In this set of downloadable instructional outlines, we'll explore some ideas for how you might build a lesson around the tool that emphasizes production and theoretical/musical skill building.

Using technology doesn't have to mean abandoning traditional music skills - on the contrary, it can strengthen them. Sample lesson plans suggest ways you can encourage students to hone their skills in harmony, rhythm, melodic construction, theory, composition and form, and apply those skills to active production and collaborative work with one another. They provide connections to theory and musicianship curricula, as well as presenting a window for intelligent analysis of popular music history.

Music tools, no matter how powerful, are still simply tools. Providing a compelling, portable, advanced music workstation for students can be an opportunity to engage them in music making in new ways. Students can develop both traditional musicianship and techniques for music recording and arrangement in order to be more expressive with sound technology.

**Any Questions/Ideas/Suggestions - please email us :: beaterator@dubspot.com

Mobile game systems have become powerful handheld computers. Beaterator on the Sony PSP is powerful enough to perform all the functions of a sequencer, musical arranger, and digital audio workstation. Join Dubspot to see how handheld music production can bring students' work alive, teaching the fundamentals of music and music production and allowing creative experimentation with musical ideas, all with instantaneous sonic results. Check out the process in action in videos from our tour. Learn tips and tricks for advanced music making techniques from professional producers, applied to the Beaterator interface. See how you can connect these skills not only to production but traditional music curricula in theory and music history.

Lower Manhattan Arts Academy (Loma) :: NYC

Dubspot hit the Lower Manhattan Arts Academy to host a Beaterator lesson for students in the Music Majors program; reactions were overwhelmingly positive. The teachers were excited about the accessibility of the program, and its position as an educational video game alternative, the students loved how much they could do with it as a production platform, and everyone was energized by the creative environment that the class created.

Eastside Community High School :: NYC

Some Eastside High School students came by Dubspot for an introductory music production class featuring the Beaterator. The students loved the whole experience, not only because it taught them about music, but because the Beaterator itself was something different from the standard video games they always see. It gave them the opportunity to produce and create their own songs, just like their musical heroes.

Venice Beach Students :: Los Angeles, CA

Dubspot headed out to Venice Beach this past November, and while there gave a Beaterator lesson to some local middle schoolers, and Mark Harris, a long-time musician and educator. Mark loved the accessibility and the possible classroom applications of this new program, and the kids loved how easy it was to start composing their own songs right away. From the city of angels to the city that never sleeps, Beaterator's possibilities run wild when combined with creative young minds.

Gotham Academy :: Brooklyn, NY

Dubspot held a Beaterator class at the Gotham Professional Arts Academy in Brooklyn to show the possibilities of the game as a fully functional, fully portable, music production center. These kids are serious about their beats, yet often don't have access to, or funds for, studio time, which can break the bank of any musician. Beaterator fixes that, and as you can see from their responses, energized the whole group around music and music creation.

Ableton Live Tour :: Austin, Texas

Dubspot's tour features production and performance workshops hosted by world-class musicians alongside the school's instructors. While visiting Austin we brought Beaterator along for the ride, and showed it off to those who attended. They were fascinated how this PSP game could contain so many powerful production possibilities that previously had only been available in expensive studio level computer programs - check out their reactions in this video...

Gotham Academy :: Dubspot NYC Visit

The group from Gotham Professional Arts Academy got a second taste of Beaterator's capabilities, this time over at Dubspot's home base on 14th St. The kids kept on loving the whole experience, and exploring the possibilities of this modern piece of mobile production software. Its all about that next generation of MCs, composers, and producers; Beaterator gives them the tools to advance.

ACTLab :: University of Texas

The Dubspot crew rolled through the ACTLab at the University of Texas Austin to show off the Beaterator; the next generation of portable music software. ACTLab was created so educators and students can examine the past, present and future intersections of technology, culture and art; the perfect place to display Beaterator's capabilities and possibilities as a music production system.