personal careers and observations of other suc-
cessful music industry professionals around us
it seems that a mix of these traits always exist.
Everyone is always wearing multiple hats these
days. It’s not enough to just play your instru-
ment well. The new musician needs to under-
stand technology from DAWs to MIDI to meta-
data and everything in between. But all of this
means nothing without an entrepreneurial
mindset. That’s why we partnered with our
business department at the University of St.
Francis to enhance the DIY mentality. We’ve
also started a podcast called “Musician,
Technician, Entrepreneur” where we interview
successful music industry professionals and
have them share their experiences and paths to
being a 21st century musician.
USF'S DARA PROGRAM
Gabe, student at University of St. Francis on the recording console in Joliet
etting a Bachelor’s degree as a studio
engineer and related audio arts has
been the domain of downtown educa-
tional institutions, but The University of St.
Francis’ Digital Audio Recording Arts
(DARA) program has been making its mark
offering potential students and those interested
in the program since 2012. Studiophile talked to
Jeff Jaskowiak Director of DARA at USF about
the program. G is only five years old. At any rate, we’d like to
change the “secret” part. However, every year
we’ve been growing. Our class sizes are small,
typically around 10 students a course. This is a
great student/teacher ratio that we’d like to
keep. Currently we have four paths or concen-
trations a student can take; Artist, Audio
Engineer, Music Entrepreneur, or User
Generated Content Developer. Many students
take a mixture of these.
IE: You have a world class digital recording
arts program in Joliet. Most folks don't know
there are options getting a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Joliet.
Jeff Jaskowiak: Many people have told us “we
are the best kept secret” after visiting with us. I
suppose partly because our program as a major IE: The music business is changing rapidly, but
your curriculum has been developed so your
students can have success with new music
business models in the 21st Century.
JJ: Our foundational belief is “musician, techni-
cian, entrepreneur” with a deep understanding
of multiple income streams. Pulling from our
IE: There some great training facilities and pro-
grams in downtown Chicago, but your stu-
dents have the advantage of access to your stu-
dio 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
JJ: It was extremely important to us that the
DARA program be a hands-on experience. We
encourage the students from day one to get in
the lab and start exploring the sonic space and
music creation. Our lab computers are second
to none. We have installed the most current
versions of Pro Tools and Ableton Live and
they’re loaded with plugins from iZotope,
Waves, AIR, Native Instruments, and much
more, they’re dream stations. Our large main
room and tracking room has a full-blown Pro
Tools HDX rig, 48-channel Audient console,
Grand Piano, Drumkit and some of the best
microphones available. Students have profi-
ciencies they must achieve to have full use of
this equipment. And when they do we have
worked out a unique agreement with our out-
standing St. Francis security to allow our stu-
dents 24/7 access. Every night the lab and stu-
dio are buzzing with sound.
can get their training.
JJ: Let’s turn this on its head for a moment.
From day one students are mandated to create
audio content to build an audio portfolio. From
the beginning they are in the music creation
mode. In the beginning coursework there is an
emphasis on developing one’s musicianship.
We have a Berklee College of Music approach
of teaching music theory, ear training, rhythmic
understanding which I could go on [about] for
a long time, but I’ll leave it at that. Concurrently
they are working with the tools in the digital
audio workstations to understand and sculpt
the sonic spectrum. And also concurrently,
they're using the microphones and hardware of
audio equipment to learn it’s flavors so to
speak. This is the realm of the audio engineer.
As they progress, their results improve both
musically and sonically using the gear and the
spaces described previously. This is probably
the shortest description of the process that I’ve
ever given. As a side note, some great collabo-
rative projects come into being in this environ-
ment.
IE: Are there opportunities for internships and
potential job placement?
JJ: Since we come from working in the music
industry we understand the real learning expe-
riences come from being on the job. We there-
fore put a high priority on internships shaping
them for each student-interests from artist, [to]
audio engineers to music entrepreneurs. We
seek out a variety of opportunities. Currently
we’ve partnered with a variety of recording stu-
dios, live production companies, venues,
record labels and publishers. We’re always
seeking new places for internships. If someone
is interested please contact us, we have the best
students.
IE: What is the history of this program, in
essence what brought it into being?
IE: Tell us about the facilities where students
Continued on page 53
An Evening with Craig Thatcher
Mon, Nov. 27th
7:00PM presentation
Craig Thatcher, guitarist,
vocalist, songwriter, & Martin
artist will explain distinctions
between Martin models and
demonstrate their best
qualities and differences.
A truely unique event, reservations
are highly recommended.
Contact Tobias Music
for more details.
Visit our
website for more:
TobiasMusic.com
26 illinoisentertainer com november 2017
Tobias Music
630-960-2455
www.TobiasMusic.com
5013 Fairview Ave • Downers Grove IL 60515