Music Department Completes Newly Redesigned Piano Lab

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The Department of Music in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences has finished the first semester with its newly redesigned piano lab. The instructional lab has been a part of the music core curriculum for decades, but this semester marked the first significant overhaul of its equipment since the 1990s. Over two hundred students take group piano classes for both music major and non-major levels in the 16-seat classroom each semester. The new equipment is state-of-the-art and will provide years of top instruction for future razorbacks interested in piano.

Miroslava Panayotova, the organizer of the new lab, worked tirelessly on the modernization of the classroom, which was funded and made possible by department administration and the Fulbright College dean's office. Panayotova described the new lab as being "a learning environment in which students feel inspired to pursue abundant creative possibilities. With the present and future of music so profoundly influenced by music technology, the new piano laboratory is a dream come true — a superb renovation, which has immensely enriched the learning and teaching capacities for both our students and our faculty."

Panayotova sai, "We owe our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Ronda Mains, who firmly believed in the potential of a vision and brought it to life, and to Dean Todd Shields, whose generous contributions have enabled the Department of Music to be innovative in so many ways and to enhance its prestige and visibility."

Chris Clanton, assistant director of technology at the Fulbright College, was instrumental in the development of the lab as a whole. Panayotova remarked that Clanton "took an imaginary project and brought it to the highest level by increasing its scope and size to what it is now — an imaginative reality."

Ronda Mains, chair of Department of Music, said that "the lab is now set to serve U of A students in the best way possible and Dr. Panayotova is to be commended for her efforts in securing such an advanced classroom."

The new digital pianos are Clavinova CVP 701 by Yamaha, which are the most up to date instruments on the market. Additionally, the Yamaha LC4 teaching console integrates the latest technology for the best instruction. The 16 student keyboards are networked to each other and the instructor's keyboard — Clavinova CVP 709. Dual monitors mounted to the front wall further integrate the learning environment by showing multiple feeds from the computer system and teaching console.

The image above shows Panayotova instructing the students through headsets while her hands and the score are projected on the monitors behind her.

As for teaching, Panayotova said, "The magnificently diverse and rich palette of sounds of the Clavinova provides students and teachers with the invaluable opportunities of music technology. The variety of instruments and voices is astonishing, and students explore a myriad of different timbres and ensembles."

The recording capabilities of the digital pianos are their most impressive and effective asset because they allow students to record and play back, listen to, and evaluate their performances. Students could record a melody on one track and an accompaniment on another track, record a harmonic progression and improvise various melodies along with their recording, and record different parts of choral or instrumental ensembles on different tracks.

Panayotova explained that "the opportunity for students to listen to their own playing, for immediate self-evaluation, is particularly beneficial to the improvement of their sight-reading skills, which are indispensable in all areas of the music profession."

As a space for learning, students have responded enthusiastically to the variety of activities now possible in the lab — to practice alone, to hear one-on-one instruction from the teacher, to work in a duet or quartet with partners, or to play a large ensemble with the whole class. Panayotova said, "It is professionally and personally rewarding to experience the compelling effect of the most advanced learning environment on our students, who have all the inspiration, imagination, artistry, and ambition they need to realize the vision they have for themselves and to succeed in their musical careers."

The previous equipment in the piano lab included an assortment of instruments purchased since the 1990s — some of which were previous models in the Clavinova series. The lab was infamous for a circa 1974 Wurlitzer Electric Piano with "Key Note Visualizer." The Wurlitzer provided a visual representation of the instructor's hand positions via an illuminated board that indicated the pressed keys. The lab's new equipment uses real-time video relayed through the large monitors on the wall. Now students can not only see which keys are to be pressed, but they can also see proper hand technique and timing as the instructor plays the instrument. The Wurlitzer piano is currently being repaired with the hopes of using it in performance with the U of A Jazz Lab.

While outdated, many of the old pianos were still in working condition with only a few needing minor repairs. Fourteen pianos were donated to local schools in Farmington, Mountainburg, Springdale, and Rogers. Kyle Schoeller, U of A Music alumnus and music teacher at Northside Elementary in Rogers, said that the pianos donated to Rogers were "game changers!"

Schoeller pointed out that with the donation of electric pianos the schools could now avoid yearly maintenance to their traditional upright pianos—something that is often skipped to save costs in their already tight budgets. Kristen Suggs with Farmington Schools echoed that sentiment by adding that now she can reallocate those budget dollars to other needs in her music program.

The department was delighted that the donation of these instruments helped to support local schools. It is the hope of the administration and faculty that those donations will help advance musical excellence in Northwest Arkansas and possibly bring new students to the U of A campus. The new piano lab will provide the best in piano instruction for years to come and the Department looks forward to continued efforts to develop all areas of the curriculum and facilities in the near future.