Ciara surprises Georgia students using STEM to remix her songs

Posted December 17, 2019

External Article: USA Today

EarSketch, a computer program created by School of Literature, Media, and Communication professor Brian Magerko with School of Music professor Jason Freeman, was mentioned in an article in USA Today on Dec. 17, 2019.

EarSketch is a free-to-use program that teaches students the programming languages Python and JavaScript in the context of creating and manipulating songs in a "digital audio workstation." It is used by more than 375,000 students and instructors in 50 states and more than 100 different countries.

The program got some celebrity exposure recently when star R&B singer Ciara came to Paul Duke STEM High School in Norcross to speak to students and listen to remixes of her songs that students created in EarSketch. Students could submit their creations for the Ciara Remix Competition, run by Amazon and Georgia Tech.

Excerpt:

Ciara spoke to the class and watched students rework her music as they participated in a competition sponsored by Amazon’s future engineer program. The teenagers used EarSketch, a platform developed by Georgia Institute of Technology, that teaches computer science through music remixing, research engineer Roxanne Moore told WSB-TV.

The students will submit their creations for judging and could win Amazon gift cards or a trip to Seattle to present their work, according to the competition rules.

Read the full article here.