Professor's Efforts Expand Recording Opportunities for Students

CD Production Was an Unusual Learning Experience for Student Composers

by Anne C. Paine

The idea had been bouncing around the Conservatory's Division of Contemporary Music for some time, but in the spring of 2000, it landed squarely on Tom Lopez's desk.

The idea? To produce a compact disc of works composed by students.

"Its time had come," said Lopez, a 1989 Oberlin graduate and assistant professor of computer music and digital arts in the technology in music and related arts (TIMARA) department. "A few faculty members in the division had been thinking about it for some time, and it suddenly erupted. We made an initial proposal to the dean and that jump-started it all."

A full year in production, the CD - titled Aural Capacity by the students - was released last May and contains eight decidedly contemporary works by student composers. A committee of faculty members oversaw the project, but Lopez took on the day-to-day responsibility of keeping the project on schedule.

One of the most exciting aspects for the student composers involved, said Lopez, was the chance to work with professional recording engineer Paul Zinman '84, founder and owner of SoundByte Productions, Inc., an independent audio services company in New York. Zinman has worked for many major classical labels, as well as for the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, Richard Goode, the Kronos Quartet, and Dawn Upshaw.

Zinman recorded and mastered three of the works on the CD in the TIMARA department's recording studio in the Conservatory basement; he recorded the tracks for a fourth work in Warner Concert Hall and the TIMARA facility. For the remaining pieces -one of which had been previously recorded and three of which are electronic compositions requiring no instrumental performers -Zinman provided mastering services.

The students learned that a recording engineer's view of good music can differ sharply from their own.

"The composers sat with Paul during the recording sessions, and they got to help him choose which takes to use," said Lopez. "Paul guided them through this process. It can be easy for students to get attached to the notes they write, and if the performers don't play exactly those notes, or they miss a few, the composer may think that's not the best take. But Paul was able to hear it differently. There were situations where he would say, 'Well, they didn't get all the notes, but the music here is better.'"

Jim Altieri '02, a double degree student majoring in composition and geology and whose work "thirty-two feet per second per second" is included on the CD, agreed that the experience was eye-opening.

"Watching Zinman work was fascinating because I was able to see how far removed classical recordings are from the actual live performance. Hundreds of edits go into a substantial work," Altieri said.

The Division of Contemporary Music anticipates that Aural Capacity will be the first in a series of such recordings to be released every other year. Dean Robert Dodson, whose office funded the project, emphasized the importance of recording experience for students.

"In the last few decades, the recording studio has emerged as powerful competition for and supplement to the stage, and it can be expected that musicians will increasingly rely on recorded media to reach their audiences. Proficiency in the use of recorded media is an important component in preparing young professionals for lives in music," Dodson said. Having high quality recordings of their works will also help students build their portfolios as they move into graduate school or professional careers, he added. The students learned a great deal, but so did he, Lopez said.

"I hadn't carried a CD project from idea to shrink-wrapped product before, and it was a joy. But it will be easier next time," he laughed. "Who knows? Maybe five years from now we'll be doing DVDs!"