SmartMusic - Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is there a discount or discount code? Do we qualify for a discount?

Yes, there is a discount of 15% for school districts that have over 100 accounts. Howard County Schools qualify for this discount and as long as you have selected Ellicott Mills MS as your school before you pay, this discount should be reflected in your price. This discounted price is $30.60.

2. Do I need to buy a microphone?

Maybe.

If you do not have a built-in microphone on your computer, then you will definately need to buy one.

If you have a good quality built in microphone then it may work to capture sound. The big problem is that you can't have microphones and speakers too close to one another or they create at the least a large boomy unclear sound and at worst they create a feedback loop. I have had success wearing headphones and using my built-in microphone. I have also had success using the SmartMusic microphone and speakers. SmartMusic does not support microphones outside of the ones that they market, but that doesn't mean the one you already have won't work.

So the short answer: If you don't have time to fiddle around with getting an unsupported microphone to work, then you should probably just buy one. If you'd rather fiddle and experiment, go for it. You'll be able to play back the recordings and see how close the sound is to what you would hear in the room.

By the way, the 15% discount applies to microphones as well.

3. There are two 6th-grade classes. Which one do I sign up for?

You should enroll in the 6th-grade orchestra marked (Correct). There is an older class that must be still there from an earlier perusal of this software under a different login. Because it does not appear in my account, I haven't figured out how to delete it yet.