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Creating Canons for Students

Creating Canons and Understanding Features on DAW

This page offers some ideas to (further) introduce you to Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), as well as offer you the opportunity to record yourself and experiment with some of the features of your selected DAW. A series of simple canons are offered that you may wish to sing or play on an instrument of your choice. The purpose is to construct a canon (as an individual) such that each of the musical lines aligns and that it comes to a fitting end. You should consider using some of the effects that the DAW offers to enhance the overall effect. 

Photo by Bjørn-Magnus Kristiansen on Unsplash

Selecting a Canon

Step One 

The first step in the process is to select a canon that is suitable for your abilities. For this task, it is certainly possible to record this in sections and then piece it together using the skills that you will acquire in the process of using the DAW. 

Here is a range of canons (in some cases with audio samples) that you may wish to use. Ensure that you are selecting music that will appropriately challenge you: 

Rounds and Canons for Choirs: 

https://www.8notes.com/compilations/choir_rounds_and_canons/

Beth's Notes: 

https://www.bethsnotesplus.com/2012/12/rounds.html

Let's Sing the Circle: The Joy and Wonder of Canons: 

https://www.omea.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RiesOMEACanonHandout.pdf

These ones are slightly more advanced, but offer a range of alternatives: 

Warm Up On Canons

https://walterbitner.com/2021/10/08/warm-up-on-canons/

You may wish to create your own canon as well. 

Selecting your Digital Audio Workstation

You may already be familiar with a particular type of DAW or your school/teacher may advocate one for you. In any case, here is a list of some of the more popular ones that you may wish to consider: 

For this particular example, I will use Audacity given that it is free and it is the perfect introduction to a DAW if you are a beginner. 

This site is a good starting point if you need some initial guidance on what DAWs are: 

https://www.careersinmusic.com/what-is-a-daw/

Recording

I have chosen the "Frog Canon", which was taught to me at National Music Camp (circa 1988) by the late great Australian music educator Richard Gill. I have subsequently discovered that the origins of this "poem" (and canon) are somewhat unknown, but it first appeared in print in 1921. 

I also discovered that my recollection of how it unfolded melodically (and lyrically) is vastly different from other versions. Nevertheless, it works harmonically in my recollected form. 

Image generated from https://www.craiyon.com/ with the prompt "Flying Frog"

Here is a pdf score of the music (as far as I can recollect): 

Process: 

1. I used an online metronome (click HERE) through a set of headphones and recorded the melody line to a level that I thought largely equated to the pulse in my "head". 

2. I then opened Audacity and placed the melodic line as a single track (see image). I then copied and pasted the materials to align with when the second "voice" entered (see pdf above). However, I had to make some tweaks to ensure that the alignment and the speed between the sections matched. I repeated this process for the third and final "voice" (see below for a YouTube video on the basic features of using Audacity). 

3. I added reverb to the audio tracks and imported a pedal point (on D) that I had created on Sibelius. I also added the "distortion" option to conclude the canon to give it a punchy ending. See the dropdown menu for some options that come with the free version. 

Here is the final outcome (vocalist dr. anton d. luiten):

 Frog Canon Using a "Single" Voice on Audacity and Some of its Features

Here is perhaps a more "original" version of the material. There are a number of versions that Stephen Malinowski has produced (in the form of animated graphical scores), but I like this FIFTH VERSION: 

Additional Student Sample

Here is an example of work from a student that is significantly advanced from the one above. The student describes this as, "a frivolous work that is in part to take a reactionary stance against the solemnity of the Western Art establishment and to question the need to maintain close affiliation with harmonic rules and vocabulary".
It has used elements of Bachian counterpoint as well as certain structural features of the genre. Image generated from https://www.craiyon.com/ with the prompt "Combine Bach and a Cat"
Here is the score that the student created and a couple of reflective journal entries (for more on journaling see HERE). 

Recording: 

The student recorded four other students separately to sing the individual lines and then pieced them together with the assistance of Soundtrap. Individual recordings were played through headphones and each singer was asked to mimic the recording as far as they were able. The "improvisatory" sections were done in a free manner without any assistance from a recording, relying on the individual and their interpretation of what they felt was appropriate. 

Here is the final product: 

 Student Sample: Fugue for Felines

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