By Jason Ritchey, news correspondent
The first of eight proposed Wenger Isolation SoundLok practice rooms is now open for student use. Located in Ryder Hall, the room is part of the music department’s efforts to modernize the College of Arts, Media and Design’s (CAMD) music resources.
“About two years ago, the college wanted to initiate a revamp to create state-of-the-art practice rooms on the third floor for the university,” Nancy Galindo-Rodriguez, senior development officer for CAMD, said. “There were eight rooms that were identified, including one classroom, that we wanted to upgrade to house new equipment.”
Galindo-Rodriguez said that the discussion of creating these resources came in late 2010, but the proper funding was needed before the project could be realized. She credits Alex Dolce, a sophomore electrical engineering student, with the realization of the first state-of-the-art practice room for the college.
“Alex and I had a conversation around Thanksgiving of last year about what his thoughts were and what he wanted to put into action,” Galindo-Rodriguez said. “Over the course of six months, he worked closely with Wenger and the Advancement Office to develop a design, the technology and amenities. After multiple discussions and meetings, this room came into fruition.”
Dolce, a Green Line Records member who conceived the project as a freshman, said that taking action felt completely natural and necessary.
“I felt like something had to be done. I found out that BU has over a hundred of these rooms, Harvard has a lot, Berklee a couple and we had none,” Dolce said. “I’ve always considered Northeastern to be a better institution than, say, BU, with just as many, if not more, resources. We’re really focused on STEM here, but that doesn’t mean that other programs should be overlooked, and I liked giving CAMD a boost.”
He mentioned that music has been an important passion in his life, and that he expected Northeastern to support him and other musicians.
“When I came here as not a music major but an engineer, getting access to a place to play was extremely difficult and when we did [the room we got was] always hot and a bad place to play,” Dolce said. “I got connected with Nancy and we worked out a solution to get funding for a new room where everyone could play.”
Music professor Junauro Landgrebe explained how limiting the practice room situation was before this project. He noted that private lessons, like drum lessons, were loud and disruptive to surrounding professors with office hours and could only be scheduled after 5 p.m.
No,w Landgrebe said the difference is incredible.
“The room itself is awesome because part of the experience is just [the room itself] and using it, because when you are playing music that gets to a certain level of volume, all of a sudden the outside sound you can’t hear,” Landgrebe said. “It’s not perfectly soundproof though, and that’s not even a term that Wagner uses, but it does dampen the sound dramatically. Inside the room, though, you get this really nice quiet which is great for making music.”
This increased flexibility is important not just for professors like Landgrebe, who can now teach lessons or hold auditions in the room, but for non-music majors like Dolce.
“Something really important to me as a non-music major was getting other non-music majors access to the room,” Dolce said. “Instead of it just being them, there’s now an application process online that gives you access to the room. Professor Landgrebe gives you access based on his judgements [of commitment and interest], and I completely trust his judgement. It makes me really proud to have accomplished this.”
Landgrebe, who has been part of the Northeastern music faculty since 1997, explained how valuable resources like this are to musicians, regardless of their college or major.
“These resources enable the students to [explore] their creative [ventures], specifically playing music,” Landegrebe said. “The equipment in there is inspiring and amazing. I’ve only heard positive feedback.”
Photo by Kariman Abuljadayel
