WEBVTT

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[music]

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Here at Western Oregon University in the music department, we've recognized for a long time

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that American popular music and popular music styles of the last 150 years

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are the primary driving force behind current musical culture around the world.

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What makes this program unique, certainly, is that

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this is the only popular music track at the master's level

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anywhere at an accredited institution.

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So if you want to get a master's degree and popular music is what interests you

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then right now, Western is the only place to go.

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[music]

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BERGERON: Our goal is to prepare them for careers in the music industry as performers,

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as composers, arrangers, producers for various media, or as educators.

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One of the distinctive features of the Popular Music program at WOU is the flexibility of the curriculum.

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We've developed the program so that students can study the music that they're interested in

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within the context of a comprehensive academic degree.

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Students are able to choose from courses that include jazz arranging, orchestration,

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songwriting, audio production, and popular music.

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[music]

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BERGERON: I feel one of the greatest advantages of attending a smaller university such as WOU

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is the opportunity students have to work closely with faculty.

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We serve as mentors for students, and we often perform in ensembles with them.

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[music]

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This is Western's brand new recording studio, just opened this year. We're all very excited about it.

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It's about 1,100 square feet. Nice big control room

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that also doubles as a classroom for our audio production courses.

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We get about 15 students in here. Big live room for recording small ensembles

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and then a couple of other smaller rooms for singers or drums, stuff like that.

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Audio production students, and they get to record all sorts of different things.

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Master's students, who need to make a record here during their studies, have a studio that they can work in.

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There's really no way for an audio student to know what they're doing unless they have hands-on training

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and actually record ensembles or artists or overdub and mix or whatever it is, and they can do all of that here.

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[music]

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COKER: Parents should feel good about sending their students here

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for the simple reason that their kids will be able to come here and study what is their passion,

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while at the same time getting a 4-year degree.

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[music]