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Technology Resources

Baylor School of Music is committed to providing outstanding technology resources for use by students and faculty alike. These resources include "smart" classrooms that are home to the latest technology, recording and MIDI studios accessible to students and faculty, video-conferencing facilities, a first rate music library collection, and a host of other elements that aid and support our students in their studies.

The Piano Laboratory Program

The Piano Laboratory Program offers piano classes for elementary school age children with emphasis on musicianship, sight- reading, ear training, creative activities and performance through the use of state-of-the-art keyboard and computer technology, alongside with traditional acoustic pianos.

There are 8 touch-sensitive 88-key Yamaha Clavinova electronic keyboards for student use, a teacher instrument equipped with an auto-accompaniment hardware sequencer for technology-aided instruction. In addition, there are 3 graduate assistant teaching studios, each of which is equipped with a digital piano and hardware sequencer.

Piano Labs

The Baylor University School of Music employs two state-of-the-art electronic keyboard classrooms/laboratories for use by secondary piano students and piano pedagogy majors. Each classroom is provided with 10 touch-sensitive 88-key Yamaha Clavinova electronic keyboards for student use, a teacher instrument equipped with an auto-accompaniment hardware sequencer for technology-aided instruction, and a key/note visualizer for demonstration.

One of the classrooms is designed as an after-hours MIDI laboratory intended for student sequencing projects and technology-aided practice. Each of the ten electronic keyboards in this facility is outfitted with a General MIDI hardware sequencer. Custom-produced MIDI materials on floppy disk are available to aid students in the development of their keyboard skills.

META Lab

The Music Educational Technology Applications Lab is a 12-station student lab located on the 3rd floor of Moody Library. It is open during Library hours. Each station features a G3 Macintosh computer with a Kawai K11 General MIDI compatible 5-octave keyboard. Students use the lab for notation and sequencing software, for theory and aural skills tutorials, as well as for email and access to the Internet via Netscape. The METALab is often used as a teaching facility with its integrated teacher station, which includes a projection system, VCR, and cassette deck. The lab is used by all freshman students for Music Theory for assignments in both ear training and notation projects. Courses in music technology and Internet research also meet in the Lab on a regular basis.

Software contained in the METALab includes: Finale, Sibelius, Netscape, MIBAC Music Lessons, Auralia, MacGAMUT, Explorations, HyperCard -- Music Theory Tutor & Well-Tempered Ear, MusciShop, AudioShop, Band-in-a-Box, and MusicTime among others.

MIDI Lab

The MIDI Lab (MIDI is a common acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a single station state-of-the-art digital music lab. It is used as a satellite room for teaching both the Introduction to MIDI Applications and the Electronic Studio courses. It is also used in teaching students who elect to take advanced applied MIDI courses after they have completed the Introduction course. The Lab is open at all times to students who are enrolled in one of the technology courses.

The MIDI Lab is built around a Macintosh G3, which includes the following software: Vision, MusicShop, AudioShop, Finale, Performer, Galaxy Plus, HyperStudio, Band-in-a-Box, and SmartMusic Studio among others. An Opcode Studio 5 multi-port interface is used to coordinate a variety of controllers (keyboard, wind and percussion) with the sampler, 5 different synthesizer modules, 2 drum machines, and 3 different effect units or sound processors, and several different alternate (wind & percussion) controllers. A multi-track cassette deck, Tascam DAT recorder, and Alesis ADAT are used for recording, and are interfaced with the Hearn Recording Studio next door.

MERC

The Music Education Resource Center is a technology lab and extension of the Music Education Library, and the soon-to-be-completed distance learning facility. The 5 station lab includes 3 Macintosh G4 computers, 2 Dell PC-compatible computers, and a mobile cart with a G4, projector, and audio/video equipment. Two of the student computer stations have a Kawai K11 General MIDI 5-octave keyboard. The other stations are used for multimedia and CD-ROM interactive programs. One station is designated as the central workstation, and has a flatbed scanner attached. There is also video and digital camera equipment available. Using this equipment, music education students are able to peruse music and multimedia software, and develop their own multimedia presentations and projects.

HEARN RECORDING STUDIO

The Hearn Recording Studio and technical staff support the needs of Baylor University. The studio is linked to three different performance and rehearsal halls in the McCrary Music Building: Jones Concert Hall - a one thousand seat concert hall; Meadows Recital Hall - a two hundred seat performance/lecture space; and the instrumental rehearsal hall - a room that mirrors the size of the Jones Concert Hall stage.

The studio's console is the MTA series 980 40 X 24 equipped with Flying Faders. There are four Alesis ADAT machines, for a total of 32 channels of multitrack capability. Panasonic 3700 and 3800 DAT machines are used for mix-down and two track recording. Microphones are by Neumann, AKG, MicroTech Gefell, Sennheiser, Shure, and AudioTechnica. There is also a digital editing and CD mastering system by Micro Sound, Micro Technology, Unlimited. Monitor speakers were custom built for the studio by Bob Neil of Visalia, California. Near field monitoring speakers is a pair of Yamaha NS 10M.

The Hearn Studio records as many as 400 events annually. All undergraduate and graduate recitals, faculty recitals, faculty ensembles, student ensembles, audition and competition recordings, as well as CD projects by the faculty are all part of the studio's function as part of the Baylor Music School.

The recording facilities and equipment were made possible through a gift from Billy Ray Hearn, and a grant from the Sparrow Foundation.