As comes every semester, students and music makers on campus were able to showcase their talents in the Music Tech Concert Thursday, November 7th. In a more intimate atmosphere than usual, the concert took place on the stage between Carrick theater and Haggin Auditorium. The space was turned into a black box with the curtains becoming insulation, soaking up the sound and immersing the audience in the music performances and multimedia productions. The lights overhead allowed you to feel like you’re inside of the music and a part of the show.
The set up included “four speakers surrounding the audience for an engaging quadraphonic sound experience. Three rows of digitally controlled lights, capable of changing color and rhythm… and a fog machine to enhance the lighting effects. Additionally… a slightly raised platform in front of the projection screen, ensuring all performers are clearly visible,” Digital Arts and Media director Timothy Polashek explains. Class assignments and personal projects alike, the students are allowed a great opportunity to show off their works using these technologies.
To start off the concert, Matthew Armstrong, Carson Calico, and Gabe Helgerson performed a piece by sitting in front of the audience playing sounds and distorting them live, each of them with iPads. Later in the show, Gabe Helgerson came back on stage to do a piece where he sang into the microphone and his voice echoed and repeated throughout the space by using settings on his laptop, layering and building the sound.
Carson Calico’s “The Wind Forest”, used four speakers surrounding the audience in front and behind to create a surround sound experience. He used instruments such as the flute to mimic sounds of nature for his song, in addition to video visuals to represent different seasons of the year. Others had their songs just through audio, showing the soundwaves of the song as it played. Student Nicholas Neagle took advantage of this visual, creating images of a Garfield comic strip with the waves in the piece “Now Where Could My Pipe Be?“
The concert overall was a great display of student talent, with a wide array of genres and mediums. As a student who was in the show and has taken the Music Tech class, I highly suggest becoming involved if this is something you’re interested in. If you’re interested in listening to or watching some of these student pieces, check out this website and be sure to come to the other Music Technology and student events throughout the school year!
