Josiah Butcher and Chattanooga's Dynamo Studios tackle the lack of education in music arts
According to the Arts Education Data Project, more than 3.6 million students in the U.S. don’t have access to music education and more than 2 million students don’t have access to any arts at all. Most of these schools that do teach music don’t teach music classes other than band (Pergola).
Music Education is important because it can help with emotional development, creative thinking, and confidence. Music can help people express themselves and it can especially help children express themselves ("Effects of Music"). Human brains are not fully developed until the age of 25, so if children learn and listen to music during school, then they can be more emotionally developed. Music can help with creative thinking because it teaches people to explore more concepts and it helps people have a broader comprehension of different subjects. Music can help with confidence because it provides a sense of accomplishment to people and later on people will have a positive attitude towards themselves ("Effects of Music"). However, music classes other than band are not typically taught in schools. Classes such as music production, music engineering, recording, music theory, and music composition are not taught because of a lack of funding, curriculum focus, and adaptation. Schools have a lack of funding because of economic recession. This leads to tight decision-making in the courses that the school districts decide to fund. School districts leave more money for the main courses such as Math, Science, English, and History while not leaving enough money for the arts (Pergola). A school’s curriculum focus is also based on the funding that they get. Since the schools do not have enough money for music classes, they cut the programs. Joseph Pergola, a retired Director of Fine Arts from New York, wrote in School Band & Orchestra Magazine in 2014, "According to The National Assessment of Educational Programs in the Arts, student exposure to the arts education in schools has steadily declined since 1997. It is not uncommon today to see the elimination of elementary instrumental programs, district-wide string orchestra programs, grade-level choruses, and theory classes. It is estimated that a majority of Fine Arts Departments in public schools have adopted funding and/or program cuts since 2010. Everything except core academic subjects is starting to be considered a perk." Ever since the early 2000s, the digital world of music production, engineering, and recording has greatly expanded. As a result of this, schools have fallen behind and not caught up, so they choose not to teach these classes.
Josiah Butcher is the Chief Audio Engineer and Curriculum Director at a non-profit called Dynamo Studios. Butcher has a light beard and slight raspy voice. He has a somewhat round face with brown fluffy hair and a 6 foot figure that normally wears streetwear. Butcher teaches students about different aspects of making music such as engineering, production, recording, mixing, mastering, and sampling. His workspace is a studio with a plaid loveseat in the back and a studio desk in the front. On the desk, he has a big Avid ProTools touch screen monitor in the center. On the sides of the desk, he has racks that have compressors, pre-amps, audio interfaces, power conditioners, and AD/DA converters on them, and behind the desk, he has 2 monitor stands that hold Neumann KH 310 monitors on them. The studio has brick walls with multiple acoustic panels on each wall for sound dampening and for certain frequencies to bounce off of them back to the person at the desk.
Dynamo Studios is a non-profit organization that helps teach and engage students in the arts such as music production, music engineering, recording, media, photography, and filmmaking. Butcher teaches audio engineering, audio recording, and audio production classes both in schools and after school. He runs students through the process of how to setup a DAW (digital audio workstation) according to its audio interface. He teaches students how to use an SSL (solid state logic) soundboard and how to connect different instruments and hardware to an audio interface and soundboard. He also teaches what different terms mean such as buses, sends, groups, reads, etc. Butcher does not charge to teach students because Dynamo Studios is a nonprofit organization. He says this when asked how music has changed the youth he has worked with: “Students have accelerated quickly, and y’all have gained skills that most people don’t get to experience until college." Butcher is saying that by teaching students music before college, they will be prepared to further expand their knowledge on other parts of music. When asked if we are doing a disservice to the youth by not having more music classes available in secondary schools, Butcher says, “I think it is a disservice because music can automatically help improve students in other academic areas because music involves math and engineering. It involves so many aspects of education that a lot of educators and people don’t realize, and I think it can help improve the way students learn and how their brains develop.” He is saying that music can help student's brains develop and can also improve the way students learn by being more inclined to learn.
Locally, Hamilton County Schools has opportunities to implement music courses in their schools with a partnership through Dynamo Studios. Butcher says that Dynamo has worked with many local and regional schools such as CCA, Hamilton County Prep, Dalewood, and Midtown High Atlanta. Dynamo works with schools through a pilot program where the school has access to their resources, and if the school enjoys it, then they will expand on it and hire a teacher recommended from Dynamo and build a classroom for the class. When asked about the process, Butcher said, “We kinda use our own resources to get the program started to get the school interested. Usually, it’ll last a semester to a year. This is becoming quicker because schools are seeing other schools and how much they like it. So we typically go in for a pilot program, and then we will connect the school with our supplier which is GCPro. They order all of their gear at a discounted rate, and we provide a recommendation for a full-time instructor. Then we hope that the school likes the program enough to hire that person full time, and their salary will be paid through the school.”
In conclusion, music classes are important for students before college because they help develop emotional intelligence, creativity, and confidence. However, some schools do not have the budget for music classes including music production, music engineering, and recording. There are alternatives such as non-profits including Dynamo Studios which help implement music courses into school and teach students production, engineering, and recording outside of school. Butcher's opinion on the lack of education in the musical arts is that music education is crucial for learning and human development. Music classes in school are highly important for learning, human development, and providing opportunities.
Works Cited
“Effects of Music on Child Development: 9 Positive Effects.” Children Central, https://childrencentral.net/what-are-the-effects-of-music-on-child-development/. Accessed 20 November 2024.
Pergola, Joseph. “Music Education in Crisis - Joseph Pergola.” National Educational Music Company, February 2014, https://www.nemc.com/resources/articles/music-education-in-crisis. Accessed 20 November 2024.
The Arts Education Data Project. “Millions of U.S. Students Denied Access to Music Education, According to First-Ever National Study Conducted by Arts Education Data Project.” PRWeb, 12 September 2022, https://www.prweb.com/releases/millions-of-u-s-students-denied-access-to-music-education-according-to-first-ever-national-study-conducted-by-arts-education-data-project-876709378.html. Accessed 20 November 2024.
“Why Music Education?” Education Through Music, https://etmonline.org/why-music-education/. Accessed 20 November 2024.
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