Face the Music – Legally – with Music Generators

By Alix E. Peshette

What about music? This is the question that many students and teachers ask once they have created a video or multimedia presentation. Kids want to use their favorite music-de-jour; and hence we segue way into the world of fair use and copyright.

Fair use is a somewhat murky, amorphous concept of what is legal to use and where it can be used. Educators and students have used copyrighted materials under the umbrella of fair use for decades, but since the advent of computers and the Internet, things have changed. Here’s a quick description of fair use:

• Specified portions of print media and multimedia can be used in the classroom by students and teachers for varying specified periods of time. Check out this copyright chart



• “In the classroom” (for direct instruction or presentation of student projects) is the operative concept for fair use.



• Posting student- or teacher-created media that contains copyrighted materials to a web site is a copyright violation unless the copyright owner has granted permission, because it is a form of publishing.



• Burning DVD/CD copies of student or teacher-created print media and multimedia containing copyrighted materials and handing out those copies is a copyright violation because it is distributing copyrighted materials without permission.


OK, back to the music issue. How to find or create music that is copyright free and cool? Think music generators and free music loops! There is a very lively movement of musicians who use music sequencer software and music loops to create original compositions. Free music generators and music loops are available on the web! Experiment and play! Another option is to create some tunes online and use Audacity to record them for use in multimedia presentations.

In my search for kid-friendly music generators and music loops, I have come across these resources:

Onion Street Music Machine – a BBC Schools website with free downloadable software, music loops and some fun online music generators

Make a Tune – BBC online music generators

Rhythm Band - a children's online creative music generator

San Francisco Symphony – Fun with Music – Music Lab

Horrible Sounds Mixer - Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England

The Science of Music – Exploratorium

Freesound Project - creative commons database of sounds

Free Music Sequencer Software –free music sequencers for the adventurous educator