Noblesville High School’s Electronic Music class underwent some major changes for the new school year. From getting a new facility to receiving commissions from other teachers in the building, the class is an entirely new experience for performing arts students.

Electronic Music is taught by Mr. Jasper for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The class focuses on recording arts and improving songwriting skills. Students write and record their own music and have also recently started collaborating on commissions from other teachers in the building.

Originally, the class took place in an old broadcast journalism studio that hadn’t been properly soundproofed for recording music. The class had received a $30,000 grant from the Crosser Family Foundation to buy equipment.

“There was really no way of keeping the low bass sounds from kick drums and bass guitars from going straight through the ceiling into the rooms above us,” Jasper said. “If we were playing any drums whatsoever, the math classes right above us had problems teaching.” The cinderblock walls on each side of the old studio prevented sound from escaping into nearby rooms on the same level, however soundproofing the ceiling could have cost an estimated $40,000.

“It wasn’t very viable as a room for an extended period of time unless they were going to put the money into it, and they were going to,” Jasper said. “Then when they started doing the construction, they [decided to just] build this room instead.”

The new room consists of a main recording room/classroom with soundproofing panels on the walls and ceiling, plus a vocal isolation room and a control room for mixing.