By Dylan Bradley/reporter

NE Campus’ music department renovation is complete after two years.

The renovations were largely spurred because of the acoustics in the Fine Arts Building, especially the music appreciation and practice rooms, said music department chair Karen Parsons.

“The sound … where we play music for our students would leak to the next classroom,” she said. “The practice rooms … would leak into classrooms.”

Parsons said the renovations included raising the ceiling in the choir room, installing white smart boards for all classrooms and adding two separate rooms dedicated to choral music and instrumental music, new practice rooms, a listening lab and Bose speakers for five large classrooms.

“We lost some closet space here and there, and we gained some lab computer spaces and library spaces,” she said. “Everything that got replaced is just amazing.”

The new practice rooms were designed with thicker walls going up to the roof and solid metal doors that have provided an 80 percent improvement in noise reduction, Parsons said.

“What I like most … is what they did with the practice rooms,” NE student Joseph King said. “They are a lot more soundproof than they previously were. You can still hear what people are doing but not near as bad.”

King also said that he liked the individual climate control options in the practice rooms but wished that students could control them.

The new listening lab will be carved out of the existing computer lab in the music building and include eight computers with nice headphones, Parsons said.

“Not all students can afford to buy the CDs that come with our music appreciation books,” she said.

Streaming audio from the publishers will be available on those computers for that purpose.

“I thought that was something we sorely needed,” said Philippe Baugh, assistant professor of music. “We listen to music, and this allows them to do it.”

Baugh also said the new computer systems and data projectors are the best part of the building’s renovations for him as an instructor.

“They just had one of those stand-alone data projectors on a cart. Now, they have the ones like the rest of the classrooms where it’s all set up,” he said. “It’s just a lot better for teaching and learning.”

The department is having an open house to showcase the new renovations at 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Oct. 11.