This semester, the Conservatory announced a new Bachelors of Music in Recording Arts and Production, spearheaded by Director of Conservatory Audio Services and Chair of Recording Arts and Production Andrew Tripp and Associate Director of Conservatory Audio Services and Associate Professor of Recording Arts and Production Andrew Garver. 

The development of the new major originated over four years ago, when the Conservatory announced two postgraduate certificates in Recording Arts and Production in February 2020. These two courses of study manifested in the form of a one-year Professional Certificate and two-year Artist Diploma. According to an article published in The Oberlin Review, the creation of this program was inspired by the Academic and Administrative Program Review final report, also known as the One Oberlin report, published in 2018 (“Conservatory to Launch New Recording Arts and Production Programs,” The Oberlin Review, March 6, 2020).

“To strengthen the Conservatory brand and its ability to compete in the marketplace, we also recommend that Oberlin … create post-graduate study/experiences that would add value and generate revenue,” the report reads. “We have numerous opportunities to monetize existing resources outside of conventional four- or five-year programs.” 

The COVID-19 pandemic and unexpected undergraduate interest in the artist diploma drove the Conservatory to reassess the future of recording arts and production at Oberlin. 

“The plan was to launch [in] the fall of 2020,” Tripp said. “Not great timing. And the intention was that these would be kind of post-bachelor, continuing studies. But we got a lot of applications from high school students, which makes total sense — Oberlin primarily offers undergraduate studies. So, between COVID-19 starting up and us starting to get back into things, we used that time to kind of revamp and start thinking about what that program might look like in a different context.”

The major in Recording Arts and Production was launched in December of last year, just in time for the 2023–2024 application cycle. 

“I started recording music in 2023, and then from there, I started releasing my own music,” double-degree first-year Jay Musasa said. “I was looking for a school where I could actually learn more about music production outside of what I was learning on my own. And I actually discovered that it was very limited to a few schools, like Berklee [College of Music].” 

Tripp explained that the program was originally looking for three incoming students to join the major but that more than 30 students applied. Six students are currently enrolled in the program this fall. Associate Dean for Artistic Administration and Operations Michael Straus explained that students had demonstrated interest in recording arts prior to this admissions cycle. 

“We did hear a lot, just over the last few years and years before that, from College Admissions as they were giving tours, of, ‘Hey, do you have a recording degree? Do you have a recording program?’” Straus said. “There’s just been a significant influx of people working in this field, and the technologies related to this field are wider than they’ve ever been.” 

Similar to Conservatory majors like Composition and TIMARA, the Recording Arts and Production major does not require students to study a principal instrument. Instead, RA&P majors take two semesters’ worth of two-credit secondary private lessons and ensemble electives, which allow majors to explore performance. Other requirements include aural skills and music theory classes, a studio-style practicum, and RA&P courses such as Introduction to Audio Engineering. RA&P majors must also complete two genre-nonspecific projects and assist Concert Production. 

“You’re assigned to a large ensemble concert,” first-year Recording Arts and Production major Noah Chisholm said. “We’re placing mics, making sure everything works all right — getting set up, tearing stuff down. That kind of thing. But the idea behind the program is that once we hit our third year, it will be us running things and making the plans with two first-years helping us. I’m really excited for that hands-on experience. That’s one of the great things about the Conservatory: there’s absolutely no shortage of stuff that I can go and record.”

Chisholm also commented on the draw of this program at an institution like Oberlin, citing the Conservatory curriculum, networking opportunities, and musical resources. 

“I really want to be a studio engineer, recording engineer, and producer; that’s my dream job,” Chisholm said. “The program here is designed for both live sound and recording. There is more of a focus on large ensembles than there is in a traditional program, but there is still definitely a focus on smaller groups and other genres like country and rock and pop. So I feel like this is a very well-rounded program. … And then also I’m excited for the connections I make here with musicians — this being a conservatory of music. … And because I want to be a producer, I feel like knowing more about music from aural skills and theory is definitely important. You need to have a good ear.” 

In addition to Oberlin’s over 30 large ensembles, the Conservatory houses its own on-campus recording studio — Clonick Hall, in the Bertram and Judith Kohl Building — as well as a plethora of other recording equipment and technologies used by Conservatory Audio Services staff to record each live performance at the Conservatory. 

Aurie Hsu, OC ’96, senior associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor of Computer Music and Digital Arts, emphasized the opportunities the new major brings to students outside of the program. Currently, more than 20 non-majors are enrolled in Introduction to Audio Engineering. 

“We’re lucky to have the program here where you could take one class as your elective and get that experience, even if you’re not super interested in it right now,” Hsu said. “But now we can demystify all that stuff, you know? ‘What are all those wires? What does that equipment do?’ Just so it’s not so foreign. I think for me, personally, that kind of relationship to technology is something that this program will bring to the institution as a whole — normalizing and integrating technology into what it means to make music.”