Technology has played an important and increasing role in music during the last fifty years.  Using and embracing aspects of Music Technology are important for all musicians, music educators, composers, and music business personnel.  Logically, students in the various disciplines of music must continue to understand, refine, and embrace the use of technology, often as they learn to understand and embrace new aspects of music and the use of other 21st century skills.

Today,  music technology integrates with and often relies on computers and computer technology.  Very quickly, freshmen will use computing technology for theory and other non-music assignments.  Aural assignments, research, and other coursework will use computing technology.  At times, students will create an environment for composition, improvisation, audio recording, and arranging of music, using computers.  Computers help the musician to record, transcribe, edit, practice, and perform pieces of music.  These musical environments will also enable and invite the student to experiment and discover new methods and new ideas.  Computer-based instructional (CBI) software will embellish the journey as students learn in several areas in the department.

We strongly encourage all Music students to purchase a computer using one of the following hardware and software configurations.  The incoming freshman class will not have a music microcomputing laboratory as it now exists in their sophomore year.  Regarding technology, we continue to move in a direction similar to the "model" adopted by many other departments and schools around the country.  Research shows that, students are more successful if they have the opportunity to use the technology they need, when, and where they want to use it.  Logically, this implies ownership on the part of the student.  Thankfully, ownership is more affordable than ever.

The Department of Music does not have brand loyalty between Microsoft Windows or Apple OS-X platforms.  About 8% of the department faculty machines are Apple MacIntosh platform.  We have a slightly higher percentage of music students arriving with Apple MacIntosh platforms, perhaps 11%.  Presently, our computing sites are outfitted with Windows platforms.

As a general rule in music, computers are about a three year investment.  After that, they begin to fall below the technology curve too fast and software can not be upgraded.  Buy as much computer as you can afford now and perhaps you can stretch the investment to four years.  The general university guidelines for a computer may be found at the Technology Solutions Center site.

Send an email to Charles Clark if you have any questions (phone number at bottom of page).
Computer System configurations and details
Windows Suggestion:
  • Notebook
  • Intel Core Duo, 2.0 GHz Processor
  • 1.0 GB RAM Plus means, spend money here!
  • 80 Gb hard disk drive, 7200 RPM
  • CD-R, R/W + DVD playback
  • 15.4" display or better
  • 10/100-base T ethernet port (for on campus, or off campus when served by a high-speed provider)
  • 802.11 Wireless
  • MS Windows XP Professional
  • MS Office 2003* (or newer)
  • Sibelius Music Notation Software
 OS X Suggestion:
  • Notebook
  • 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor
  • 1.0 GB RAM  Plus means spend money here!
  • 80 Gb hard disk drive 
  • CD-R, R/W + DVD playback
  • 15" display or better
  • 10/100-base T ethernet card (for on campus, or off-campus when served by a high-speed provider)
  • 802.11 Wireless
  • Mac OS X 10.4.x Tiger
  • MS Office 2004*
  • Sibelius Music Notation Software
Peripheral Devices, Highly Suggested:
  • Ink Jet Printer *
  • Surge Suppressor
  • USB 2.0 port audio device- a peripheral unit that enhances and improves the playback experience for the student theory homework.  Some units can also serve as part of the "recording" device  several faculty members require their students to have in order to improve their self analysis of their progress on their instrument or voice.
  • USB 2.0 notation keyboard- a peripheral unit that has one or two piano keyboard octaves to facilitate the input of music. 
*  PARENT OPINION #1:  On a personal note, I am also the father of a sophomore Music/English double major at Delaware.  We have found that ink costs can be as high as $140/year (and that's not counting printing photographs).  Students love color printers, but the operating costs of a $190 laser printer may have been a better investment for us in the long run.  Good luck with this decision!
 
The plus sign  Plus sign means spend money here!  above, denotes an area that can be improved, and should be the first upgrade you buy for the system. Buying more memory now may be cheaper in the long run!

In general, upgrade the systems outlined above as much as you can afford. Upgrade in this order:  upgrade the RAM, then the CPU speed, the hard drive speed, and then the hard drive size.

 Students will find the purchase of several USB "thumb drives" helpful.  Many students have a couple of "small" thumb drives (128 MB-256 MB) for daily work and transporting files, and one or two "large" thumb drive (1 GB or better) for quick backups of all of their data.
 
Wireless networking 
Wireless access points are currently installed in the critical areas of the building.
  • 802.11g (DSSS) 2.4 GHz-Compliant wireless network adapters required.
Direction of the department's music computing technology
The main software application used in the university and music classes during the freshman year will be Microsoft Word and Sibelius.  Some students may benefit from the purchase of MacGamut  Ear Training Software.  Excel and Powerpoint will be useful for many classes at Delaware.  The Sibelius music notation software** will be used increasingly in theory classes.  Sibelius will be used a minimum of six semesters by each student.

Increasingly, coursework, course modules, reserve materials, and session notes will be placed online via the MyCourses@UD, course management system.  Students will find that many of their non-music courses will use the MyCourses@UD system as well.  Students may "hand-in" assignments based in Word, Excel, or Powerpoint formats, via this system.

With the above information, and the reality that as a college student, much of your work will be started and completed after the operating hours of our computing lab, you will have significantly better, and more convenient access to all university and department computing resources from your own personal notebook computer.  You will have limited access to e-mail stations in the Music Resources Center.
Note special concerns
*  Education Discounts for this software are available from many sources.
**  Existing Finale users are welcome to continue using the latest versions of Finale.
  • Students may elect courses that use additional music technology software during their four years in the department.  These courses will use software packages that may include; CuBase, Band In A Box by PG Music, Sound Forge by Sony Creative Software and so on.
  • Music Education majors will collect artifacts and build e-Portfolio Webs and Media productions throughout their years at Delaware.  This is necessary for their first job or further education.
  • We encourage all other music students to collect artifacts and build e-Portfolio Webs and Media presentations throughout their years at Delaware.
  • The one constant in computing and music computing technology is that "things will change".  Buy more now if you can.  We will update this specification each year.  This specification will be updated prior to the 2006 Dela-World orientation.
  • Students may elect to bring an older computer to campus initially and purchase a better system at the start of their sophomore year.   If you plan to do this, please refer to the University guidelines "Bringing an Older Computer to Campus" or send an email to Charles Clark if you have questions (phone number at bottom of page).
  • Successful students of music enjoy, and are required, to listen to music frequently.  Aural assignments are given in many classes and often students will use examples from either the University MP3 streaming services (via Morris Library) or "Ruckus" MP3 and Video services.  Many use Ruckus since they can borrow and download the files to some MP3 players for a small fee.  Please be aware that:
  • Apple MacIntosh platforms do not work with the Ruckus system.
  • Additionally, an iPod can not be used to store and play the Ruckus MP3 files.  A list of compatible devices may be found on the Ruckus compatibility site.
  • User Services/Information Technology (US/IT) will likely have to assist Apple MacIntosh users configure their systems to listen to the University MP3 streams.  Users will have to be careful to not change these default settings.
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Other Technology Items:  Stay tuned!   This section will link to a "break-down" of technology needs year by year and concentration by concentration with full descriptions of the different pieces of technology.
PARENT OPINION #2:
     When you attend Delaworld this summer, you will be given information about accessing the discounted prices for software and hardware.  Your new ID will be the "key" to those discounted prices.
    The University Bookstore is run by Barnes and Noble who hosts   journeyed.com.   You will be able to purchase Office Professional for about $86 after Delaworld with the UD discount.  Sibelius will be about $249 ($41.50/semester over six semesters is a better way to look at this).  I advise students to keep checking the Sibelius price at JourneyEd.com, www.academicsuperstore.com, and www.studica.com often.  For example, at this writing, AcademicSuperstore is $239.95 and Studica is $238.50, both with free shipping.
Concerning Vista and Windows Issues at the moment:
  • Windows Media Center Edition (WMCE) hampers some aspects of some music software (as of this writing, we are tracking and compiling information from industry sources).  Although Sibelius works, several of the plugins, including Native Instruments, Neurotron, and others have only made an announcement that they plan to support Vista.  We recommend that you do not buy a version of VISTA that has WMCE activated.  If you have a version that does, try to turn it off.  WMCE is a product that attempts to make the PC more like the Apple iTV or Tivo.  Although one would think that Music applications and hardware would be comfortable in a "Media Center", that just does not seem to be the case.
  • Some of the great USB audio devices we have recommended in the past, do not work with Vista and there is no statement from the companies about updated drivers.  We are evaluating this situation daily.
  • Ableton has released the following statement:  "Because of the known (and unknown) problems, our limited Vista experience, and the current lack of Audio & MIDI drivers, we strongly recommend testing Live and your setup before you completely switch to Windows Vista.  If you are currently using Live on Windows XP, we recommend waiting before upgrading to Vista."  Note:  Ableton is not currently a product line we require.  It is one of several lines we may be looking into for the future.  We have included this statement as it is indicative of what we are seeing.
  • Steinberg Cubase has released a similar statement.
  • Sony Sound Forge and related products expects to ships a compatible version in 3rd or 4th quarter 2007.
  • Do not buy a system with a 64-bit processor and VISTA just yet.   There are several compatibility issues in that arena with software and devices.
  • The music department is not aware of any issues regarding VISTA incompatibility and our department servers at the moment.
PARENT OPINION #3:
    My daughter came to school with the 2005 equivalent of the HP Pavilion dv6345us 15.4".  I upgraded the RAM and hard drive speed and size.  I bought the three year warranty.   She would have started her Freshman year with her old computer ... but it died in her senior year.   In retrospect, I feel that my daughter would have been hampered and challenged without her notebook computer from the start.

Charles Clark
Manager, Music Technology Systems
302-831-6867

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