, NJ for 11 years. Dr. Frankel earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Montclair State University, and his Masters and Doctoral Degrees in Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. An Adjunct Faculty member at Teachers College Columbia University, he teaches a variety of courses on music technology. His published works include over 50 articles in various state, national and international journals of music education and several works published by SoundTree and Hal Leonard. Recently, his chapter entitled Music Education Technology, was included in Critical Issues in Music Education, published by Oxford University Press. Dr. Frankel is on the Board of Directors for TI:ME where he serves as the Vice President/Secretary and the Editor of the TI:ME E-mail Newsletter. In addition to his work with the TI:ME National Organization, he is the President of ATMI – the Association for Technology in Music Instruction.

Michael Fein earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Rutgers University and a Masters of Jazz Saxophone Performance from Rowan University. Michael has published articles and lesson plans with MET Magazine and Sound Tree. He has presented numerous sessions at music and technology conferences including the 2005 National Education Computing Conference in Philadelphia, the 2009 TI:ME National Conference in San Antonio, TX, and the 2010 TI:ME National Conference in New Brunswick, NJ. Michael currently teaches music technology electives and the jazz ensemble at Haverford High School and serves as an adjunct jazz saxophone instructor at Swarthmore College. Michael’s resume includes performances with Ralph Peterson, Stanley Cowell, Scott Whitfield, Ralph Bowen, Denis DiBlasio, Arden Theater Company, and lead alto work with the great Ray Charles. Michael released his debut CD entitled Four Flights Up in April 2005. The CD features Michael and his jazz sextet performing original tunes and arrangements. The CD was re-released by Dreambox Media in October 2006 and is now available for purchase through Amazon.com, DreamboxMedia.com, and select local record stores.

Richard McCready teaches Music Technology at River Hill High School, in Howard County, Maryland. He also serves the Howard County school district in a resource capacity, training other teachers and helping them to bring the excitement of Music Technology to their schools. Richard has been teaching for twenty years, and has taught at the middle school level, high school level, and college level. He began his career at Frodsham High School in Cheshire, England, and has also held positions at Towson University, MD, The Park School of Baltimore, MD, and Mayfield Woods Middle School in Elkridge, MD. Throughout Richard’s career he has taught students to experience music through creativity, using the latest technology available, from 4-track cassette-tape recorders to modern-day DAWs such as Garage Band and Acoustica Mixcraft.