On November 4, 2014, Houghton College and the Greatbatch School of Music received approval from the New York State Department of Education to offer a Music Industry degree. This degree, launching in the fall of 2015, will prepare students to enter the field of music. Kevin Jackson, the director of technical arts and music industry instructor at Houghton said, “The goal of the new Music Industry major is to open more doors of opportunity for students after graduation while still maintaining high standards of musical excellence and technical facility, creativity, applied knowledge and spiritual growth as part of a student’s experience at Houghton.”
Instruction will be given in almost every aspect of the industry starting with a solid understanding of music, for which the Greatbatch School of Music is already widely known. From there, students will take courses in music business, music technology, live sound production, studio recording and music production preparing them for jobs such as music technology, production, business, publishing, recording and broadcast engineering, artist booking and tour management, film and video game composition, and performance law.
Students pursuing the new bachelor’s degree will have access to some of the top instructors and equipment currently in the industry. Matt Odmark, acoustic guitar player and founding member of the well known Christian rock band, Jars of Clay, will be joining as an adjunct instructor for an upcoming Music Production Analysis class. It’s scheduled to be offered sometime next year. “We are fortunate to have a person like Matt interested in Houghton, especially with the wealth of experience and connections he brings to the college,” said Jackson, “When Jars of Clay played here a couple of years ago, Matt expressed great interest in partnering with us and caught the vision of what we were attempting to accomplish. He followed up by guest lecturing one of the Pro Tools classes that year.”
The college has also invested about $80,000 in a new music technology lab. This lab is equipped with twenty student stations and a teacher station equipped with the latest Mac computers, M-Audio controller keyboards, PreSonus recording interfaces as well as the latest recording and composing software — Pro Tools 11, Sibelius 7.5 and Ableton Live 9.
“We now have one of the best studios in upstate New York — and one of the most extensive microphone lockers and outboard gear collections. If you visited a top-notch studio in Nashville, Los Angeles or New York City, you would find that we own the same equipment here at Houghton,” said Jackson. “This benefits the students in that it allows the students the ability to practice their craft on the same gear that professionals are using every single day in professional recording and post-production studios worldwide.”
The department is currently waiting for degree approval from the National Association of Schools of Music, an organization Greatbatch has been a part of since 1947. Nate Floyd, a junior and music major, plans on switching to the new major as soon as possible. “It’s dealing with the industry in a real way. Professor Jackson has real world experience and uses it in the classroom,” he said. “In that way we are leaning what’s actually happening in the field, not some idealistic version of it.”
The coursework of the major is built to give students an in-depth understanding of the industry as a whole which makes them prime candidate for jobs in the field. Classes such as Introduction to Pro Tools and Pro Tools Production 1 will give the students hands-on experience with Avid Pro Tools, the most widely used recording software in the professional audio world. After completion of the course, students then have the opportunity to become Pro Tools certified. This certification allows future employers to see a student is a skilled Pro Tools user. Other courses like Sound Design and Processing for Film, TV and Video Games, and Introduction to Film Music will focus on broader topics like compiling and creating sound effects and composition for film, TV, and video games. Music industry majors will also complete courses such as Recording and Studio Technique, Music Production Analysis, Advanced Music Production, and Critical Listening and the Art of Mixing.
First year student, Aaron Campbell, first came to Houghton hoping to pursue degrees in both business and vocal performance, but found the classically grounded music program was not exactly what he was looking for. “Ideally I want to compose and produce music and so music industry is a better fit for me. The music industry major offers in-depth training in almost every aspect of musical recording and production as well as many others,” he said. “Also it compliments my business major to create a stronger degree. The training in the music industry program opens up new opportunities and provides viable skill sets for jobs with a realistic chance of employment.”
Jackson has personally been working on the degree for about eight years. He said, “It started with dreaming, praying, asking questions and then vision casting.” The first step was to offer a practicum in sound and recording class, which trains Houghton’s student tech team who run sound and provide other tech support at many of the events around the campus. Around three years later Houghton started offering Pro Tools classes, these classes were the foundation of what would eventually become the music industry degree.
“I believe we have one of the best music industry programs in the country. There are many reasons for that, including our internships with industry professionals in Nashville, New York, and Los Angeles. The recording studio and brand new music technology lab here at the college and our faculty who are world class,” Jackson concluded. “Not just in all things music technology, but in their respective musical fields. When you combine all of the above together, you have a program that is based on musical and technological excellence.”
The concept of the From Islands to Cathedrals tour is to walk the audience through the entire story of Tenth Avenue North and their music. “Starting real stripped down we will add band members and instruments building bigger and bigger as the story is told,” explained Donehey. Tenth Ave.’s four albums are linear and inform each other in meaningful, philosophical ways. The first album is a call to the Gospel. The next two albums encourage Christians to engage their struggles honestly and courageously and to help each other through life. In Islands, which is a companion of the upcoming full length album, Cathedrals, Tenth Avenue North discusses the ways Christians isolate themselves from community; the last track of the EP, “Just Getting By” speaks about living in an increasingly digitally influenced world. The focus of the music then shifts from isolation to the goodness and importance of being in community with one another. Donehey explained, “Once we become a community we become a place of sanctuary. We no longer have to wait for a sacred space or vocation. We make our vocations sacred. We make every place we walk into sacred because the Spirit of God walks with us wherever we go.” Tenth Avenue North has a distinctly Christ-centered, authentic, uplifting approach to music that a lot of people really enjoy.
While the campus has waited expectantly for this great performance there has been a flood of activity behind the scenes among Houghton College students and faculty working to make the concert possible. Months of planning and detailing involving many offices has lead up to this Saturday’s performance. However, tomorrow the band itself will mainly be supported by Houghton College’s student audio tech team. Professor Jackson who oversees the team said, “Our job as a college and as a tech team is to make the band’s job as easy as possible- that is, to able to minister that night. We are able to do the work of Christ by helping bands like Tenth Avenue North be better musicianaries. I can’t be successful in my job unless the team comes through and the team always comes through.” Concerts like this Saturday’s are not only a chance for the campus to experience meaningful worship, but also an opportunity for many in the student body to serve alongside a successful worship band to achieve a high goal.