Students will be able to try their hands at various musical instruments later this semester in a new music center in Ellender Memorial Library.
Melissa Goldsmith, reference librarian at Ellender Library, received a $40,000 grant from the Board of Regents and a $4,000 institutional technology grant to pay for this new music center. It will be located on the first floor of the library in the arts and multimedia room next to the MEW Lab, and it will be open to all students.
“We have a number of teachers on campus who want to incorporate music in their teaching, and they have no access to instruments,” Goldsmith said. “I started with the idea when I had a number of people come up and say, ‘Oh, I want to do this.’ So I thought, ‘Why can’t we make something like this happen?’ The library is an accessible place.”
Goldsmith is expecting over 100 instruments for this area. Rather than the standard guitar or other modern instruments the center will house many different types of historical and worldly instruments.
“We are expecting a setar, a tabla, something that is called a bodhran, ukuleles and two keyboards,” she said.
A setar is a plucked string instrument that originated in Persia. It is a member of the lute family and was developed in the 13th century. A tabla and a bodhran are both types of drums. The tabla originated in India and the bodhran originated in Ireland. Goldsmith said that she will also be getting a MIDI guitar, which is like a combination of a keyboard and a guitar.
“Some things are a bigger deal than others,” she said. “We’re getting, for example, a 22 pupil system of rhythm instruments like jingle bells, but we are also getting some larger things like a Zydeco accordion and other Cajun instruments.”
Goldsmith is currently in the purchasing stage. She said that she is still on schedule to have an opening date set for late next month.
While this project is being done outside of the Nicholls music department, Goldsmith said that this is not done in competition. She hopes to have brochures available for anyone who may be interested in earning credit through the music program.
“We’re looking for people who may have, for some reason, stopped playing music or maybe just decided to go along independently,” she said. “The older students are, the more likely they want to learn music on their own terms. It’s not just that they are busy, but it’s kind of the way the mind is.”
Goldsmith said that there are other departments, such as nursing and education, that are interested in using this new center.
“The nursing faculty is very interested in music therapy, and you have the education faculty who do not have access to instruments even though they teach music classes and use music to teach people how to learn other subjects,” she said.
A number of therapy instruments will be available to use as well as instruments made specifically for the disabled.
“Some of the recorders will be made for people who may be missing a finger or something,” Goldsmith said. “The MIDI guitar would also be ideal for someone who is in a wheelchair because of how light it is.”
Students will be able to check out certain instruments like plastic recorders while some of the more expensive instruments will be usable under supervision only.
While the center will be open for everyone to use freely, there will also be workshops available to those people who want to learn an instrument through instruction.
“What we are doing is we are creating a space where we are going to have workshops where students who want to come for a one-time-only thing can do so,” Goldsmith said. “If they want to come consistently, there will be some things during the semester.”
Goldsmith said that she hopes this new center will bridge the gap between music and school and give students who are interested in music an opportunity to learn an instrument on their own terms.
“Doing something that is different from what has ever been done before takes some time,” she said. “Students are welcome and this is a safe place for them to come. You don’t have to feel a sense of embarrassment. This will be the place where you can practice and make mistakes.
