Mixing Disciplines and Music

Humans excel at categorizing things because it makes life easier. Thinking is less taxing when we have shortcuts. That’s why many of us fully embraced the “left brain/right brain” theory of learning. If you’re mostly analytical and methodical in your thinking, you’re left-brained. If you tend to be more creative or artistic, you’re right brained.

But the theory, often simplified into math-and-science- or humanities-minded, has done us a disservice. Engineers are inherently creative, required to think outside the box. Conversely, music is mathematical, demanding precision and timing.

That’s why the humanities and social sciences have a critical role across the educational spectrum. At Penn State Behrend, not only does the School of Humanities and Social Sciences serve those majoring in the programs offered by the school, it also meets the needs and interests of students in the STEM fields and business who complement their career plans with H&SS studies.

Alison Huffman is a senior Computer Engineering major, and Adam Boaks is a senior Biology major at Behrend. They are also musicians and songwriters who recently released their first album, For Your Glory, at the request of The Cross, an Erie church that Huffman and Boaks attend.

The pair wrote and performed the songs, all taken from the Bible’s Book of Psalms. They also played all of the instruments and handled vocals, as well. When it came time to mix it all together, they enlisted the aid of Dr. Joel Hunt, associate teaching professor of music and digital media, arts, and technology.

“My role was that of a mix engineer,” Hunt said. “I edited many of the audio tracks that Alison and Adam recorded and used plug-ins in Pro Tools to give the recording a more professional sound. I also used advanced mixing techniques to ensure that all of the voices and instruments were balanced and clear.”

“What an artist initially records into a microphone is completely unedited,” Huffman said. “Dr. Hunt had a lot of plug-ins and techniques to help us make it sound much better.”

Huffman, who is also working on a Music Technology minor, was even able to earn college credit for the project. Though the minor is offered at University Park, she was able to fulfill the course requirements taking classes with Hunt

Dr. Joel Hunt, Alison Huffman, and Adam Boaks.

at Behrend. That included INART 258A Fundamentals of Digital Audio and a variety of independent studies.

“When we were trying to find an independent study topic for Alison, I learned about the album she was making with Adam,” Hunt said. “We thought it would be a great way to dig deeper into music production.”

Hunt was impressed with the work they had already accomplished on For Your Glory.

“I had known Alison as a drummer because she plays with the Penn State Behrend Jazz Ensemble, which I direct, but I didn’t know that she also played piano, sang, and wrote songs,” Hunt said. “Adam had taken my MUSIC 8 Rudiments of Music course and done very well but, again, I didn’t know he was such a gifted singer and songwriter.”

Huffman has had plenty of practice blending music and engineering. She’s been working for two years as a computer engineering intern at AcousticSheep, creator of SleepPhones, headphones that are designed to lull wearers to sleep. Huffman works on the SleepSounds app, which uses artificial intelligence to generate sleep-inducing music, rhythms, and sound patterns.

After the album was mixed, Huffman and Boaks handed it off to a distributor for final mastering and to set the levels required by Apple, Spotify, and other platforms. The album was released this summer and is available on any major music streaming platform by searching for “The Cross Worship” and For Your Glory.

OWN MUSIC. In Dr. Joel Hunt’s INART 258A Fundamentals of Digital Audio, students learn the concepts and skills needed to produce professional-level recordings. By the end of the semester, each student has made a Spotify-ready original song! Once they’ve taken the course, students have access to all of Behrend’s audio recording equipment, including microphones, audio interfaces, MIDI keyboards, and Pro Tools digital audio production software.

When Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry commanded a nine-ship U.S. fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie in September of 1813, he relied on one of the most basic enemy-locating devices— a telescope.

That telescope, valued at nearly $100,000, was recently acquired by Erie’s Hagen History Center, where it is on display along with Perry’s sword, scabbard, belt and a lithograph.

In the age of global satellite positioning systems and drones equipped with cameras, it’s hard to imagine what it might have been like for Perry to spot far-off British vessels using one eye and a spyglass. But an interactive display next to the telescope, created by Penn State Behrend’s Virtual/Augmented Reality (VAR) Lab, gives visitors a chance to see through Perry’s eye, virtually.

“Gone are the days of an object and a label in museums,” said George Deutsch, executive director of the Hagen History Center. “Museums today are much more interactive, with graphics and components that offer visitors a way to engage with the items on display.”

Deutsch formed a partnership with Behrend’s VAR lab after its director, Dr. Christopher Shelton, assistant professor of clinical psychology, and Jasper Sachsenmeier, lecturer in English composition, reached out to the center in search of collaborative projects for faculty and students.

“We had done some work for the local Fort LeBeouf Historical Society, and we thought other historical societies might be interested in working with the VAR lab as well,” Shelton said.

“We started with the telescope project because Jasper and I could do much of the work ourselves as the students’ time in the VAR lab was limited during the pandemic,” Shelton said. “As restrictions eased this summer, though, we were able to bring students onboard in a greater capacity.”

“The task of the Perry project was to create an immersive exhibit,” he said. “With completion of Phase 1, we now have an interactive exhibit showcased on a touchscreen 55-inch monitor next to the physical exhibit.”

Users can play an “eye-spy” game that illustrates how limited the view is through a telescope while they search for ships involved in the Battle of Lake Erie. When they spot a ship, they can tap on it to learn more about that vessel.

The display also offers a 3D scan of the telescope, allowing users to view it from all angles and get an up-close look at the inscription on the telescope, which commemorates Perry giving it to his friend, Major General William Henry Harrison, who served in the War of 1812 and later became the ninth president of the United States.

An original 1839 color lithograph of Perry and Harrison is also on display. Printed the year before Harrison ran for President, it depicts the pair at Harrison’s famous victory over the British-Indian confederation at the Battle of the Thames in southern Ontario. It was at this battle that Perry lent Harrison his telescope.

Other elements in the interactive display include galleries of exhibits related to the Battle of Lake Erie and the individuals and ships involved. More is planned for the future.

“We have a roadmap for the Perry project, to create an even more immersive and detailed exhibit in the next phases,” Shelton said.

Additionally, the VAR lab is working with the center on other exhibits, including an Erie Extension Canal project that had to be put on hold.

“We are looking forward to working with Behrend and the VAR Lab to help us make history inspiring,” Deutsch said. “They put a tremendous amount of effort into the telescope project, and we’re excited about future collaborations.”

Dr. Christopher Shelton, assistant professor of clinical psychology, and Jasper Sachsenmeier, lecturer in English composition, at the grand reopening of the Hagen History Center in Erie this summer.

Shelton demonstrates the interactive Oliver Hazard Perry telescope exhibit for visitors to the Hagen History Center this summer.

You may be surprised to learn that psychologists work with virtual/augmented reality (VAR) and virtual reality (VR) technology. Many people might associate it with engineering only.

But Dr. Christopher Shelton, assistant professor of clinical psychology, explained that some of the earliest work in VR was done by psychology researchers who were trying to help treat combat veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“They used VR to do exposure therapy with veterans,” he said. “More recently, we are seeing a lot of research suggesting that this type of technology can be quite effective at helping to address a wide variety of mental health issues including overall wellness and stress management.”

Shelton said his personal interest in virtual technology stems from a desire to help reduce barriers to mental health support.

“I call them the 4 As: accessibility, availability, affordability, and acceptability,” he said. “Digital mechanisms can help address these issues. Some of my past work, for instance, has examined using algorithms to tailor internet-based interventions for college students and emerging adults with ADHD in an effort to increase treatment availability and acceptability among this population.”

Jennifer Babyak, Mealt Falls on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Behrend’s Global Languages and Cultures program celebrated International Education Week 2020 with a globehopping photo contest on Instagram. Behrend community members were invited to send photos of their travel experiences to Dr. Frederique Marty, assistant teaching professor of French, who worked with Jacquelin Chan, a Digital Media, Arts, and Technology (DIGIT) major, to coordinate the project. Chan put her skills to use designing the competition and editing photos. Here are some of the pictures shared, including the winning entries. See all of the photo submissions at instagram.com/internationalphotocontest2020 or on display in the computer lounge in the Hammermill Building. The top three winning photos are displayed near 148 Kochel Center.

Second place, Kevin Wang, Jiufen, a mountain town east of Taipei, Taiwan.

Kayla Lindberg, Chankanaab Beach, Mexico. Third place, Vishal Mansuria, Taj Mahal in India.

David Taylor, The Love Locks Bridge in Köln, Germany.

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College School of Humanities and Social Sciences 170 Kochel Center 4951 College Drive Erie, PA 16563-1501 Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE

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How do you put on a musical during a pandemic when you can’t have a show indoors and audience (and cast) members can’t be within six feet of one another? You put up tents in the Wilson Parking Lot on campus and hope for decent weather. In April. In Erie.

It probably goes without saying that Emily Cassano, assistant teaching professor of music, theatre, and visual arts, was more stressed than usual trying to pick and pull off a spring musical.

Cassano needed a show with a small cast that would have limited physical interaction with one another. She chose “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” by Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn. The musical is a celebration of twitchy middle-school awkwardness: One contestant, beset with allergies, traces the letters with his foot as he spells each word. Another speaks six languages and can say “hello” in seven more but can’t manage even a basic conversation with a boy.

The show, which is typically set in a middle-school gymnasium, required minimal staging. Cassano made one adjustment to maintain physical distancing: Rather than sit the “contestants” on bleachers, where they would wait their turn to spell, she positioned them in chairs, spaced nine feet apart. The audience members sat seated socially distanced in a second tent.

The show was a hit, with all but one performance sold out, from the first one when it snowed to the last one, three days later, when it was 60 degrees. That’s just April in E-R-I-E.

In the spring, Emily Cassano, assistant teaching professor of music, theatre, and visual arts, needed a show with a small cast that would have limited physical interaction with one another. She chose “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

H&SS News is published annually and provided free to alumni and friends of the Penn State Behrend School of Humanities and Social Sciences by the Office of Strategic Communications, William V. Gonda, wvg2@psu.edu, senior director. Editor: Heather Cass, hjc13@psu.edu. Designer: Martha Ansley Campbell, mac30@psu.edu. This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. U.Ed. EBO 22-153