July 26-28, 2022
For students completing grades 9-12
$450
Registration is open through June 15!
Are you looking for a summer music experience focused on your creativity and your voice?
Badger Precollege is excited to present SMC in Focus, a new online program combining the study of art, technology and society in a dynamic music environment. Whether you’re new to music or a virtuoso, you’ll develop skills in music technology, composition and songwriting and learn how the arts help us explore our lived experience to make better sense of the world.
The online experience
SMC In Focus is a small, intensive online experience inspired by Summer Music Clinic. Centered around a single topic that changes annually, the program uses Zoom and Google Suite Tools — and includes the use of free music technology tools — to instruct and share experiences among teachers and students. You’ll spend three days with a community of peers, building your music content knowledge and putting it into practice. The final day culminates in sharing your completed coursework and final projects. All experience levels welcome. We work to have multiple experience tracks within each experience to provide level appropriate learning and challenge to meet each students needs.
To participate in SMC in Focus, you must have access to a computer and Wi-Fi.
SMC in Focus 2022: Music Production Through STEAM
This year’s SMC in Focus topic is Music Production Through STEAM. You’ll learn how to map your DNA and create a musical representation of it through the composition or songwriting style of your choice.
You’ll try out multiple music technology tools at various levels of music production, connecting these skills to an examination of the purpose of music and how we can use our individual creativity for social justice. A focus of the experience will be how musical artists and music history influence our human experience, design songs to build awareness, encourage self-reflection and inspire listeners to act in creating a more just society.
Summer Music Clinic
Summer Music Clinic works in partnership with the UW–Madison Mead Witter School of Music
Daily Schedule
| 9–9:30 a.m. | Check-in and community activities |
| 9:45–10:30 a.m. | First course |
| 10:35–11:20 a.m. | Second course |
| 11:25 a.m.–12:10 p.m. | Third course |
| 12:10-1 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1–2:35 p.m. | Fourth course/active work time on projects |
| 2:40–3 p.m. | Community activities, daily checkout and culminating event on Day 3 |
2022 Course Descriptions
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DNA and Music
Do you love music but aren’t sure about the components of it? Have you ever wanted to compose a song but you weren’t sure where to start? Have you noticed how music has regular patterns and sequences of notes, from the melody to the rhythms of a song? We are going to explore these questions through the lense of the building blocks of life where patterns govern the way molecules of DNA are formed. We are going to create our own unique music using these patterns of DNA to generate melodies, harmonies, rhythms and chord structures based on the nucleotide building blocks of DNA. Our DNA music will be a new and extraordinary way of experiencing the complexity of life!
Music Production/Looping How To
Today’s phones, computers, and digital devices are equipped with amazing musical technology. They can turn your ideas into an original recording, podcasts, and more — but how to use these tools? This simple, do-it-yourself course will show you the basics and/or advanced techniques using free tools and/or the equipment you have at home. Topics covered could include MIDI, microphones and interfaces, audio editing, mixing, and other top-secret techniques for using everyday items to create musical genius! Tell stories without saying a word through the foundations of looping and making beats.
Music Production of your Creation
Take your music from “here’s a song I wrote” to “I can’t believe it sounds so good” by learning how to produce like a professional, well, Producer! Learn how to use creative effects such as reverb and delay to elevate your song to the next level. Play your music for the group and get feedback on everything from arrangement and harmony ideas!
Social Justice through Music
Music and sound are important tools across a wide spectrum of social movements. In this course, we’ll explore some of the ways that musicians, demonstrators, artists, and community organizers use these tools to amplify their message and promote community through shared musical sound experiences.