Student activity guide

STEP 1: PREVIEW YOUR MISSION

In today’s coding activity, you will create a 4-measure bridge for your song.

Instructions Mission Checklist

Using what we just learned, we’ll do the ❏ I added sounds to my Soundbank and
following to complete our program: assigned them to variables
❏ I used variables in the fitMedia()
1. Find sounds you love and add them to
your Soundbank. function to add at least 2 sounds to
2. Assign at least 2 of your sounds to the new bridge section of my song
variables. ❏ I added a 4-measure bridge to my
3. Add at least 2 sounds to your new script to create a 28-measure song
bridge section using the fitMedia()
function and variables to create a
4-measure bridge.

STEP 2: READY, SET…Go!

Find sounds and add them to your Soundbank. Then, assign the sounds to variables and add
them to your new sections to create a 4-measure intro and a 4-measure outro.

A — Open Your Script

SKIP this if you already have your Song4 script open in your browser.
If you do not have your Song4 script open already, complete the following steps:

1. Go to earsketch.gatech.edu and click “Start Coding”.

2. Log in to your EarSketch Account.

3. Click the “Scripts” tab in the left menu.

4. Find “Song4.py” and double-click it to open the script in your code editor.
2 Student Activity Guide

B — review & PLAN

Now that we have Song4 open, let’s listen to our song.

1. Click RUN and PLAY to listen to your song.

Let’s think:
● How do you like the start of your bridge?
● What are some things you’d like to try in your bridge?

Before diving into our code, let’s review what a bridge is and how we plan to add a bridge to our
song!

As we learned earlier today, the bridge can be an important part of a song:

Our bridge can be anything we like– but we can keep these tips in mind if they help inspire us!

Now, let’s review our Song4 Plan:

Now that you have a plan for what you want to add to your script, let’s dig into the code:

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

3 Student Activity Guide

First, review your starting comments. Make sure you’ve added your starting comments at the top
of your script and updated the text in the brackets to match your song. Remember: Comments
start with # and will not affect our program.

Next, review your Setup section. Make sure you’ve added your Setup section, included your
import statement, and set a tempo using the setTempo() function. Reminder: You will need to
set a unique tempo for your music once you start adding your sounds.

Next, let’s review our Soundbank. Make sure you added comments to set up the structure for your
Soundbank and help you organize your sounds. Note: You can add any additional comments you
want to help you organize your sounds using the # symbol.

Now, let’s start finding sounds to use in our new sections!

c — Assign Sounds to Variables

Now, we can start searching for sounds to use in our song.

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

4 Student Activity Guide

1. Search for a sound you want to use in your song.

2. Once you find a sound you like, add it to your Soundbank.

Keep adding sounds to your personal Soundbank!

3. Repeat Steps 1-2 to add at least 2 sounds to your Soundbank!

After you have found several sounds, your program may start looking like this:

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

5 Student Activity Guide

Once you find sounds and add them to your soundbank, remember to assign your sounds to
variable names!

4. Assign sounds to variables in your Soundbank.

After you’ve completed this, your program may start looking like this:

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

6 Student Activity Guide

D — Code Your Music Section

Make sure you added comments to mark the start of your section and the different sections of
your song.

Review your music section. You already added sounds to your intro, verse (Section A), chorus
(Section B), and outro using the fitMedia() function and variables (instead of whole sound
names).

Today, you already added one sound to your bridge section (Section C)

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

7 Student Activity Guide

Let’s review how to use variables to add sounds to your music section!

Next, let’s add sounds to our bridge.

1. Use the fitMedia() function to add at least 2 sounds to your new section.
● Type: fitMedia(sound, track, start, end)
● This time, instead of adding the full sound name in the sound parameter, type the
variable name you assigned for the sound you want to use.

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

8 Student Activity Guide

Now that we’ve reviewed our plan, let’s adjust our bridge and outro track parameters:

2. Before running and playing your code, be sure to review and update your track
parameters:
● For each sound in your bridge (Section C)
○ Set your track parameter to start at “11” (or higher, depending on how
many sounds you’ve already used in your intro, verse and chorus)
● For each sound in your outro:
○ Set your track parameter to start at “13” (or higher, depending on how
many sounds you plan to use in your bridge)

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

9 Student Activity Guide

Next, update your start and end parameters.

3. Before running and playing your code, be sure to review and update your start and end
measures:
● For each sound in your bridge (Section C):
○ Set your start parameter to measure “21”
○ Set your end parameter to measure “25”
● For each sound in your outro:
○ Set your start parameter to measure “25”
○ Set your end parameter to measure “29”

E — Set a unique Tempo

Now, try setting a unique tempo for your song.

1. Finally, set a unique tempo for your song using the setTempo() function.
a. Try setting a slower or faster tempo.
b. Run and play your song.

Reminder: EarSketch lets you choose any tempo between 45 to 220 beats per minute.
● Standard: 120 BPM
● Slow: 45 BPM
● Fast: 220 BPM

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

10 Student Activity Guide

When you’re finished, your code might look something like this:

# STARTING COMMENTS
# title: [a title]
# author: [your name]
# description: [a descriptive note]
# SETUP
from earsketch import *
setTempo(110)
# MY SOUNDBANK
# This is where I will keep my variable ‘nicknames’ for my sounds

# beats:
beat1 = HIPHOP_STOMP_BEAT_001
beat2 = EIGHT_BIT_VIDEO_SPEAKNSPELL_BEAT_014
beat3 = JWOLF_COTG_VOX_MISC_HEEYAA

# bass:
bass1 = CIARA_SET_THEME_MAIN_2
bass2 = DUBSTEP_SUBBASS_002

# melody
mel1 = JWOLF_COTG_VOX_LEAD_INTRO_1
mel2 = CIARA_SET_THEME_MAIN_1
mel3 = JWOLF_COTG_VOX_MISC_MALE_MELODY
mel4 = Y40_BRASS_1
mel5 = JWOLF_COTG_THEME_SYNTH

# harmony
harm1 = YG_TRAP_SYNTH_3
harm2 = YG_TRAP_SYNTH_CHOIR_2

# effects
sfx1 = JWOLF_COTG_VOX_MISC_CHAOS_2

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

11 Student Activity Guide

sfx2 = JWOLF_COTG_THEME_DS_WOBBLE

# MUSIC
# This is a song where I use variables

# song4-intro:
fitMedia(mel3, 1, 1, 5)
fitMedia(beat3, 2, 1, 5)

# song4-section-A:
fitMedia(beat1, 3, 5, 13)
fitMedia(bass1, 4, 5, 13)
fitMedia(bass2, 5, 5, 13)
fitMedia(mel1, 6, 5, 13)

# song4-section-B:
fitMedia(mel2, 7, 13, 21)
fitMedia(beat2, 8, 13, 21)
fitMedia(sfx1, 9, 13, 21)
fitMedia(harm1, 10, 13, 21)

# song4-section-C:
fitMedia(mel4, 11, 21, 25)
fitMedia(sfx2, 12, 21, 25)

# song4-outro:
fitMedia(mel5, 13, 25, 29)
fitMedia(harm2, 14, 25, 29)

# END

G — Run and Play your Music

Now, it’s time to run and play your song!
1. Click the “Run” button to execute your code.
○ Pressing RUN tells the computer to execute your code, which causes your music to
appear in the DAW.
2. Watch the console to see if your code ran successfully.
○ If you receive any error messages, review your code to debug your error!

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

12 Student Activity Guide

3. Finally, click the green play button to play your music!

H — FInalize Your Project

Before completing your song, did you:

I — review your checklist

❏ I added sounds to my Soundbank and assigned them to variables
❏ I used variables in the fitMedia() function to add at least 2 sounds to the new bridge
section of my song
❏ I added a 4-measure bridge to my script to create a 28-measure song

If you need help while working on your activity, you

Need Help? can watch the video walkthrough by clicking the
button here. Pause the video at any time and
return to your activity to try out each step for
yourself!

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge

13 Student Activity Guide

Appendix: VOCABULARY
Find this lesson's vocabulary below.

Bridge (n):
A section of a song that helps transition from one part to another by providing contrast and
building toward the next section.

Appendix: Helpful Links

Use the links in this section if you are stuck or simply want to know more about a concept.

Project Links Additional Links

● EarSketch ● n/a
● Coding Activity Walkthrough Video

My cse3 journal
Extra space for notes, thoughts, and other things!

Notes

LESSON 4.9 | Intro to song structure: Bridge