“This lab has far

exceeded our

expectations.”

Rural College Hits The Right High-Tech Notes

The horse-drawn Amish buggies clacking through the streets of New Wilmington, PA provide a sharp contrast to Westminster College’s newly renovated Music Technology Lab. More than 100 music students now have $150,000 of the best equipment at their fingertips—and sixteen Yamaha Clavinova CVP103 digital pianos and one Clavinova CVP107 digital piano, installed by Trombino Music Centers in Pittsburgh and Yamaha specialist Dennis Stanfill, are the backbone of the department of music’s first “smart” classroom.

Other components include a projector and screen; ELMO document reader; VCR; MIDI, CD, laser disk and cassette capabilities; numerous software programs; and a computer and a powerful T1 line (with both Westminster network and Internet access) installed at each station for fast satellite linkup. Six full-time music faculty members and 20 adjunct music professors use the room for piano instruction, theory and ear training, as well as composition, recording, and sound editing.

“Multimedia, to me, used to mean playing a record while writing on the chalkboard,” music department chair Dr. Grover Pitman admits with a laugh. But the decision to renovate the college’s existing facility was simple: “We needed music technology,” he says. “This lab has far exceeded our expectations.”

“The students just love to do lab work,” exclaims assistant professor of music Nancy Zipay DeSalvo. “The Clavinova digital pianos are very versatile. There are so many options, including the use of disks,” she says, referring to the Clavinovas’ recording capabilities. “The students love the sound effects and found them before I did. They’re really up on the technology.”

DeSalvo says the Clavinovas are especially useful for ear training. “I slip a disk into the piano and record exercises so the students can practice ear training drills,” she says. “We do a lot of classwork at the keyboard, which is very convenient. There’s just no comparison to the old electric piano lab system we had before. The Clavinova digital pianos are very creative instruments.”

“The students are very enthusiastic, which is a good thing because it makes them want to play all the time,” she adds. “And the more they play, the better they’ll get.”

U.S. News & World Report consistently awards high marks to Westminster: the magazine’s “2001 Guide To America’s Best Colleges” cited the liberal arts college as one of the country’s best in enhancing the educational achievement of its students.

Dr. Nancy Zipay DeSalvo (standing,back row) instructs students at Westminster College’s new Music Technology Lab