No humans were involved in the playing of the song coming out of the speakers in Professor Robert Fair’s classroom on a chilly November afternoon.
Well, one human was. Note by note, Fair digitized the entirety of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony to demonstrate the potential of computerized production to his orchestration class. Sure, the violins come off a bit tinny, like listening to the symphony from the outside foyer of an orchestra hall. “Of course it doesn’t sound exactly like a real orchestra, but it’s good for studying,” Fair told his class after they heard the synthetic rendition for the first time. Fair spent two weeks meticulously entering the notes for the symphony’s instruments into his computer, spending a few hours each night hunched over his keyboard, programming notes, chords, transitions, and time signatures.
A mass of thick cables and wires slink their way between the computer, microphone, synthesizer and speakers. MIDI production uses ProTools, an industrial-strength sound editing program, to display the sound collected from the various inputs in a colorful graph-like tracks. This complex program enables the user to manipulate the audio in millions of ways
Fair is quick to point out that using MIDI files to compose and imitate isn’t cheating, just like “using a typewriter isn’t cheating when you write a novel.” As the human impetus behind the creation of three recording studios now on campus and instructor of the digital sound editing classes taught at Georgetown, we’ll take his word for it.
How to turn your favorite song into a convincing MIDI rendition is just one of the many skills students take away from Fair’s classes, which include “Studio & Sound Editing” each semester, with “Orchestration & Arranging” and “Songwriting & MIDI” taught in the fall and spring semesters, respectively. “Orchestration & Arranging” is geared towards laying out classical tracks on the computer, while the options in the other two classes are truly limitless.
When Fair arrived at Georgetown in fall 2002, there were no production studios on campus, and the music department was still estranged from its extracurricular arm, housed in Student Affairs. This fall not only saw the launch of the integrated Program in Performing Arts, but also the second year of existence of the on-campus recording studios. There are now three studios on campus, which Fair designed, equipped and still maintains. As the music technology program enters its fourth semester this spring, Fair expects that both classes will be filled to capacity, yet again.
Nestled on the first floor of Lauinger in the Gelardin Media Center, this soundproofed studio houses an assortment of ostentatiously expensive audio equipment. Data from an Apple PowerMac is projected onto a glowing projection screen hanging limply from the ceiling.
A compact studio outfitted with all the basic computer editing equipment is also set up in Gelardin, in one of the former video-editing booths. Students who aren’t in any of Fair’s classes can sign up for a short training session for access to this equipment, according to Nick Brazzi, a Gelardin multimedia specialist.
The largest of the three studios occupies part of the basement of New North, left vacant after University Information Services moved across campus to St. Mary’s last fall. Drab burgundy carpeting and mismatched chairs remind one that this is Georgetown. The occasional cello case and music stand lean against the walls, but this unkempt interior is soon forgotten as Fair starts to speak. The ten students fixed their eyes on the projection screen as Fair reviewed one student’s project on the screen. “The flute is going to get completely squashed,” Fair said. “Why don’t we bring it up an octave?”
Though Georgetown is known more for its pre-professional programs than its arts, students have been exceptionally receptive to these new course offerings. Perhaps the integration of technology and music draws students, offering musician a chance to delve into the next level of their trade and providing those who don’t play an instrument a way to create music. “These classes are really one of the only outlets for students who are musically inclined but don’t already play the violin,” said Erik Eisile (SFS ‘04).
Hip-hop has grown up alongside music technology, allowing artists like Ashoka Mukpo (SFS ‘04) a whole new realm of expression. Hailing from a Rhode Island community of musicians, Mukpo is self-taught and very serious about his hobby. “We all grew up teaching each other how to use equipment, use the programs, just a lot of time kind of spent in front of a computer screen kind of tinkering around,” said Mukpo. After taking Fair’s Songwriting & MIDI class last semester, Mukpo now has an independent study with Fair.
“Fair really understands musicians and is willing to take his own time to explain to you how to use the equipment and to actually guide you to make you think better,” Mukpo said. Under Fair’s tutelage, Mukpo feels his music has improved remarkably.
While in the songwriting class, Mukpo produced a brief EP of his group’s songs. The other members would come down from New York or Rhode Island on weekends to record their parts, and the final product that emerged, though small, was well received. He takes his music very seriously, and does not plan on releasing anything else until he has perfected it.
After receiving his PhD from New York University in music, Fair began his teaching career there in the early ‘80s. There Fair split his time between accompanying modern dance performances on piano, constructing recording studios for NYU, and taking orchestration classes at Julliard. After working with some NYU filmmakers, Fair moved to Hollywood to see if he could compose film scores for the big screen.
The industry was harder to break into than he thought. He was able to work on some small feature films, but no big- budget Spielberg flicks. Fair found work composing music for several PBS documentaries, such as Jerusalem and Inside China: Off the Beaten Path, before discovering the world of sound editing was less cutthroat. Hired by Todd-AO, a Hollywood sound studio, Fair discovered he was skilled at post-production sound editing, received a nomination for an Emmy Award in 1995 for his work on the National Geographic film Siberian Tigers.
After half a decade in Los Angeles, Fair yearned for a change of pace. He moved back to the East Coast, becoming a freelance sound editor and mixer on the D.C.-based television series America’s Most Wanted.
When he discovered he missed his teaching days, he surveyed the area universities. Fair approached Georgetown professor Jose Bowen, director of music, with a proposal to teach sound editing classes.
“[Bowen] was very interested in my experience and offered me a chance to use it to build a couple of small studios and see if we’d have any interest from the students. We’d thought there’d be three or four interested students, but it kind of exploded. Now the classes are sort of waitlisted, which is flattering,” Fair said.
Fair was attracted to Georgetown over other area universities because the fact that the arts program was in a time of transition appealed to him.
“I liked the idea of sort of coming into something new and helping get it off the ground and getting it growing … When I approached Jose he thought it was a great idea, and said you know it’s a total experiment and it probably won’t work but lets give it a shot. And it did work. So it’s all good, as they say.”
Fair is astounded by the amount of musical talent he has observed at Georgetown. “People say, ‘uh, music people go to Julliard.’ I’m saying, God, you should see how much talent there is at this school. It’s phenomenal and nobody knows about it.”
Two years and three recording studios later, Fair is well-liked among his students. Of his laid-back teaching style, orchestration student Oliver Albertini (CAS ‘05) noted his penchant for humorous car or food related analogies. Sure enough, in class, Fair soon likened MIDI files to “a feast of sounds … I don’t know how else to put it.” He quickly follows this with an extended metaphor comparing digital audio to bread and MIDI audio to its ingredients.
Citing music technology as the fastest-growing curriculum among music departments nationwide, Fair said he expects the music technology program at Georgetown could double or triple. He also hopes to create a separate music technology major. Fair tempers this optimism with his awareness that the University’s and the music department’s financial woes might limit his dream.
Some “old school” musicians have criticized using digital audio and MIDI technology over traditional instruments to produce music. Fair doesn’t buy their purist argument about straying from music’s “natural” beginnings. “They say ‘it’s not normal; it’s not natural;’ but look at a piano. What’s natural about a piano? It’s wood and wire and plastic. The only natural instrument is the human voice—everything else is a construction,” said Fair.
A classically trained musician himself, Fair sees this new technology as simply a tool for creating music that should be utilized. “To me using the electronic aspect is not any more or less organic; it’s just another kind of tool that’s available to realize something,” Fair said. “Learn basic orchestration concepts and you’ll be able to use whatever’s available to you to make your music.”
Recreating a symphony using MIDI is comparatively less expensive than paying an entire orchestra for their time. Not to say that music technology also isn’t very expensive. A copy of Digidesign’s ProTools, the industry-standard sound editing package, may cost an institution such as Georgetown anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000.
Fair ’s interest in using computers and synthesizers to make his music grew out of a need for autonomy. No longer dependent on the schedule of an orchestra or a group of musicians, Fair can create scores at his leisure.
Most people don’t realize that most film scores today aren’t played by actual orchestras—they’re too expensive, according to Fair. With the exceptions of John Williams, James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith, most film scores today are made using samplers and synthesizers—chances are you can’t tell the difference, he said.
Overhearing a student working on a track, Fair asks, “Have you thought about adding another track in, even just a hand clap or some soft percussion?”
None of Fair’s students hold on to these “old school” beliefs—all embrace the digital age, as they’re taking a digital production class. “I think most of the students really enjoy using the technology too—a lot of them bring in their guitars and drums and then they’ll fill out their scores with samples and stuff,” said Fair.
Student enthusiasm for music technology is obvious everywhere around campus. Last fall, the Georgetown band Spacecamp spent almost 30 hours recording their eight track EP, Grog’d, in the bowels of Lauinger Library. Guitarist George Hwang (SFS ‘04) enrolled in Studio and Sound Editing in the fall of 2002 and was able to produce the tracks for his band while getting graded for it at the same time, and ended up spending over 60 hours producing it.
“I became really obsessed with it, being in the studio. I remember the first time we recorded, I was there 10 hours straight, and I didn’t leave for the bathroom, for a meal, anything. It was just compulsive,” Hwang said. He became so interested that he remastered the album in the studio over the summer.
Compulsive or not, Hwang’s efforts ultimately saved the band several thousand dollars in studio fees had they opted for the “professional” route. “Having the facilities here at Georgetown and not having to pay for time and equipment gives you the luxury of staying there as long as you want, making everything sound as good as you want it to and experimenting with new things,” said Hwang.
In D.C. over the summer, Hwang spent some time in the studio tweaking the album again. The record has been well received, and a Cleveland radio station is even playing some Spacecamp tracks on the air. Though the other four members of the band graduated and relocated, Hwang said the band is “on hiatus,” and they hope to together to play some shows in D.C. in the future.
As for the quality of the studio itself, Hwang had nothing to compare it to until he visited some “real” studios over the summer. With this new perspective, he thinks the Gelardin studio is “good for the lack of space that we have and definitely a place where you can learn that you can learn enough, but I definitely wouldn’t say it’s up to industry standard for studios—though not by far.”
Hwang is spending his hiatus practicing in the new facilities in the Southwest Quadrangle with a new band, Back in Athens. Hwang preregistered for this spring’s Song Writing & MIDI class. If he gets in, he hopes to do some production work for other bands that have approached him. Hwang’s 22 and he’s already the next Nigel Godrich.
Like many in Fair’s classes, Alejandro Salomon (MSB ‘04) is an experienced musician. Salomon has recorded two previous albums in professional studios; the first with his band in his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico and the second solo while studying abroad last spring in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Salomon is well aware of the high costs of recording in a studio. “There’s a lab fee for the class, but it’s nothing compared to what you would pay in a private studio,” Salomon said.
While Salomon’s experience recording in Mexico was largely positive and successful, in Brazil, the quality of the final product was not of the caliber you would expect when dealing with professional producers. By learning more about production technique himself, Salomon will learn what to look for in a future producer, if he seeks one.
A prolific songwriter, Salomon relishes this chance to directly involve himself in the production process. By the end of the semester, he hopes to have four songs completed, which he hopes will be more innovate than his previous work. Salomon has spent this time in the studio freely experimenting with different rhythms and sounds—he is exploring reggae, salsa, afro-brasilian, funk, and rock beats.
The XP-30 synthesizer in the Gelardin studio is a key tool for producing MIDI files. The synthesizer itself holds over 3840 sounds, and more can be patched in using the PC sampler, Kontakt, anything you could possibly fathom hearing-from hip-hop drums to “Voices of Istanbul.” MIDI production allows sounds to be patched in and replaced, while preserving the actual notes. This allows the producer an extensive amount of control, essentially being able to manipulate every single sound independently. Fair considers MIDI production as valid as any other method of creating music: at the essence, the music, not the ethod, is all that counts. “I liken a MIDI to a typewriter. It’s like writing a novel, it doesn’t matter if you use a typewriter, a computer, or a pencil initially, as long as you get it down,” Fair said as he flipped switches on the XP-30 synthesizer.
“This keyboard came to us via student that left it here. He keeps e-mailing me asking if I want to buy it, but we don’t have the money right now,” Fair related to his Studio and Sound Editing class one afternoon.
If anything is lacking in this classroom, it certainly isn’t talent. Money however, has been and will continue to be a problem for the studio classes. Regular investment in the program is needed to keep the technology current. “It just takes funding, I mean we’re starting small but growing exponentially, I’m kind of like the only person right now so I’m wearing a lot of hats—I’m trying to make the program go without passing out. And sometimes the equipment misbehaves,” said Fair.
Fair is realistic but vigilant in his quest for funding, recognizing that the slumping economy and University bureaucracy are tricky to navigate. His first set of students successfully petitioned Dean Jane McAuliffe of the College for more funding. McAuliffe quickly responded to the petition, granting the program a few thousand dollars that paid for some essential equipment.
“I’ve been screaming from the mountaintops about it but they told me to calm down so I said okay,” Fair chuckled. While he may be proceeding a bit more quietly about his desires in the future, there is no silencing the students who are also clamoring for improvements in funding.
Mukpo views the studios in their current state as adequate, but with the great amount of interest students have been showing, the administration should respond positively. “Obviously nobody’s expecting a million-dollar recording studio, but I think that there’s always room for extension,” he said.
Hwang, who has been involved with the studio since its first semester, noted the progress that has been made. “From the first semester to now we’ve actually come pretty far, we have a whole new production studio that’s right over there in McNeir area, that’s a pretty big stride … but I don’t know how much further it’s going to go.” He insists, however, that “student demand should be important enough so they can consider maybe doing some more about this.”
Bowen believes that Fair’s classes and the recording studios are taking Georgetown’s music program in the right direction, towards Bowen’s goal of an increased emphasis on pop, modern and American music. He maintains the caveat that while money may be scarce, building the production program remains a priority.
Despite budgetary woes, Fair remains very excited about student talent, and it is doubtful he will stop lobbying for expansion anytime soon. “There’s just so much talent, it’s so exciting to work with the students-they’re enthusiastic and creative … even if most of them go on to law school or go into government or something like that, the arts are a great creative outlet for them.”
The studio provides students like Mukpo with a much needed haven from stress, where he can drop beats and escape reality. “I think that for a lot of students who are in programs that don’t allow a lot of creative expression, the studio is a very, very therapeutic place for us, it provides us a place for a creative energy we wouldn’t necessarily have otherwise.”
