Coleman 1 THE CROSS-GENRE BENEFITS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC INSTRUCTION IN THE COLLEGIATE MUSIC PRODUCTION AND ENGINEERING CLASSROOM ____________________________________ A Thesis Presented to The Honors Tutorial College Ohio University _______________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation from the Honors Tutorial College with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Communication ______________________________________ by Elizabeth G. Coleman May 2020 Coleman 2 This thesis has been approved by The Honors Tutorial College and the School of Media Arts and Studies _________________________________ Josh Antonuccio Professor, Media Arts and Studies Thesis Adviser _________________________________ Beth Novak Director of Studies, Media Arts and Studies _________________________________ Dr. Donal Skinner Dean, Honors Tutorial Colleg Coleman 3 CONTENTS Introduction…………………………………………………………………….………...4 Review of Literature………………………………………………………….….………..5 A Whole New Mind and Range……………………………………………….…16 Review of Survey Results………………………………………………………….…….17 The Cross-Genre Benefits of Classical Music………………………………….……..20 Music Proficiency > Tech Proficiency…………………………….…………………….21 Learning to Listen……………………………………………………………….……….26 Exposure Reduces Fear……………………………………………………..……………30 Cross-Genre Influences in the Billboard Top 200 of 2019……………………………………..………………..31 Communication is Key…………………………………………………………………..36 Hypothetical Course Outline……………………………………….………………….38 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………46 Works Cited…………………………………………………….……………………….49 Coleman 4 Introduction About a year ago, I was sitting in the mastering studio during the lab section of my mixing and mastering class. My classmates and I were sharing the results of our first project, which had involved taking a session recorded in class during the previous semester and applying the mixing concepts we had just learned. As I listened to my classmates’ rock, punk, and funk sessions, I started to sweat—what were they going to think of my project, a short ragtime piece played by the School of Music’s graduate woodwind quintet? I had never noticed any of my classmates express interest in classical music, and I was worried that they would be put off by the genre, or think that I was trying too hard to stand out. I cringed through the 2.5 minutes of my recording and waited for the sighs and rolling eyes. Instead what I got was bobbing heads, tapping feet, giggles at the humorous orchestration, and an overwhelmingly positive reaction at the end. I heard, “That was so cool!” and “Wow, I’ve never heard that kind of music before, I really liked it.” One of my classmates said, “That’s cool that you did a different kind of group. I would never know what to do with that kind of music in post-production.” Our next project asked that we trade sessions with someone in the class so that we could practice mixing other people’s work, and someone else told me jokingly, “I hope I don’t get yours. I’d be completely lost.” While I was mostly feeling very gratified that they were able to connect to the music that I was sharing, I was also a little bit discouraged. How was it that my classmates, people that I knew had amazingly wide-ranging music tastes and some of whom were already plugged into the music industry, had never encountered an Coleman 5 instrumental ensemble before? I was glad that I had introduced to them to something that they enjoyed, but what if I hadn’t chosen to record a woodwind quintet for that project? Would they still be continuing on unaware of an entire genre of music? What stuck with me the most were the words of the people who professed that they wouldn’t know what to do if they were given a product like mine to work on. I disliked the thought of my classmates losing out on opportunities because of a gap in their knowledge or confidence, or never finding their passions just due to a lack of exposure. Several times leading up to that moment, and many times after, it occurred to me while in music production classes that the thing we were learning about in a popular example could just as easily have been illustrated using a classical example. A few other times, I thought that the topic at hand would have been better exemplified in classical music than in pop. Bringing classical music into the general college-level music production and engineering classroom benefits all students, even those who do not intend to work in the classical music industry. Doing so provides a multi-genre approach to the instruction and acquisition of necessary skills and takes advantage of classical music as a tool to build general music proficiency. Review of Literature Music proficiency is a pivotal skill for music production and engineering (P&E) students. Music proficiency lacks a single definition; it is an abstract idea with a multitude of applications. For the purposes of this paper, I am using the term in accordance with Bielmeier and Gordon, who define music proficiency as an overarching concept referring the knowledge of “tuning, intonation or pitch, key awareness (or lack of), rhythmic challenges, groove or playing in the pocket, improvisation, arranging or Coleman 6 composing on the spot, and language or musical slang” and the ability to address those things with musicians (Bielmeier and Gordon). This definition encompasses the need for both direct knowledge of musical concepts, such as tuning and pitch, as well are more general abilities like communication and critical listening. Bielmeier and Gordon provide the only discussion of teaching musical proficiency in audio production program that is both thorough and reasonably up-to-date, having been published in 2017. In their article “A Musician’s Engineer: Best Practices For Teaching Music Proficiency At Formal Audio Recording And Production Programs In The USA,” the authors conducted a survey of twenty-five US Audio Recording and Production (ARP) programs. They collected their data through direct communication with the educators involved with those programs in order to explore the idea that “a career in the commercial audio industry requires expert technical, musical, and artistic skills to gain competence in specialized areas that support a productive recording environment” (Bielmeier and Gordon). This is a statement made independent of genre or even professional focus, assuming that “commercial audio industry” encapsulates both production and engineering in any audio-oriented field; the authors argue that any ARP/P&E must have a foundation of skills on which they can rely in any recording situation and on which they can build further skills and learning experiences. The authors found that while the majority of educators believed it important for their students to be musically proficient, few programs specifically concentrated on building the skill in an explicit and specific manner. However, educators indicated that music proficiency was still fostered, as tenets of music proficiency were integrated into classroom exercises, learning-by-doing style: “the enhancement of musical and technical Coleman 7 skills was achieved by integrating musical elements, skills, and proficiencies within coursework and assignments.” The authors’ analysis of survey data and its meaning elaborates on this idea, honing in on the central idea of critical listening: In lieu of music performance and theory classes, experiential learning environments are critical. While musical proficiency is not the focus for many institutions’ curricula in the USA, the importance of listening exercises with a “multi-dimensional” approach is key in both critical listening training and musical “perception” (Swanson, 2013). Critically listening to music allows students to develop comprehension, interpretation, assemble contexts, and focus on multiple levels (Corey, 2010). (Bielmeier and Gordon). The article also emphasizes the relative lack of importance of genre when it comes to music proficiency, or rather, the situation of music proficiency above the specifications of genre: The study of music genre and style awareness builds music proficiency (Reba, 2010). Students should engage in listening assignments, presentations, discussions, and lectures that draw from a variety of genre and style. Music proficiency includes being fluent in a variety of genre and styles that aid in the complex interactions between creative individuals (Ratterman, 2013). (Bielemeier and Gordon) This touches on a few important ideas regarding the study of multiple genres: first, that it improves overall music proficiency, and second, that it assists navigation through situations that involve the influence of multiple genres. Bielmeier and Gordon conclude that music proficiency is generally considered to be integral to an ARP/P&E curriculum, but that instruction in the topic is widely varied and there are no established standards or curriculum. They call for the creation of a specific resource to aid educators in the instruction of music proficiency, which would have the additional benefit of encouraging more programs to integrate music proficiency into their curriculum, which would in turn “aid in the development of well-rounded recording engineers seeking employment in the audio industry” (Bielmeier and Gordon). Coleman 8 Draper also addresses the acquisition of music proficiency as an ideal result of “artistic research.” Draper examines the process of learning to be a producer as a process of artistic research, which includes a variety of learning outcomes, such as critical