Music Engineering Strikes a Chord with Students Across Disciplines

It takes time, passion, and persistence to learn how to play a musical instrument. But what about building an instrument from scratch? Tufts students in John R. Beaver Professor Chris Rogers’ Musical Design Engineering class were up to the task this semester. They recently showcased their instruments at a concert in Distler Performance Hall.

“People don’t realize how much time it takes to build an instrument and how much we really don’t understand yet about music,” said Ph.D. student Leon Li, who was a teaching assistant for the course. Final projects included string, wind, reed, and percussive instruments. “Most engineers have never built an instrument, have never composed, and have never performed,” said Rogers. But after a semester of hard work, they were able to share music on instruments they created. “It is pretty cool to see engineers willing to be out of their element,” he added.  

Mechanical engineering senior Eli Singer is a guitar player but decided to challenge himself by making a reed instrument for the class. He designed a half-sized version of a Laotian instrument called the Khaen. The instrument works by blowing into a central area which vibrates reeds in sound pipes. “I wanted to stretch myself. I knew if I made a guitar I wouldn’t be happy enough with the way it sounds.” Singer said. But now that he’s built one instrument, he’s interested in continuing. “That doesn’t mean I won’t make a guitar at some point in my life.”

The course is part of the larger music engineering program at Tufts which began in the late 1990s. Tufts is one of only a few U.S. universities that offers a dedicated music engineering program, which undergraduate students can take as a minor.

Interdisciplinary Approach Helps Students Grow in New Ways

Music offers an engaging pathway for students to understand more about the physics of sound, electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, music theory, and more. “What’s really fun is that students come from all different disciplines,” said Teaching Professor Paul Lehrman, a co-director of the program who teaches electronic musical instrument design.

The possibilities for what students can create are nearly endless. One group in the electronic musical instrument class developed a harp that uses lasers instead of strings. When the player’s hand passes through the laser beam, the instrument produces a note as if a string has been plucked. “It really differs from person to person. It’s just like music; it’s connected to the person themselves,” said Li, describing how students come up with their projects.  

“Tufts is very different in how it really welcomes and encourages collaboration between the School of Engineering and the School of Arts and Sciences,” co-Director of the program and part-time Lecturer Kelsey Rogers observed. Music engineering classes are designed and scheduled so that both Arts and Sciences and Engineering students can fit them into their busy schedules. A typical music engineering class might include students majoring in music, physics, psychology, electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering, human factors, and arts all working together.

The interdisciplinary nature of the program gives students a chance to act as subject-matter experts and learn from one another. “By the end of the semester, the mechanical engineer knows all about synthesis, the musician knows how to solder, the electrical engineer knows all about fabrication over in Nolop. They all learn from each other, and they all learn all the skills,” said Lehrman.

The students gain more than just technical expertise from each other, it’s also a way to develop relationships across disciplines. “Students are coming together who probably have never had other classes together before. Seeing these friendships that grow because they're in the same class at the same time is pretty special,” said Kelsey Rogers.  

Students often discover that their academic interests have more in common with other disciplines than they initially thought. “Music and engineering do seem very far apart but they’re really not. Basically it’s just physics,” remarked Li.  

Li is a longtime musician. He became involved in music engineering when he couldn’t find a harmonica he wanted to use on the market and decided to build his own. His music level and his engineering skills go hand in hand; as he improves his harmonica designs, he refines his musical abilities to match. Now, he’s heavily involved in the music engineering program and helps undergraduate students build their first instruments. On May 10, Li will perform a concert on harmonicas that he designed and built.

Preparing Students for Careers in Music Engineering

Music engineering prepares students for a range of careers in recording and acoustics. Many alumni from the program pursue roles as studio engineers or with music instrument companies, software companies, or hardware companies. Three alumni now work in product sound quality at Shark Ninja, trying to make vacuum cleaners and other household appliances quieter. Another works for Kurzweil, a synthesizer manufacturer. Several alumni have applied their skills to architectural acoustics, where they consult with architects to shape the sound environment in new building projects.

“There are job opportunities in these areas and there are not very many universities that have programs, so Tufts gives students these unique qualifications to go out and be competitive for these kinds of jobs.” Kelsey Rogers said.  

Alumni have been generous in sharing their experience with current students. Last fall, Kelsey Rogers hosted a career panel featuring recent alumni from the music engineering program. The group discussed their careers in recording, music production, architectural acoustics, and product sound and explained how current Tufts students can follow the same pathways. Another alum who designs automotive speaker systems for Bose visited Tufts to talk about her career in music technology.  

Students in the program also participate in professional development opportunities like attending the Acoustical Society of America conference to learn about the latest research and meet others in the industry.

Music Engineering Program Embraces New Opportunities

The program continues to expand their offerings for current students with two potential new classes on the horizon: Electronics for Music and a new mechanical engineering elective that covers sound isolation and noise control.

Faculty have also focused on getting more than just Tufts students involved in music engineering. They regularly collaborate with the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach on workshops for K-12 students and educators and recently introduced a pre-college program to get high school students excited about music engineering. Together with the Digital Design Studio at Tisch library, they’ve started offering workshops open to the whole Tufts community.

Music engineering gives students from all majors and people from all backgrounds a chance to come together and learn something new. “I think it's such a special program, and I'm really excited to figure out all of the best ways that we can bolster and continue to improve it,” Kelsey Rogers said.  

Learn more about music engineering at Tufts.