CLASSROOM STEM ACTIVITY: CREATING AN IDEAL SPACE FOR LISTENING

Glen ZollmanVP of STEM Jobs

MUSIC SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY // ZILDJIAN

MAKING IT IN THE MUSIC BIZ

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PAUL FRANCISDIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENTZILDJIAN

STEM TYPE: INVESTIGATOR

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Making It in the Music BizBY ELLEN EGLEY

Everyone has dreamed of what it would be like to be a rock star— the fame, the money, the lifestyle, the feeling you would get as thousands of people scream your name and sing along with every word of your songs. Unfortunately, achieving celebrity status as a musician is difficult, and you can’t earn accolades and fame singing in the shower or nailing an air guitar solo while sitting around with your friends. But you don’t have give up your dreams of making it big in the music industry! With the right STEM skills and a passion for music, you could find success in the world of music science and technology.

Zildjian, a company that makes world-class cymbals, is one of the leaders in the music science and technology industry. While attempting to create gold by combining base metals, an Armenian alchemist named Avedis Zildjian discovered an alloy of copper, tin, and traces of silver with unique sound qualities. He used this secret alloy to create cymbals of spectacular clarity and power as early as 1618. The company he founded has been around for nearly 400 years and is recognized as the oldest family owned business in America. Despite its age, Zildjian continues to innovate and revolutionize music technology through its secret alloy - and some serious STEM skills.

To find out about the different types of STEM careers available at Zildjian and the STEM skills needed to be successful, we spoke with Mike Sutton, Zildjian’s Gen16 product manager; Paul Francis, the director of research and development; and Debbie Zildjian, who serves as vice president - human resources and is on Zildjian’s executive team.

FOR MORE INFO, CHECK OUT ZILDJIAN.COM

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ZILDJIAN

DEBBIE ZILDJIANVICE PRESIDENT - HUMAN RESOURCES ZILDJIANSTEM TYPE: INTEGRATOR

MIKE SUTTONGEN16 PRODUCT MANAGERZILDJIAN STEM TYPE: DESIGNER

“I TOOK AN INTRODUCTORY CLASS IN MUSIC TECHNOLOGY AND IT OPENED MY EYES TO THE MUSICAL POSSIBILITIES WITH THE USE OF RECORDING, SAMPLING, SEQUENCING AND SYNTHESIZING SOUNDS.”

Mike, Paul, and Debbie all have very different backgrounds that led them to very different roles within the company. Percussion was a passion for Paul, who said, “From a very young age I knew I wanted to play the drums. It was later on in life that I decided to make it a profession. After 6-8 months of my employment at Zildjian I decided that I would like to stay and be a professional cymbal maker.” Paul’s years of drumming were a huge asset for him at Zildjian, but he had to work hard to get to where he is today. “In order to perform my current job, director of research & development, you would need a degree in one of the engineering disciplines. I began at Zildjian as a lathe operator, along with being a professional drummer playing on the weekends. After 10 years at Zildjian I was asked to attend night school to pursue a degree in engineering. I went to night school for 7½ years and received a degree in mechanical engineering,” he said.

Mike’s path to a career in the music science and technology industry also started at a young age. As he explained, “My interest in music technology started when I went to a Berklee College of Music five-week program designed for high school students. I took an introductory class in music technology and it opened my eyes to the musical possibilities with the use of recording, sampling, sequencing and synthesizing sounds.” Mike’s current role involves managing the electronic side of Zildjian’s product offerings and emerging products. “The best type of education that I could recommend for my product manager role here at Zildjian would be a mixture of audio engineering, marketing, sales and business,” he said.

Debbie Zildjian followed a very different path. As her name implies, she is a member of the 14th generation of Zildjians to run the family business, and has been surrounded by music her entire life. Initially, however, she envisioned a career in politics and said, “Growing up in the 1960s it was impossible not to make the connection between music and politics. I finished college as a political science major and my first job was in a political polling firm where I was fortunate to work on hundreds of campaigns ranging from mayoral races to the presidency. Politics was a rough business and although I learned a lot about life, I eventually decided it wasn’t for me.” Since then, she has held various roles within Zildjian. As she explained, “Early on I worked in the factory and gained an appreciation for what it takes to make a quality cymbal. It really made me feel

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connected to my grandfather and father, who were the true innovators of the modern cymbal and worked hand in hand with the drummers of their time and the craftsman in the factory.” Debbie is also responsible for the melting room operation, where a 380-year-old ritual is followed to produce the company’s secret alloy. Although family traditions play a huge role in the company, Debbie’s current position keeps her focused on the future. “The most rewarding part of my role as VP – human resources is building and revitalizing the Zildjian team. When you recruit people who are passionate about what they do and engage them in being part of the Zildjian team, you are able to shape the future of the company and keep the business moving forward,” she said.

Despite their varying roles and backgrounds, Mike, Paul, and Debbie all agree that STEM skills are essential for anyone looking to get into the music science and technology industry. As Debbie outlined, “All STEM skills are required at one level or another. While I may not use science or engineering in

my daily job, I do have to understand the importance of these skills so we can recruit the right people to support our R&D, product innovation and manufacturing process improvements. Technology is part of everyone’s job today and continues to change how we do our jobs and add value. Finally, as an owner and along with my sister Craigie as the CEO, it’s imperative that we understand the financial success of the business. Math skills are necessary in understanding and evaluating the success metrics of the business.”

Mike and Paul use very specific sets of STEM skills in their roles. Mike works directly with the Gen16 product lines, which are real cymbals that play at up to 70 percent less volume thanks to a unique perforated pattern. Because they are real cymbals, they can be played just like a regular cymbal, using any stick, mallet or technique. “There is a lot of research, design and building skills that are needed to work the factories that are involved with the Gen16/Low Volume product lines. You need to be able to translate the customer wants and

needs to the operators, programmers and management who are constructing the products,” he explained. Paul added, “I am in charge of designing all of the new products and the re-design of current products. Along with the design role my department actually builds all of the prototypes, so a good understanding of manufacturing is key. A strong math and science background is important as you need to be comfortable making calculations with regard to forces and pressures.”

Mike also has some great advice for students looking for a career in music. “Follow your passion - whether it be playing, building, marketing, designing, selling, recording, or any of the other facets of the music technology sector. When the job is something you truly enjoy, it doesn’t feel like work, but fun,” he advised.

It sounds like a job in the music science and technology industry could be a great way for STEM students to achieve their dreams of making it in the music biz - and make a living while doing what they love.

CLASSROOM STEM ACTIVITY: CREATING AN IDEAL SPACE FOR LISTENINGHere are some ideas for how middle school teachers could use this story as a launching point for integrated STEM learning.

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You are an acoustic design engineering team tasked with designing a space to help address acoustic challenges faced by the building owners. You will be given a set of specific needs that must be met and will be evaluated on how well you address those needs, as well as the quality of your design and presentation.

A local concert hall has been getting complaints that the music from the bands and other performers on stage sounds very muffled when it reaches the audience. They’ve decided to add some new sound deflecting devices and materials to their stage and need your firm to help them with an acoustical design that ensures sound will reach the attendees throughout the auditorium.

Have students read the “Making it in the Music Biz” article in STEM Jobs magazine.

Ask students to share their experiences with listening to a speaker, watching a concert, viewing a movie, etc., where they had either a really good or a really poor experience with the quality/clarity of the sound. Have students try to recall the setting and think about how that might have impacted the acoustical experience.

Show the video discussing some of the concepts of acoustical engineering that can be found at edu.STEMjobs.com/teacher-resources.

Have students explore the concept of “loudness” by researching the terms frequency, amplitude, and decibel. Several resources that do a nice job of explaining those concepts in relatively easy to understand terms can be found at edu.STEMjobs.com/teacher-resources.

Have the class brainstorm 5 - 7 different situations/locations where an acoustic engineer could have a real impact. Challenge them to think both about locations where sound needs to be enhanced - such as concert halls, auditoriums, or theaters - and also where sound needs to be limited or strictly controlled such as in a recording studio, a hospital nursery, or a neighborhood next to a freeway/airport. What are some ways that acoustic engineers control sound to fit their needs?

Whether you are listening to a speaker in the school gym, watching a movie at the local theater, or singing along with your favorite band at the local concert stage, you are experiencing the work of a group of people called acoustic engineers. These people are charged with maximizing the acoustical qualities of the spaces in which we work, live, and play. This lesson will challenge your students to design a space for a specific acoustic purpose.

The Challenge

The Space:

Setting the Stage for the Challenge

1 STEMjobs.com Creating an Ideal Space for Listening

2 STEMjobs.com Creating an Ideal Space for Listening

2 For this challenge, students should design, construct, and test a “concert hall” (a box with one end open) that focuses the sound in a specific direction to maximize the audience’s ability to hear what is happening on stage. Here are some important factors to consider: • The position of the speaker in the box and what direction it faces: Ideally, the speaker should sit in the middle of the stage (the floor of the box) with the sound directed either up or up and out. • Location of the decibel measurement device: We suggest having the measurement device sitting approximately 3 feet in front of the box. Feel free to try different positions to see who gets the most uniform distribution. • The type performance: Live bands typically have a decibel level of around 100 dB, while a normal conversation will range from 60 - 80 dB.

At this point, it’s time to break the class into teams of 2- 4 students. Each team will be responsible for: • Determining the testing procedure that will be used to evaluate the models (this must be done prior to starting work on building the models). • Creating small-scale “rooms” using standard boxes that meet the criteria of the stated challenges. • Creating a presentation that they will deliver as a part of the final test of their model. This presentation should clearly outline the key elements of their design, why they chose the design elements (materials, structural components, etc…), how their design works to meet the specific challenge, and describe the process they went through by testing, redesigning, and re-testing their model as they worked toward their final version.

Getting Started

• Cardboard boxes of roughly the same dimensions and construction: We found that using 18 x 18 x 24 boxes worked the best - they’re available at local Home Depot in packs of 15 for $30. Using boxes that are of the same size and construction is important to ensuring results are measured on a level playing field. • You will want to remove the flaps from one side of the box and use those for deflecting material. • Insulating or deflecting material such as batting, fabric cardboard, wood, or Styrofoam. • Two cell phones or tablets that can connect to a speaker to play sounds or be used to measure the decibel level. • A small speaker that can fit inside the boxes. A Bluetooth speaker is ideal as it will allow the speaker to operate without wires. Ask your students as it is very likely at least one will have this kind of a speaker. Alternatively, you can find inexpensive Bluetooth speakers (around $10) at most department stores or online. • A decibel measuring app. These are readily available for free, for both Android and iPhones on iTunes App Store or Google Play store by searching for “decibel meter.”

Materials Needed:

Have the students develop a specific testing procedure that everyone will follow to measure how well their design met the specified criteria. For example, they will need to measure decibel levels at various locations pertinent to the requirements of the challenge. Students should also deliver their presentation to the class prior to going through the final testing procedure. We’ve provided a sample tracking document and rubric for you to use, but feel free to have students create their own.

Determining the Winner

The challenge outlined here is only the starting point. Feel free to make it your own. Have your students think of other scenarios to test. Find apps or software that can help create 3D representations of how sound waves travel. But most importantly, reach out to the other teachers at your school who teach music, physics, engineering, design, and/or work with CAD programs and collaborate with them on how to take this challenge to the next level.

Final Thoughts

Next Generation Science Standards

Standards Addressed

Cross-Curricular Connections

MS-PS4-2. Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7. Integrate visual information (e.g. in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7/8.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7/8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

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