Tommy Higbie thought it would be cool to have a music studio at the Outback Teen Center. During his days as a student at New Canaan High School, he played the guitar and bass and figured it would be another option for kids beyond playing video games and shooting pool at the center.
But he never thought his idea would go beyond his simple wish. Now it has, and the 2010 New Canaan High graduate is showing kids how to make beautiful music as well as some loud and edgy sounds.
It allows kids to create, said Higbie, an engineer at the new Outback Studio and a studio tech teacher for seventh- and eighth-graders with the New Canaan YMCA. Its taking what you put in words and expanding on it.
The Outback Studio opened last month in the teen centers lower level in what previously had been a storage room. The studio became possible thanks to a pair of $5,000 donations from the New Canaan Community Foundation and the Kiwanis Club.
Kids such as Peter Thunem, 13, are glad Higbie made the request. He tried out the headphones and the keyboard during a special opening ceremony last week. Its pretty awesome, Peter said after hearing the power of the earphones and speakers. He said he might drop by more often to see whether he can create a hit.
Higbie said he probably would have spent a lot of his after-school time in the studio had it existed during his high school years. He expects more kids will visit the studio as gets around. I think were going to get an avalanche of people coming back here to try this stuff out, and Ill be more than happy to show it to them."
Will you encourage your friends or your kids to use the new Outback Teen Center music studio? Let us know by leaving a comment below. You can also visit our Facebook page.
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