Evaluating Electronic Music Technology Resources for Music Therapy

This manual provides music therapy students, interns, clinicians, educators, and clinical trainers with a working and field-tested set of systematic and ongoing processes designed to ascertain the usefulness of electronic music applications to help meet the needs of their clients. The resources are organized into four families or categories of electronic music technology products. These include general or stand-alone products, computer software, electronic keyboards, and tablet computer applications (apps). The evaluation processes and protocols are detailed and focused around four forms, each corresponding to one of the resource categories. Each form allows the reviewer to note and evaluate basic product information and intended users, product details, considerations for use by their clients, and product rating on specific criteria and recommendation to use/not use the product. Six sample product reviews of useful electronic music resources are included, as well as a glossary of terms.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Authors 
Figures List 
Chapter 1. Introduction .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 1

How to Use This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 3
About the Four Electronic Music Technology Categories in This Manual . . . . . . . .. . . . 3

Chapter 2. Resource Family Evaluation Processes and Accompanying Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Category 1: Stand-Alone Products and General Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Using the Electronic Music Technology Evaluation Profile (EMTEP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Category 2: Computer Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . 18
Using the Music Software Evaluation Profile (MSEP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Category 3: Electronic Keyboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .  . . . . 25
Using the Electronic Keyboard Evaluation Profile (EKEP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Category 4: Tablet Computer (iPad) Mobile Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Using the Electronic Music Tablet Application Profile (EMTAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Chapter 3. Sample Reviews Using Evaluation Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..37

Sample EMTEP Review—QChord: Barbara L. Bastable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Sample MSEP Review—GarageBand for Mac: Thomas A. Dalton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 42
Sample EKEP Review—Yamaha EZ-220: Barbara L. Bastable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .45
Sample EMTAP Review—Percussions for iPad: Robert E. Krout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .49
Sample EMTAP Review—GarageBand for iPad: Thomas A. Dalton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  52
Sample EMTAP Review—OnSong for iPad: Thomas A. Dalton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Closing Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . 58
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 59
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . 63