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It\u2019s nighttime in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Mykola Balakin is making a flute-like instrument called a sopilka in his home office. A software engineer by trade and a computer science online student with Oregon State University, he\u2019s new to making instruments, but after several hours of trial and error, he has a breakthrough.<\/p>\n
Utility knife in hand, Balakin carves a hole that should help the traditional Ukrainian instrument create its distinctive sound. Finally, he presses the sopilka to his lips. Its notes don\u2019t quite merit a smile, but it\u2019s a special moment, nonetheless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI typically would not wake up and say, \u2018It\u2019s a day to build a new instrument,\u2019 but that is what I did, and that was the moment I knew it was possible,\u201d Balakin would later recall, proudly. \u201cI like that it works. As an instrument, I do not like it, but as a handmade thing, it\u2019s very nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mykola Balakin has taken various music classes as electives while pursuing his Oregon State computer science degree online.<\/p><\/div>\n
This was not a personal undertaking. It was his final project in the Music Cultures of the World elective course he recently took online through Oregon State Ecampus. Balakin\u2019s craftsmanship in Kyiv, 5,600 miles away from Corvallis, is illustrative of OSU\u2019s growing impact offering music education at a distance.<\/p>\n
The timing feels right. The new Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts<\/a>, opening this spring, will allow people to engage with art in meaningful ways like never before at Oregon State. Something similar is happening online, as the university delivers its music expertise through learning experiences that are breaking new ground of their own.<\/p>\n When Assistant Professor Dana Reason made her foray into teaching online in 2010, she started big: Her first course was on the cultural impact of the Beatles. She and College of Liberal Arts colleagues later developed what was believed to be the first online class on hip-hop music and culture.<\/p>\n That was an era in which OSU \u2014 now regularly ranked among the nation\u2019s top 10 online education providers \u2014 first established itself as an online education trailblazer. Today, Reason is the coordinator of the new contemporary music industry bachelor\u2019s program, delivered only online<\/a>. It\u2019s one of the first programs of its kind in the United States, with a focus on helping students build entrepreneurial skills in the commercial music and entertainment industries.<\/p>\n Reason, an acclaimed composer and pianist, said offerings such as this one \u2014 with an emphasis on providing the quality and career focused skills students are looking for \u2014 are driving OSU\u2019s progress on the music education front online.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re no longer trying to replicate the traditional classroom through a lecture-based approach,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re geared towards a diverse collection of online learners and recognize that people learn from games, videos, peer-to-peer discussions, as well as hands-on projects.\u201d<\/p>\n This is achieved in a variety of courses that emphasize practical learning. Some students might learn to use music production software to create a soundtrack for a film or video game, while others build applied guitar skills and learn to compose through weekly practices and group participation.<\/p>\n “<\/span>Every bit of music and audio we hear needs a creative force behind it. The whole notion of what it means to be a composer and sound designer has exploded over the last few years.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Students who gain those multifaceted skills will be the professionals best prepared for how the music industry operates now and is likely to operate in the future, according to Peter Swendsen, the Patricia Valian Reser chair and director of the School of Visual, Performing and Design Arts.<\/p>\n It\u2019s now standard practice for musicians \u2014 from at-home artists to big-name professionals \u2014 to collaborate, produce, rehearse and even perform concerts online. Oregon State\u2019s music courses and programs help students acclimate to and succeed in that environment.<\/p>\n He also sees long-term value in how OSU\u2019s online music courses teach not only music history or how to become a better musician, but also about the interactive, everyday experiences people have with sound \u2014 from the \u201cbeeps and bloops our phones make\u201d to the movies we watch.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery bit of music and audio we hear needs a creative force behind it. The whole notion of what it means to be a composer and sound designer has exploded over the last few years,\u201d said Swendsen, also an accomplished musician and composer. \u201cOur courses and the contemporary music industry program will help students go right into that world professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n Swendsen credits Reason and the School of Visual, Performing and Design Arts faculty with designing an online program that is reflective of music that is in the minds and ears of today\u2019s students.<\/p>\n \u201cDana has done a great job figuring out how to help students learn to treat sound and audio in a conceptual way and how to be comfortable learning new tools on their own,\u201d Swendsen said. \u201cIt fills an important gap in higher ed music offerings, and doing it online allows us to reach students around the world that we couldn\u2019t otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n For Balakin in Ukraine, enrolling in Reason\u2019s Music Cultures of the World class both met a degree requirement and offered an escape.<\/p>\n You can watch a time-lapse video of Oregon State student Mykola Balakin making a Ukrainian sopilka for his online music class project. Watch video \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n He expects to graduate next year, and as he learns online, the destruction caused by the Russian invasion is all around him. On the night he completed his sopilka, the power in his building shut off. It\u2019s a common occurrence, a result of Russia\u2019s attacks on Ukraine\u2019s energy grid.<\/p>\n His reaction was subdued. He let out a heavy sigh, retrieved a backup generator and then continued making the instrument.<\/p>\n In his war-torn country, Balakin finds refuge online with Oregon State.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to focus on anything besides reading the news again and again,\u201d he said. \u201cMusic helps me with that.\u201d<\/p>\nFirst-of-its-kind program<\/h3>\n
Pathways to jobs<\/h3>\n
A creative haven<\/h3>\n
\nCraftsmanship in action<\/h3>\n
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