Collegiate Times

An independent acoustic singer-songwriter from Manassas, Va., Craig Harmon has been heavily involved in the local music scene since his teenage years after picking up the guitar at age 12. After performing with a number of bands around the area such as The Wrong Reasons, Three Years My Junior, and Underlined, he recently broke away from group work to solely perform acoustic sets. His music can be described in one word as "honest," as different sounds and genres bridge the gap of musical exploration from song to song.

Click here for a behind the scenes look at the Virginia Tech recording studio. (Photo Gallery)

"I had thought about majoring in music technology for a while," Harmon, a senior English major, said. "The music department didn't offer guitar as a primary instrument, so I decided to take the full music technology course sequence as electives."

The music department has an inclusive curriculum, providing classes for Introduction to Music Technology, Audio Technology for Music, Computer Music and Multimedia Design, Music and Media Production, Soundtrack and Effects Composition, Linux and Multimedia, Composition Lessons and independent, specialized studies.

In an effort to help students understand the available technologies for music composition, recording, performance and production, Tech's Music Department offers both 50- and 78-hour degree options focusing on recording and production, all with available technological resources. The program also boasts an outstanding faculty to student ratio.

"There is certainly a personalized touch when it comes to learning about music technology," Harmon said. "Of course, there is a substantial amount of hands-on work, but having all the faculty resources really complements creative aspects."

Founded by Ivaca Ico Bukvic, the Digital Interactive Sound and Intermedia Studio, created in response to the university-wide Collaborative for Creative Technologies in the Arts and Design, is a revolutionary studio that has 12 silent, high performance machines, state of the art 8.2 Genelec surround systems and an Audio Vision HC display. This all comes complete with soundproof rooms and experimental sensors. The studio is also co-located with the Cyber-arts studio, which offers more than 2,000 square feet of additional exploratory space.

The recording studio and DISIS computer lab are currently being leased. However, the equipment design installation and wiring of the facilities was done by previous department head John Husser and Michael Dunston.

Placing a dollar amount on the total cost of the studio would be difficult at best, Dunston said.

"Over the last 10-plus years our music technology program has largely been developed with whatever resources John Husser and myself could provide ourselves, including substantial personal time,
to minimize the actual costs to the department and university as much as possible," Dunston said.

The cost of the equipment invested in the facilities and programs easily breaks $275,000.

"Keep in mind this was never a single purchase, but rather achieved through slowly building the program over a 10-to-12 year span," Dunston said. "In addition, as is unfortunately common with digital technology, things end up being replaced as they fail beyond viable repair or become seriously outdated. In that regard, there have been additional investments between $50,000 and $70,000 over the last decade in equipment that we no longer currently have. It is worth noting that many things, such as expensive microphones, hold their value and are usable for many, many years."

The DISIS computer lab, funded by the Music Department, Collaborative for Creative Technologies in the Arts and Design, and the Art department, contains roughly $100,000 in equipment.

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