8 • The Southwest Portland Post
FEATURES
December 2014
Capitol Highway project back on the table
By Don Snedecor
The Southwest Portland Post
Wilson High School sound engineers record and mix their own music.
(Post photo by Janet Goetze)
Sound engineering class gives Wilson
HS students another outlet for music
Denver where students were bused to
a facility for cultural arts, McCleave
said. He worked with equipment that
gave him the background to become
Nick Caldwell, Wilson High School’s
a production manager for nationally
band director, wanted to give students
known entertainers.
an outlet for music, whether they could
“I learned a lot in a program like
read notes or not. The solution he
this,” McCleave said, “and I wanted to
found, with the help of volunteers, is a
give back, if I could.”
class in sound engineering.
McCleave put Caldwell in touch with
He has about 40 students, evenly
Guitar Center, which provided a studio
divided between two classes, working
package with 11 Pro Tools programs,
at keyboards linked to computer
the industry standard in digital audio
screens that are part of the Pro Tools
work stations.
program, used in professional digital
“They gave me a lot of equipment for
audio work.
a reduced price,” Caldwell said.
The students, all juniors and seniors,
A Seattle relative of a student
have been exploring how to produce
donated additional used equipment
sounds and rhythms on the equipment,
that Caldwell expects to use next
then record and
semester as the
digitally mix
classes progress.
music. Caldwell Music director Nick Caldwell will
Dave Pakula, a
also is teaching
Rieke
Elementary
lead the freshman, advanced and
them music
Sc ho o l p are nt
jazz bands in a variety of holiday who has taught
theory.
“That’s so we music on traditional instruments a r e c o r d i n g
can improvise in a free performance Friday, Dec. class at Portland
better music,”
5 at 7 p.m. at Wilson High School. C o m m u n i t y
said Kyle Sautter,
College, recently
a senior who
gave the students
plays trumpet in
a tutorial
Wilson’s symphonic and jazz bands.
on sound waves and microphone
“By the end of the year,” Caldwell
placement to achieve desired effects.
said, “we’ll probably have a CD out.
A low note, for instance, may travel
At least, that’s the goal.”
25 feet. The sound waves will bounce
In addition, he wants to prepare
around in a small room but will
interested students for the music tech
resonate differently in a larger room,
program at Portland Community
Pakula said.
College. Some also may seek an
Dynamic microphones, which
internship at a local recording studio,
resemble a large cigar, are hardy devices
he said.
that can be used in many circumstances,
Some students are drawn to the
Pakula said.
technical aspects of the class and some
A condenser microphone, usually
like the computer science, Caldwell
placed on a stand, has a larger head
said.
and is more sensitive than a dynamic
Chase Jorgenson, a junior who hasn’t
microphone. It gives good aural detail
studied music, is taking the class to
for acoustic instruments, said Pakula.
learn more about it.
The sound engineering class is
“I thought the process of making
taught in a windowless, former storage
music was interesting -- how all the
room off the school cafeteria which
different sounds come together,”
Caldwell and principal Brian Chatard
Jorgensen said.
transformed into a studio last summer.
Senior Allen Golberg said, “I’ve never
Jack Williams, a junior who plays
done anything music-wise but this
trumpet in the symphonic band,
seemed interesting and a way to see
elected to take the class to explore the
how it’s done the modern way.”
possibilities of electronic music.
Caldwell has an entertainment
He and Kyle Sautter wore headphones
industry professional, Bruce McCleave,
to work together at a keyboard, checking
helping him develop the curriculum
the computer screen to determine if
and work on the equipment with
they wanted to change settings to alter
students.
the sounds they were producing.
McCleave, whose daughter is a Wilson
Williams also noted that the electronic
freshman, heard about Caldwell’s plans
set-up enables one musician to play as
from a parent at Robert Gray Middle
a quartet. “One person can record four
School.
parts,” he said, “then play them back at
He got his start at a high school in
the same time.”
By Janet Goetze
The Southwest Portland Post
A new Portland transportation
income tax proposed by Mayor Charlie
Hales and City Commissioner Steve
Novick would generate approximately
$47 million per year. Portland City
Council is expected to vote on the new
tax sometime in December.
Half of that money would go toward
street maintenance and the other half
would be dedicated to safety-oriented
projects. Sidewalks and bicycle lanes
along major arterials, for instance.
According to Mark Lear, with the
Portland Bureau of Transportation,
the new income tax would cover half
of a revised (and revived) $10 million
Capitol Highway project (Taylors Ferry
Road to Garden Home Road), including
sidewalks on one side only, and bike
lanes along the climbing side.
According to Lear, the remaining $5
million would be paid for by system
development charges.
For comparison, the cost of the same
project with sidewalks and bike lanes
on both sides was estimated at $21.9
million, for approximately one linear
mile.
One of the reasons for such a high cost
of construction is containing stormwater.
Retired city environmental engineer Al
Iverson gave a fascinating PowerPoint
presentation last month which included
video of water streaming down the same
stretch of Capitol Highway, showing a
variety of directions of drainage.
Iverson said he was concerned that
City environmental engineers are
considering only the highway itself, and
not the surrounding 82 acre watershed.
Lear, who had seen the presentation,
agreed that this holistic approach to
rebuilding Capitol Highway would keep
water draining properly, because unlike
the East Side, the existing storm sewer
system in Southwest is incomplete.
The main problem in Southwest is the
soil structure, said Iverson. A 143-foot
test well revealed layer after layer of clay
soils and no water. A similar test well
dug in Southeast in the Lents area was
dramatically different, with a variety of
layers of soft soil and gravel and ground
water readily available.
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