The MIDI Sequencer/Sound Module as a Critical Listening Device

Abstract

Traditional playback media do not permit students to tailor the playback of music examples to any significant degree. This lack of adaptability has made it very inconvenient for students to listen critically to brief music examples assigned for close aural study. A recently-introduced piece of MIDI hardware called a sequencer/sound module offers many possibilities for instructors to design software to support college-level courses requiring traditional music analysis and critical listening. This hardware was originally introduced to support performance instruction to allow students to capture their performances and hear them played back. However, the sophistication of these units makes them valuable for supporting more complex instructional applications. This article describes three applications where use of the sequencer/sound module was extended to support three non-performance learning activities: music dictation, harmonic error detection, and aural comparisons of historical tuning systems. Each application was used by music majors at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.