Matt Odmark – Houghton STAR

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.”

On Tuesday, January 29, Grammy award winning, Gibson guitar titlist of 2005 and platinum recording artist Matt Odmark arrived at Houghton, not to stage a show or book a gig, but to teach a class. Odmark came to campus of his own volition and at his own financial expense to lecture during one of Houghton professor Kevin Jackson’s Pro Tools sessions, and the student response was overwhelming.

“The place was packed,” said Jackson, including attendance by his students, students from other disciplines, and even three area high schoolers. The question and answer segment in particular was so engaging that it lasted one hour beyond the designated stopping point without Jackson ever having to resort to his written stack of preconceived prompts. Odmark’s main focus was the concept of creative listening and what it means to genuinely and actively absorb, process, and be attentive to a song.
“He talked about what it means to really listen to music, something so deeply personal that it should be treated with extreme respect,” said Jackson. Odmark addressed the importance of “understanding the weight of music” and that the practice of “listening in that way is a sacred act.”

Odmark challenged students to “visualize” and internalize the music in a unique way, imbuing it with meaning specific to the individual. He urged the students to respect a body of music by interacting with it in full.

“Now…more and more, people use songs for playlists or background music, instead of absorbing the full collection or album as a complete work of art,” said Jackson. “We break music into pockets and the effect is like lopping a painting.”

Odmark also elaborated on the need to consider music as more than formulaic technique or advanced rendering of sound, namely as a relatable expression of the artist that is applicable the audience.
Senior Dan Austin said he enjoyed listening to a song that Odmark played not from the standpoint of a record critic, but from that of a participant in the emotive energy of the song and the feeling of the music.

“We didn’t have to worry about how the song was mixed, but what images and reactions it evoked,” said Austin. “You can pick apart a song from the technical side to make it more cohesive, more marketable, catchier, or more radio-friendly, but ultimately it’s about communication and there’s something to approaching a song with a certain amount of reverence.”
Austin also appreciated Odmark’s sincerity and willingness to make himself available to Houghton students.

“Matt is a minor celebrity who drove to Houghton in a minivan on his own dime and then thanked us for allowing him to interrupt our class time,” said Austin. “I mean this is a man who has been heard by millions of people, yet he doesn’t act like a rock star.”

Senior Nick Cannistraci agreed. “I was uncertain of where Matt was going at first, but as he spoke it became apparent that he really loves music. It was comfortable talking with him, because he’s just a humble, normal person. “He made himself vulnerable to us and it gave me a new way of looking at music,” said Cannistraci.
Jackson also commented on Odmark’s character; he said, “He truly has the scholar-servant attitude and mindset that we strive for at Houghton.”

When Jars of Clay performed at the college this past October the band set up all of their own equipment, exchanged tips with the student sound technicians, and took a strong interest in Jackson’s vision for the Houghton sound and recording department. After the concert, Odmark began communicating with Jackson via e-mail and phone conversations concerning the fruition of Jackson’s ambitions for the department and immediately consented to teach one session of Jackson’s Pro Tools class.

“Events like this create momentum and validate what we are trying to accomplish,” said Jackson, who has proposed some exciting major changes to the current structure of his music program.
Jackson is pleased to say that Odmark is offering the chance for Houghton students in the coming years to intern with Jars of Clay in Nashville for a period of two to three weeks over winter break or even a full three months. This experience will give sound and recording students the unparalleled opportunity to witness firsthand the inner operations of the professional music industry through the guidance of an acclaimed Christian band. Houghton students have the extremely rare possibility of being temporary apprentices to the man who won the Gibson Guitar Award over nominees like Bob Dylan.

To Jackson it’s unbelievably evident that “God has had his hand in all of this” and he cannot wait to see how the overarching vision will grow and materialize through connections such as Matt Odmark and others who are willing to invest in Houghton’s potential.