Technology has driven all areas of music at the University of Oklahoma. The core curriculum of music theory, a two-year sequence of courses taken by every music major, is taught in the MIDI laboratories and incorporates technology into the daily teaching environment. Students each use a synthsizer and a sequencer, a stand-alone piece of equipment which stores and plays back simple musical examples. Students take music dictation from the synthesizer and, unlike live dictation from the piano, specific musical voices can be played with different sounds or volumes as many times as the student requires. Composition students compose with the aid of computers which can notate and playback their scores.
Performers program the computer to act as accompanist for practice sessions.
An ensemble of ten graduate piano students was invited to perform at major conventions nationwide. The ensemble produced the sound of an entire orchestra on Kurzweil synthesizers and accompanied live pianists playing concertos. Piano pedagogy students program synthesizers to accompany young piano students, teaching them valuable skills in rhythm and improvisation. These graduate assistants supervise the MIDI lab, teach beginning courses to students, and assist faculty in all technological questions and needs. Each of fifty workstations has a computer, synthesizer, and software for the music student.