About the Experiencing Innovation Music Tech Camp
The Experiencing Innovation music technology camp at WPI is a week-long immersive experience through which middleschool and highschool students learn to use technology to facilitate musicianship. The camp was founded in 2013 by WPI music professor V.J. Manzo who wrote the curriculum with the principle idea that any student, including students without any prior music training, could use technology and technology-based musical instruments to learn how to compose and perform original music. Since that time, the camp has run multiple sessions for students of different ages and experience levels. Campers in this program use music technology software, hardware, and instruments developed in Manzo’s research labs (EGIL & IMSLab) as tools toward learning to compose and perform their own music. These tools offer increased accessibility for non-musicians, and promote a sense of community by actively engaging students in small teams toward creative goals.
As an overarching theme of the Experiencing Innovation music tech camp, we teach students about Les Paul's life of innovation and musicianship through hands-on project-based learning activities that re-create, adapt, and use inventions explored by Les; the scope of this instruction includes topics related to electronics, engineering, musicianship, composition, and performance presented through the lens of examining Les’ work and mindset in these areas.
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What Do Kids Do at Music Tech Camp?
During the academic year with undergraduate students, our faculty help students explore innovation in three open-ended overarching areas of musicianship in which Les was a pioneer: effect pedals, guitars made of varying materials and dimensions, and guitar pickups/electronics. More info on these projects can be found at http://electricguitarinnovationlab.org/lespaul.
During the summer with campers, we teach aspects of musicianship and creativity through the use of technology while emphasizing aspects of innovation, experimentation, and exploration “as Les lived it”. Students use tech-based musical instruments and technologies, some developed by our undergraduate students, and even develop their own tech-based tools that they then use to compose and perform music.
Throughout the week, students get a hands-on crash course overview of the basics of sound, audio recording, synthesis, MIDI sequencing, multitrack recording, performing with tech-based music instruments, writing music for video, writing music for video games, and much more. Each day of the camp is focused on a new music-making theme, and features a variety of composition and performance activities using standard applications like GarageBand and Live and unique composition and performance technology and music video games developed exclusively for the camp. Students learn about innovation through the lens of studying Les Paul’s lifetime of experimentation at the convergence of music and technology. In addition to discussing musical and technical concepts, we discuss the importance of taking risks, facing failure, and being resilient by drawing specific examples to Les’ work.
A Few Music-Making Activity Examples
Students leave the camp with a general overview of technology-based musicianship skills and a digital portfolio of their compositions from the week. Here are some of the types of activities students have done: