United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps
Band of the West Division
Software Setup
We will be primarily using three software packages to conduct this training -- Zoom, Soundtrap, and Acapella. This page will help you do the initial setup of the applications. We have a notes page for more advanced topics such as configuration and tuning of the individual applications.
Zoom will be used mostly for group meetings.
Soundtrap will be used for musical collaboration. It can capture recordings of individual performances and share each recording as a "track" with the other members of the group so that everyone can listen to the recording and mix it in with the other performances.
Acapella will also be used for musical collaboration, but with this app a video recording will also be made and a group can present a performance as a collaborative video.
Zoom
Zoom has recently become very popular for video chat, and it is likely that you already have an account. If you are invited to connect to a Zoom call, you can use an existing account or quickly set up a free account. The Verge recently published an article which explains how to get started in detail.
Soundtrap
If you are a new user to Soundtrap or want to create a new account for use with Band of the West, then here are the steps:
1) You will be sent a link similar to the following -- (JUST AN EXAMPLE)
* see you squad leader for the REAL link
https://www.soundtrap.com/invite/ZBVVL46. Click on the link and select "Join as a Student"
2) You may be asked for an invite code, in which case enter the code you were sent (which is also the code at the end of the URL -- ZBVVL46 in this example)
3) Select a sign up method -- you can use a Google account, an Office 365 account, or your own email account to log in (typically you'd just select your own email account, but you can use one of the others if you want)
4) If you use your email address as a login, then you'll need to create a password as well -- create one...
5) You'll then be logged in
6) You can orient yourself using the tutorials built into the application, and we have linked some of the most useful ones in Notes
If you are already a user of Soundtrap, you can use the link we will send you to connect your account to Band of the West. If you want to do this, Soundtrap has provided instructions here.
Acapella. note: you will be reimbursed $10 for the Acapella app after you download
If you have an Apple iPad or iPhone available to you, please use it in preference to an Android device, as apparently the Android version of this application is not as good as the iOS version, and is not compatible with all Android phones.
For Apple iPhone or iPad, download here
For Android, download here
When you first launch the application, you will be prompted to set up an account with Mixcord to allow for collaboration with other people. Set up an account with your email address and a password of your choice.