Heather Riddel
In Motion Staff Writer
Every semester, the Music Technology Program hosts a rock recital showcasing the talents of its students, as well as faculty members, many of whom are Grammy Award winning artists in their own right.
In October, the first of two productions this fall, students worked the lights, the soundboard and acted as stagehands, along with student performers who played old and new tunes: classic, country and contemporary rock and even a little Lady Antebellum.
Although it was not a packed house, it was an appreciative audience. Three sets included three different lineups of musicians, including faculty members, who played for two-plus hours. The second show of the season is set for Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the News-Journal Center. Both concerts are free and no ticket is required to attend.
Titled “Music Production Rocks!” the concerts become even more impressive considering these are all first-term students in the music production course.
“I’ve been in the program for a while and this was my second time doing a music class,” said bassist Chris Gillespie, who performed “Take It Easy,” “Every Breath You Take” and “Life is a Highway” in an ensemble towards the end of the program. “But I like setting up the stage and doing sound and lights. When I go to a concert, I always like seeing all the people backstage and working the sound console and all the other work that goes into a performance.”
Professor Daniel Mixer says there’s a common belief among the Music Production faculty that someone can’t really work with musicians if you aren’t a musician yourself on some basic level. That may seem daunting to many, but Music Production Program founder James Niceley says not to worry.
“Even if they don’t know anything at all, they have the opportunity to learn how do it,” he said of students who come with no musical experience. “I don’t know of any students who haven’t been able to learn how to either play an instrument or sing. If they’re a singer, students can use that as their applied music class.”
Students, however, are not limited in their choice of learning an instrument if they so choose. The college offers classes ranging from piano, wind instruments and drums to electric or string bass. Those who can’t sing and have no experience playing an instrument, suggests Niceley, might consider taking a beginning piano class. All music is based on the keyboard and it is often more easily learned.
Those who do come to the program with musical ability and experience have the chance to build upon that skill with higher level classes. All students in the program are required to take two musical instrument classes and three ensemble classes, along with production classes such as sound reinforcement.
“One of the classes I took, sound reinforcement, has a midterm and final where we actually set up the stage, the lights and the sound,” said Gillespie, noting that rain forced October’s concert inside the News-Journal Center. “I like the challenge of setting things up when we do it outside because there are two main stages.”
His hopes are, after graduation, to “do live shows and travel around the world with bands and set up their stages.”
The Music Production Program is a fairly new area of study in the college’s 60-plus year history. The program got its start in January 2010, although Niceley began working on the building, plans and curriculum in 2008.
Knowing that the program was being built from the ground up and was going to be launched in less than two years, his success was impressive. But this wasn’t Niceley’s first time designing a program. He previously designed a similar program for Appalachian State University in North Carolina, even laying the plans for the studio’s acoustic design.
Although the program has not been without its challenges, when it first began, the focus was more on the studio and recording aspects of the industry. That was due to the college’s proximity to places such as Disney and other live entertainment venues in Central Florida.
Eight years later, the focus has changed with the times. It is now geared more towards live entertainment music production, even though the program still offers instruction in recording, studio skills and live production values.
Mixer — who handles most of the audio and lighting aspects of “Music Production Rocks! — said faculty has seen a lot of success with the program and students who have gone on to careers in music production. Students can end up working anywhere from cruise liners and Disney World to production companies, advertising and marketing firms, and one graduate even went on to work for the Bravo Network.
Nicely — the former chair of the program, who was succeeded by Aaron Swihart — hopes to see it become a fouryear degree. He says the News-Journal Center facilities are state-of-the-art and the best in Florida. He should know since he is a longtime producer and performer. He says that they are comparable to any facilities at major schools in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles.
In closing, Nicely emphasized that anyone thinking about pursuing a career and degree in the Music Production industry, will have a lot of hard work and dedication ahead of them. But if they have the passion and desire to go for it, the rewards are outstanding.