Teaching with Labs: KORG SoundTree article in InTune Monthly featuring Q&A with Wayne Splettstoeszer
- SoundTree
- Feb 25
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 25
by Michael Stewart InTune Monthly
Specifying, funding and installing music labs is no easy feat. However, using them to teach takes an even more robust plan…
The second of a four-part series on keyboard labs
As with most technology, it’s fantastic when it works. When it doesn’t – or it doesn’t fit your needs – not so much. But in an educational setting, even when the gear is set up and working, it has to function in service of your educational goals, and those goals, and the process for achieving them, must be equally as carefully constructed. To address these issues and report back, we reached out to a great thinker on the subject, the renowned music educator and technologist Wayne Splettstoeszer, Director of Instrumental Music/Music Technology at Connecticut’s Torrington High School. We sent Wayne a series of questions by way of our friends at Korg SoundTree and offer his answers here:
MS: Are there any commonalities to the musical backgrounds of students attracted to your program’s music lab? If so, can you provide some examples?
WS: The most consistent commonality is the wide range of musical backgrounds represented in the class. Because the course is a general elective, it attracts an extremely diverse group of students—ranging from students with special needs, to those with no prior musical experience, to students with some informal background, as well as those who are deeply involved in performing ensembles. This creates a dynamic and ever-changing learning environment. Each class has a different balance of skill levels, musical interests, and learning needs, which makes differentiation essential. The only true constant from year to year is that the makeup of the class is always evolving.
MS: What are some of the unique teaching opportunities you’ve found that labs present?
WS: Our lab provides a wide range of unique teaching opportunities because it extends far beyond a traditional keyboard setting. In addition to our class keyboards, we have multiple Korg nanoKEY STUDIO devices, a professional podcast studio, and a fully equipped modern band room. This variety of tools allows students to explore music creation, recording, performance, and production in ways that match their individual interests and learning styles.
As a 1:1 school where every student has a Chromebook, the lab is no longer confined to a single physical space. Students can sign out a Korg nanoKEY [Fold or Studio] controller and work in their study hall, the media center, or common areas. This flexibility increases engagement, encourages creativity in different environments, and promotes visibility for the program throughout the school.
The professional podcast studio has created opportunities not only for music technology students, but for students and teachers across the building. It has become a space where students develop their voice, tell stories, collaborate, and create authentic content. This has helped position the lab as a creative hub for the entire school community.
MS: Are there any challenges you’ve faced, and if so how have you overcome them?
WS: One of the biggest challenges is continually finding new ways to keep the class fresh, engaging, and relevant. Because this is a technology-based course, the tools, trends, and workflows connected to the music industry are always evolving. What is current today can quickly become outdated, so the curriculum must constantly adapt.
To address this, I focus on teaching transferable skills rather than just specific software or equipment. By emphasizing creativity, collaboration, production techniques, critical listening, and real-world project workflows, students see how the class connects to actual pathways in the music industry. I also regularly introduce new project types—such as podcasting, modern band integration, remixing, and student-choice assignments—to reflect current practices and maintain high engagement.
This mindset of continuous growth and innovation ensures that the course stays relevant for students while also preparing them for future opportunities in music and media.
MS: Can you offer any recommendations to educators starting to teach with labs for the first time?
WS: Yes—start with what you want to teach, not the technology. Curriculum must come before the tools. You can have the best equipment available, but without a clear vision for student learning and outcomes, the technology alone will not create a successful program.
It is also important to design the lab around the needs of your students and your school community. Avoid building a program simply because you saw something at a conference or because another school is doing it. What works in one setting may not be the best fit for another. The strength of music technology is its flexibility—it can and should look different in every situation.
When the focus is on meaningful learning, creativity, and student engagement, the technology becomes a powerful vehicle to support those goals rather than the starting point.
MS: Can you share any success stories about your teaching with labs?
WS: There are so many success stories because success looks different for every student. One student with special needs created a podcast about his favorite cartoon, and through the process of scripting, recording, and editing, we saw noticeable growth in his speech and confidence. Another student, who was typically very quiet in class, found his voice through a remix project that was ultimately voted “best in class” by his peers. That moment completely changed how he saw himself as a learner and creator.
Stories like these happen every year. The lab environment allows students to work at their own level, explore their interests, and demonstrate their learning in ways that are meaningful to them. For some students, success is performing or publishing a finished track; for others, it is collaborating with a group, speaking into a microphone for the first time, or simply realizing that they are capable of being creative.
Because the pathways are flexible and student centered, achievement is not defined by a single outcome—it is constantly evolving based on each student’s growth, confidence, and engagement.
Music teachers who use our Korg GEC5 lab system enjoy full control over their learning environments through the GEC5 app. Students can work independently while in the app’s “practice mode”, collaborate with their peers in teacher-selected groups in “group mode”, or receive instruction and demonstrations from their teacher while their instr
uments and headset mics are muted in “lecture mode”. In this wired lab setting, students are mostly stationary, seated at their respective keyboard stations (often connected to a computer running a DAW), communicating with their teacher and classmates through headsets. It is a setting that remains an effective and versatile option for attracting “the other 80%” of students to our music classes.
There is, however, a less expensive, more accessible onramp for K-12 educators looking to integrate tech into their music programs. Small USB-powered keyboard controllers, control pads, and audio interfaces combined with DAWs such as Soundtrap and BandLab provide teachers and their students with complete music production “studios” ideal for schools offering 1:1 educational technology–Chromebooks, iPads, and laptops. The fact that one popcorn fundraiser can raise enough money to purchase one or more of these portable studios illustrates how quickly and easily a classroom corner, practice room, or library table can be transformed into a dynamic space for limitless creative self-expression.
Korg SoundTree (the education division of Korg USA) is here to help! Explore our collection of 1:1 Classroom Bundles on our Korg SoundTree website and contact one of our EdTech Specialists to schedule a free consultation. We’ll work closely with you to identify equipment that perfectly fits your budget and curricular goals, now and into the future.
Thanks to Irwin Kornfeld and Michael Stewart from InTune Monthly!
In Tune Partners Westchester Media
Etymotic Education
P.O. Box 166
Thornwood NY 10594
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