By Rachel Zarrell

While most budding musicians play their first songs in their homes or garages, Rob Seaback is doing things differently: he has been accepted to have his music played at a festival in Rome, Italy.

Seaback, a senior music technology major, said he originally composed the piece “Heavy Metal Variations” using a music technology program in March under the supervision of Northeastern professor Mike Frengel. He described his three-minute piece as acousmatic, meaning the source of sound is hidden, with a heavy rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic and a lot of guitar.

Now his music will be featured at the International Electroacoustic Music Festival, which is in its first year, and will take place at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Rome.

“I submitted a piece to [the festival] this summer and didn’t really have any expectations,” Seaback said. “This is the first time that this festival is happening so it’s pretty cool.”

Dennis Miller, a music professor and the supervisor of the music technology program, said he taught Seaback when he first began composing music.

“I remember when he was a freshman I taught … some of [his] beginning classes,” Miller said. “And now he moves through the whole program and has really just taken advantage of a lot of things.”

The program Seaback used, Miller said, involves creating new and innovative sounds.

“People have been using the orchestra for hundreds of years and now we’ve got these computers that sort of expand the opportunity for the composers,” he said. “It’s kind of like inventing your own instruments and then having to write music for them. He just does that really well.”

The festival will be held Nov. 18 to Nov. 30, and Seaback’s piece is one of about 70 submissions composed internationally that will be featured.

“He’s on a program with a lot of very heavy duty guys from around the world and that’s what’s so exciting about this really,” Miller said.

Seaback said the music is meant to be played over a loudspeaker, yet Miller said students should not expect to hear the song being played on their car radios anytime soon.

“This is really not music that a lot of people are familiar with,” Miller said. “You don’t hear it on the radio and you don’t hear it at clubs and people don’t tend to record it as much, so the music we’re talking about is really stuff that goes into concert halls.”

Seaback’s piece is short in comparison to most electroacoustic songs, he said, adding that the judges probably appreciated that aspect, as many of the compositions range from eight to 15 minutes long.

In submitting his music to the program in Rome, Seaback is gearing up for the life of a composer, Miller said.

“By applying to the festival in Italy he’s really getting himself ready for a career as a composer, because that’s the kind of thing professional composers have to do. They have to apply to [festivals],” he said.

Ultimately, Miller said, the festival is an honor for a budding composer and Seaback could not be happier.

“I’ve never been to Rome so I’m actually really, really excited about it,” Seaback said.