Robby Burns

METT Podcast Episode #87 – School Music License, with Brenna C. Horn-Cronin

In this episode, Brenna C. Horn-Cronin, Executive General Manager at School Music License, joins us to discuss how the service empowers music educators to navigate performance licensing ethically and efficiently. We cover…

Apple Report Card, with Will Kuhn

Check out the latest episode of Music Ed Tech Talk. Websites are back! Robby redid his blog and Stream Deck setups. The Metallica concert in Vision Pro is awesome. AI tools for musicians have always been useful, and we do some music picks. Big topic: Will and I…

Sessions | Audio Unit (AU) Plug-in Host for Studio and Stage

This a pretty cool tool I was recently turned on to. I'm looking forward to giving it a try. Sessions | Audio Unit (AU) Plug-in Host for Studio and Stage: Sessions is a performance-oriented plug-in host that puts all your virtual…

From the Creators of Shortcuts, Sky Extends AI Integration and Automation to Your Entire Mac – MacStories

All I can say is "wow!" It's rare and thrilling to see an app that quickly demonstrates how immediately it could transform the way I use my computer. This is, to me, a demonstration of where…

harmony-cloud-app — Stefon Harris

A colleague turned me on to Harmony Cloud earlier in the month. It’s a new ear training tool from vibraphonist Stefon Harris, and it seems really neat. I attended a masterclass featuring Stefon Harris back in the early 2000s, and something I distinctly remember…

Logic Pro amplifies beat making on Mac and iPad with advanced new capabilities – Apple

Logic Pro has some new updates. Some of them are novel and cool, but a new feature that captures performance data before the user presses record is exactly the kind of iterative workflow improvement that I love…

DaVinci Resolve 20 for iPad: Features & AI Enhancements

On the recent episode of Music Ed Tech Talk, Will and I were discussing how rare it is that iPad apps function similarly to their desktop counterparts. DaVinci Resolve is an exception to this standard, and it only seems to get more powerful…

Retreating to Safety – Marco.org

Though I'm not a developer, I do watch Apple's World Wide Developer Conference keynote every year with lots of enthusiasm. Given how increasingly sour I have become about Apple recently, I can say that I identify quite a lot with Marco Arment's feelings in this…

Sam and Jony and skepticism – Six Colors

If you haven't heard, OpenAI is merging with Jony Ive's company io, and they have announced that they are working on a hardware product. They are very jazzed about it. Probably a past version of myself would be too, but given my mixed feelings about where…

TI:ME at Maryland MMEA 25/26 – TI:ME

TI:ME at Maryland MMEA 25/26 – TI:ME: TI:ME is excited to partner with Maryland MMEA for the upcoming season of PD events. Apply to speak at either or both events today! The deadline for the Call for Proposals and Performance Applications is June 4, 2025. This…

TI:ME at Maryland MMEA 25/26 TI:ME is excited to partner with Maryland MMEA for the upcoming season of PD events. Apply to speak at either or both events today! The deadline for the Call for Proposals and Performance Applicati…

Come present at MMEA!

Dorico 6 is now available: Perfect scores, faster – Dorico Dorico 6 is out today and it is full of really great stuff. Dorico 6 is now available: Perfect scores, faster – Dorico: We’re delighted to announce the immediate availability of Dorico 6, the brand new generation of our family of music notation and composition software for macOS, Windows, and iPadOS. This version is absolutely packed with new features, with a particular focus on engraving and workflow, though there are improvements throughout the application, and we hope that every Dorico user will find several things to be excited about.

Dorico 6 is now available: Perfect scores, faster – Dorico

Dorico 6 is out today and it is full of really great stuff. Dorico 6 is now available: Perfect scores, faster – Dorico: We’re delighted to announce the immediate availability of Dorico 6, the brand new generation of our family of music…

Seamlessly Sync Readwise and Craft

Seamlessly Sync Readwise and Craft: Highlight text in articles or books and instantly sync it to Craft and across all your devices. Keep reading here… Craft is now integrated with the Readwise service, which I love for saving my highlights and notes from Kindle…

If you are in education and want to up your tech game, Robby is a great go-to guy.

Sight Reading Factory announced Rhythm-only auto assessment

From an email last week: We're excited to share a powerful update in Sight Reading Factory! Rhythm-only auto assessment is now available — both for individual practice and for teacher-created assignments! That means: ✅ Students and…

My 2025 Media Diet So Far (April Edition)

My interests in TV, movies, books, and games always tend to spill over into the blog. That’s not changing anytime soon. But to leak a little bit of that enthusiasm here, I thought I’d share a list of what I’ve been enjoying lately—some of it connected to…

Soundtrap CSV Creator – Shed the Music

Bob Habersat over at Shed the Music created a super useful tool for generating a CSV file in the exact format Soundtrap requires for uploading students in bulk. If you’ve done this before, you know it’s a hassle. I’m all for anything that makes the process…

Mastodon Exit Interview – Rob Shearer

I am still hopelessly in favor of a federated social internet, but Rob Shearer shares some very valid concerns about the state of Mastodon, in particular, in this blog post... Mastodon Exit Interview: I am currently winding down the Mastodon bots I used to…

Apple Updates iWork Apps With New iOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 Features – MacRumors

These are solid updates. I am happy to see iWork apps continuing to get regular meaningful updates outside of the cycle of annual operating system updates. Apple Updates iWork Apps With New iOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4…

Exploring Tech in the Bandroom (Podcast appearance on Get Organized! by Dr. Frank Buck I met Dr. Frank Buck at TMEA several years ago, and since then, I’ve had the pleasure of hosting him on Music Ed Tech Talk several times to discuss how technology can support productivity and organization. This time, I had the chance to join him on his show! It was a real pleasure to share some of the core elements of my digital workflow, especially as they relate to teaching middle school band. Watch below, or check out the complimentary blog post here.

Exploring Tech in the Bandroom (Podcast appearance on Get Organized! by Dr. Frank Buck

I met Dr. Frank Buck at TMEA several years ago, and since then, I’ve had the pleasure of hosting him on Music Ed Tech Talk several times to discuss how technology can support productivity and organization. This…

Ever wonder how a top music educator uses tech to revolutionize their classroom? 🤔 2025 TIME Teacher of the Year, Robby Burns, spills his secrets in this insightful interview! Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?si=F5y... #musicEd #edtech #innovation #EduSky

Pixar Creative Chief Pete Docter Says AI Could Be A ‘Game Changer’

Yup. Pixar Creative Chief Pete Docter Says AI Could Be A 'Game Changer': My experience so far in a lot of different ways, AI takes something and sands the edges down, so it makes the blob average. And that could be very useful in a…

What’s on Kate’s Desk?

Kate Bateman is one of my colleagues in the Howard County Public School System. We recently did one of my favorite things, which is to eat hot pot and geek out over stationary. Afterwards, Kate showed me an image of her amazing desk setup. I was inspired. I thought, wouldn't…

Raycast AI Extensions

This kind of feature is exactly why I’m so glad I started using Raycast a few years ago. I do wish it supported natural language input without needing extra syntax, but even as it stands, it’s helped me cut down on the mental overhead of remembering the right…

Apple introduces iPad Air with powerful M3 chip and new Magic Keyboard – Apple

I’m a little late in blogging about this, but I wanted to share in case any musicians or educators are planning an iPad upgrade soon. If you use your iPad primarily for reading music with forScore, now is a fantastic…

Music Ed Tech Talk Episode 85 – Roast My Homescreen, with Jaye Mateyko

Jaye joins the show to discuss how our homescreens reflect our tech setups and most-used apps. Subscribe to the Blog… RSS | Email Newsletter Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS…

forScore 14.4

Check out the list of features in forScore 14.4. As usual, I am exited about the automation. Automation is becoming increasingly popular, and forScore lets you do a lot using the Shortcuts app. With forScore 14.4, we’ve added dozens of new actions for working with metadata, setlist…

Practice Pro: An Elegant, All-in-One Practice Tool with a Custom Widget Interface

Practice Pro is a new practice tool from Modular Tools for Musicians. The app’s design takes inspiration from iOS’s home screen widget system, making it feel instantly familiar and intuitive. Each widget serves a…

60 Minutes – U.S. Marine Band forced to cancel concert with students of color after Trump DEI order

I am incredibly proud of my former student, Rishab Jain, for his outstanding accomplishments in music. I’m especially proud of his involvement in this recent 60 Minutes story. I highly encourage you…

When I was young, I thought that a strong person was someone who was firm in their convictions and their sense of themselves. Now I realize strength is in being dynamic, evolving, always learning and never the same. If no one EVER experiences you as a hypocrite, you probably aren't growing.