The crisp, staccato snare drum hits of The Beatles’ ‘Get Back’ fills a dimly lit control room inside SubCat Studios. A steady booming bass line follows suit, accented by twangy guitar riffs. The tune closes with a soft clash of a hi-hat cymbal.

‘We recorded something,’ someone exclaims over the lingering final notes. The room erupts into cheers and clapping. It’s the second day of Syracuse University’s new two-week music program, SUmmer at SUbCat, and its participants just accomplished their first project: setting up instruments in a studio and recording a track.

Inside the downtown Syracuse recording studio, 10 SU graduate students teach music production and engineering to a group of local students with disabilities.

The program is the brainchild of James Abbott, professor of audio engineering at the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Abbott said his inspiration was his 13-year-old son, Alexander. Alex has Down syndrome, a genetic condition marked by a delay in cognitive and behavioral development.

Though Abbott tries to cultivate his son’s creative side, finding the right programming has not been easy. Even more difficult is trying to convince skeptics that given the proper training and guidance, Alex can hone new skills, Abbott said.

‘He deserves support, kindness and patience not only because he has a disability, but also because he is a human being,’ Abbott said. ‘People like Alex can contribute something to society just as much, if not more so, than we can.’

The idea of a music recording program for students with disabilities struck him during his research on more accessible audio software programming as a fellow at the Burton Blatt Institute at SU, which promotes the inclusion and equal participation of people with disabilities in society.

‘It was a light bulb moment,’ Abbott said.

With support from BBI Chairman Peter Blanck, Abbott applied for the Innovative Summer Program Development Funds through University College. After receiving the grant on March 9, 2010, Abbott officially created the SU class ‘Studio Recording/The Inclusive Recording Studio: SUmmer at SUbCat.’ The class is co-taught by John Coggiola, chair of the music education department, and culminates in a two-week mentorship program with high school students.

Abbott spread the word to administrators and teachers in local city school districts via email. Within months, the program attracted 13 campers; one SU undergraduate and nine high school students with Individualized Education Programs, personalized learning programs tailored to specific disabilities; and three high school students with no disabilities, coined ‘typical students’ by Abbott and others running the program.

One camper, 15-year-old Gabrielle Ionnatti from Cicero, loves to sing. Her mother, Cheri Ionnatti, said Gabby, who has Down syndrome, learned to identify colors, develop number sense and speak through music. When she was eight, Gabby took saxophone lessons at Cicero Elementary. After three months, the band teacher told Iannotti that Gabby had made no progress and suggested she drop the instrument.

‘Maybe she never worked with special needs kids before,’ Iannotti said. ‘But I felt that she just gave up because Gabby wasn’t going to be the typical band student.’

The program’s music education graduates represent the future generation of teachers who will nurture the skills and interests of students with disabilities, Iannotti said.

‘This is giving them an opportunity to see what these kids can do if you give them a chance. They may not be perfect. But at least they can learn — they can try.’ she said. ‘And for me, this is that chance for Gabby to do what she loves.’

Clutching a sheet paper with the lyrics to ‘Get Back (SubCat Style),’ Gabby eyed the chorus. Two graduate students rewrote the words, weaving the campers’ names throughout the song.

‘SubCat, SubCat, SubCat is where we all belong,’ Gabby sang.

The campers will record the song for an album set for release at the end of the program and also perform it at a gala concert at the Red House Arts Center Aug. 12. The concert, featuring Syracuse-based Latin-American band Grupo Pagan, will close out the program.

On the first day of the program, the campers toured SubCat. In the recording rooms, they wrapped cable wires and learned about the functions of all the equipment in the control room. Several campers inched near the large mixing console, gazing at its buttons and knobs. Music blasted through the speakers.

‘Don’t be shy,’ one of the graduate students encouraged.

Meghan King, a 14-year-old with Down Syndromewho will attend North Syracuse Junior High this fall,pressed her fingers on a fader, a device that controls volume. She slid it up and a crackling noise pierced through the singer’s voice.

Dan Blanck,one of Abbott’s teaching assistants, pointed at the flashing lights on the console. Red indicates high volume and green indicates a more balanced sound, he said.

Smiling slightly, Meghan pushed up all the faders, the red light blaring and the disjointed cacophony of sound increasing.

‘That’s loud,’ one camper remarked.

Cracking her mouth wide in a satisfied grin, Meghan let out a laugh.

As the program progresses, the campers will take turns using an application on an iPad that transfers and receives information from the mixing console, serving as a more accessible way to create and alter songs, Abbott said.

At the end of the day, SU graduate student Brittany Lynch collected their journals. Lynch, who will receive her master’s degree in music education at the end of the program, said reading the campers’ comments helped her gage their thoughts.

‘Music is a passion that we all share. But each student has their own expectations of what they’re going to get out of the program,’ she said. ‘So we’re going to give them a bunch of different opportunities and just let them find their own niche.’

On the second day of the program, every camper helped prepare for recording. Wires connected and microphones set in place, the musicians played their instruments as some campers watched through the clear glass windows from the control room.Eric Thorborsen, a 19-year-old student at G.W. Fowler High School with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, orADHD, smiled from inside the small isolation booth, shaking a tambourine.At the end of the track, he gave a thumbs-up.

With the foundation of the track laid down, the group will record guitar, keyboards and vocals, Abbott said. Next week, the students will design the album’s cover, supervised by Abbott’s wife Elizabeth, an art teacher inthe North Syracuse Central School District. Alex will join them. 

Before the program began, Elizabeth Abbott spoke with each camper’s families. She said one shared conversation centered onjob opportunities. Students with IEPs and significant disabilities are legally allowed to attend public school until they reach age 21, she said.

‘Your child goes to school until they’re 21 and then what?’ she said, echoing some of the families’ concerns.

She said SUmmer at SUbCat will help the students develop more life skills, expanding the career paths open to them in the future. Abbott said he plans for the program to continue next summer. Outside the control room, he turned his head toward the pulsing beat of the campers’ first recorded track and smiled.

‘I have to pinch myself. This started from a very small idea and it blew up into something tangible,’ he said. ‘And it seems to be working, so I’m very pleased. It was a lot of work but it was all worth it.’

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Published on August 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm