Art, science and music in the Hopkins Center Student Workshops

Thayer School of Engineering Professor Ulrike Wegst and Music Department Professor Theodore Levin are collaborating this winter term, for the second time, on an interdisciplinary College Course called "Making Music: The Art, Science, and Symbolism of Musical Instruments." College Courses such as this are intended to bring together students from across backgrounds and disciplines at the College in the spirit of collaboration and learning. This course combines the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth Music Department and the Hopkins Center Woodworking and Jewelry studios. The class allows students to experience a dynamic classroom where they can explore technology, art, culture and music. The first projects of the term are designed with the idea of teaching students both about music and materials science.

In late January, the class got the opportunity to create their own musical instruments in the Woodworking and Jewelry Studios, under the direction of HOP Woodworking Shop Director Greg Elder and Jewelry Studio Director Jeff Georgantes. In the Jewelry Studio, students assembled mouth harps, inspired by Professor Levin's personal mouth harp collection. The harps consist of a stainless-steel frame with a center-piece reed made of hardened and tempered steel. Students shaped their reeds to fit the harp frames, and hardened and tempered the steel in the studio kiln in attempts to modify the material to achieve the correct vibrations when played.

For the final step of assembly, the reed was welded into the correct place in the frame. Georgantes mentioned, "There is nowhere else on campus that teaches skills like how to harden and temper steel, which is a core technique that goes into all tool making." Projects like this allow students to apply the skills and concepts they learn in the classroom about both engineering and musical instruments.

During the students' second workshop visit, this time to the Woodworking Shop, internationally acclaimed pipa player Wu Man stopped by for a visit. Wu Man was visiting Dartmouth to perform her program "A Night in the Gardens of the Tang Dynasty" with a brilliant ensemble for the Lunar New Year. Wu Man demonstrated the playing of the pipa, a lute-like instrument, to the students and spoke with them during the class. This gave students the opportunity to learn about the construction of wooden musical instruments while learning about the cultural and social meanings of instruments through music, identity and art.

Asked about her experience learning in the workshops, Bailee Brekke '20 said, "I really enjoyed having the opportunity to be creative in a hands-on setting. There are so many different outlets provided by Dartmouth for students to have a wide range of experiences. Having class in the jewelry studio really opened my eyes to these other outlets and I am really excited to go back."