Sciria: Auburn High School opens state-of-the-art studio for music education
Auburn High School students now have a great opportunity to learn new skills with the opening of a music production room and class. The room sports state-of-the-art equipment and software that gives Auburn students the ability to create and produce studio-quality music.
"The most important thing about this class, and what I hope the kids take away, is developing a love for creating music and learning how to be creative and communicate their ideas with each other," said Shannon Stoddard, who teaches the new Modern Band Performance and Recording Technology class.
The course requires each student to select one modern band instrument to learn to play: drums, electric guitar, bass, keyboard or ukulele. Students then create bands they will perform in during the school year to develop performance skills. Through learning to perform modern band music, students are also learning beginner music theory and composition skills.
"It's a little bit of everything," Stoddard said. "They are learning to cover songs as well as write their own music once they have established the skills."
As the school year progresses the students will learn about music production, running their own recording sessions using recording software, editing their audio and eventually publishing it. The music production room has all of the equipment to achieve this.
There are two main sections of the physical space: the recording room and the general classroom. The recording room has inputs that connect to the mixing desk, where there are two audio interfaces to allow up to 16 different instrument tracks being recorded simultaneously.
Outside the recording room, there are 16 desks, each with its own computer with a MIDI keyboard and two channel audio interfaces so students can plug in their instruments and record and edit their audio. The room also has three practice stations; the instruments connect to an eight-channel mixer, which allows students to plug in headphones and not overwhelm the room with external sound.
"We have a full studio setup with high-quality equipment," Stoddard said. "We have great quality microphones for vocal recording and all brand-new instruments and equipment."
Using Pro Tools as a digital audio workspace gives Auburn students an advantage if they pursue music production in college. Pro Tools is the industry standard for recording software and is used in programs at local universities and community colleges.
Pro Tools has helped Auburn senior Aidan Hodson decide he wants to study editing as well as acting in college.
"I feel like it's going to help me learn because I've never used Pro Tools, but it's helped me figure out what avenue I want to go down," he said. "It's definitely helped me learn what I want to do after this because I wanted to major in acting my whole life but now that I've seen how good this program is, it's definitely shown me that editing is also a thing I like doing."
During the second half of the school year, students will work on original compositions to learn the language around music production and writing so they can efficiently communicate their ideas. In June, all of the groups will perform at Auburn Public Theater in a final concert.
Hodson, who is an AHS chorus member, has developed an interest in production because of the new class and facilities.
"It definitely showed me that I really like this," he said. "I've never used any of this. It definitely helps, showing us how to use it."
Stoddard believes the new music production room and class give Auburn students a unique opportunity to develop their musical talents.
"These classes are becoming more popular in the music education world," she said. "Some of the most successful artists we listen to start with limited home resources. What's so great about this class is that now we have a place in school for students with this type of inspiration from their favorite artists to create music. There are already students enrolled in this program who are proficient in songwriting and music production and who have started at home using other music creation programs. It is fascinating to see how they apply their self-taught skills to the full studio setup. I believe that the community will be amazed at the new opportunity and display of talent from these students."
Christopher Sciria is a public information specialist for the Auburn Enlarged City School District. For more information, call (315) 255-8800 or visit aecsd.education.
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