KORG SoundTree featured in InTune Monthly: The Evolution of The Keyboard Lab

SoundTree
Feb 10
4 min read

Updated: Feb 10

by Michael Stewart InTune Monthly

The Evolution of The Keyboard Lab The first of a four-part series on keyboard labs sets the table for a discussion of their role and utility as facilities that can attract more students to musical instruction.

Featured in InTune Monthly Vol. 23, No. 5 — *Featured in* ***InTune Monthly*** *Vol. 23, No. 5*

THIS SERIES OF ARTICLES on keyboard labs was conceived as more than a profile of

unique musical learning – and for many schools, learning that doesn’t yet exist in their

programs. Our goal is to present a rationale for their acquisition, a suggestion as to their

value in a contemporary and comprehensive music curriculum, and, through various

illustrations, the teaching opportunity they present. Full disclosure, our partner in this endeavor is Korg SoundTree, a purveyor of keyboard labs and equipment, and an In Tune supporter with whom we share our advocacy.

The Keyboard Lab Then and Now

While pinpointing the absolute earliest keyboard labs is diffi cult, keyboard labs in schools started emerging at the dawn of electronic keyboards, with examples like the Chicago area’s People’s Music School using vintage Wurlitzer electronic pianos from the 1950s for group lessons, and modern, console-controlled labs gaining popularity in the early 2000s. Then as electronic keyboards added functionality, and with the advent of keyboards as controllers for computers, an even newer opportunity arose.

Beyond facilitating group piano lessons for general music students, with connections to

computers, those same keyboards and other controllers could turn labs into music production workshops, attracting and engaging a whole new cohort of music students.

Music Tech Lab at Los Nietos School District, Whittier, CA

Why A Keyboard Lab?

The dual use of keyboard labs as centers for piano study and music creation and production simply means the attraction of more middle and high schoolers who wouldn’t otherwise include scholastic music education in their schedules. These are kids who, for whatever reason, didn’t begin or stay with instrument instruction or the ensembles off ered in the lower grades. However, along the way, and in many cases on their own, they discovered an interest in making music – just not with the instruments or in the genres that were taught in their schools. Also, for some it is an affi nity for the music and instruments used to make the music popular in a specific region or culture. Regardless, the modern keyboard lab culls an additional segment from the general school population and turns them into music students.

Getting And Setting Up a Lab

As we will discuss in the next installment of this series, keyboard labs come in all shapes and sizes and can fit into all sorts of physical spaces – or be so portable they’re here today and gone tomorrow (or next period). Creating one certainly requires a measure of funding, but there too, keyboard lab costs can exist along a broad spectrum.

Teacher expertise training too can vary. Most degreed instructors will have a familiarity with the piano, so it really is the acquisition of skill and information about the technology that connects keyboards to a central controller (so that a teacher can isolate the performance of individual players) that needs to occur. Leading a class on a journey through electronic music creation is, however, another story.

For those not already up to speed about using computers to compose music, continuing education is likely a requirement. That said, the use of computers in the creation of music today is a lot easier than it used to be. The explosion of so-called “bedroom studios” and young people’s posting their music on the internet is potent evidence of the availability, affordability and ease of use of electronic music creation tools.

“The important thing to remember is that one size doesn’t fi t all,” says Walt Straiton, Director of Education for Korg SoundTree. “And that applies to physical spaces dedicated to keyboard labs, the sophistication of gear, as well as the backgrounds of music teachers engaged in such enterprises. We see a great diversity of each among successful programs.”

So keyboard labs can serve a variety of purposes, but overall, they can support the teaching of music theory, musical technique, music creation, production, arranging, mastering and more. They can even become the band room’s “recording studio” with acoustic instruments providing input, and keyboard controllers enabling post-production. A school’s keyboard lab can become ground zero for an amazing world of musical activities and enterprises, limited only by curricular content and goals. “The buzzwords right now are “getting to the other 80%”, says Straiton, “and the magnet can easily be a properly acquired, set up and managed keyboard lab.”