Abbey Road visit another “Day in the Life” for Kikta

Thomas Kikta, associate professor of music technology, sitting in a recording studio by a large audio mixing console. — [Courtesy of Thomas Kikta] Thomas Kikta sits in Studio 3 at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. This is the same studio where Pink Floyd recorded their 1973 album “The Dark Side of the Moon.”

Ella Fahey | staff writer

Thomas Kikta, associate professor of music technology, has worked with a laundry list of big names, from Seth MacFarlane at ‘Family Guy’ to Jeff Bergman from ‘Looney Tunes.’

This summer, he added another big name to the list — Abbey Road Studios in London, England, where The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Lady Gaga have all recorded.

Kikta was one of 25 sound educators around the world who got the chance to present at Abbey Road Studios. His project, which involved students on campus in Pittsburgh, along with professionals in Los Angeles, sought to recreate an old radio show.

To achieve this, Kikta and his team of students and faculty used LISTENTO, an emerging recording technology. It is modeled after Integrated Services Digital Network, or ISDN, which was a technology popularly used in the 90s to remotely record live audio from different locations.

To recreate a section of a Looney Tunes skit called “Wun Rabbit Wun,” Duquesne students recorded the orchestral parts of the skit, which were composed by faculty member Michael Andreas. Andreas lives in Los Angeles but teaches Duquesne students remotely.

Bergman, the official voice of Bugs Bunny also participated live from Los Angeles to provide the spoken parts.

Andreas and Bergman recorded live from Los Angeles in conjunction with the Duquesne orchestra in Pittsburgh to create a lively four-minute demonstration of musical expression, creativity and technical mastery.

The project was a culmination of a life dedicated to music and technology.

Kikta’s mother was a professional church organist, who kept an organ in their family home. His father was an electrical engineer with a love of the mandolin. Between his two parents, the house was full of music, and around the time he turned 10, he joined in.

A musician playing an electric guitar on stage with a purple backdrop, accompanied by a band in the background. — [Courtesy of Thomas Kikta] Thomas Kikta perfiorming at “ten in seven.” The performance required him to use 14 different tunings throughout the show.

Not only did Kikta develop a deep love for guitar performance, but thanks to his father’s profession, he was also exposed to electronics. He remembers experimenting as a child with microphones and tape recorders.

“Once you’re hooked by it, it just grows, you know? And now I have more guitars and more recording gear and all kinds of stuff, and it just keeps going,” he said. “I’ve always been fascinated by both the electronic side and the music side of the industry and it kind of became a natural for me to try to go in that direction.”

When Kikta went to college, there was no program that combined his love for musical performance with his fascination for recording technology.

He found himself majoring in guitar performance, first at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University and then at the University of North Carolina School of Arts, while he held work study positions in a recording studio.

After graduation, he was hired by Duquesne University as the director of the classical guitar program.

“When they hired me, they also knew I was an audio engineer, they said, hey, you know, we’d be interested in some new curriculum,” he said. “And that’s when the light bulb came on. ‘Hey, design what you didn’t have when you were 18.’ And so I designed the Recording Arts and Science program, which is the sound recording technology program here.”

Kikta’s program was introduced in 1991, but even after 34 years, it has remained far from stagnant.

“He’s constantly refining and making things better,” said Alexander Price, an adjunct professor who also studied under Kikta. “He’s always reevaluating what’s relevant in the industry and tailoring the program to best fit that.”

Kikta said as of right now, there have been around 20 awards — Emmys, Grammys and Clios – won by graduates of his program.

“He sees each individual person’s strengths,” Price said. “He likes to nurture that and has a great ability to see what [his students] are capable of and help them get there.”

Andreas has known and worked with Kikta for only a handful of years but has a deep appreciation for him as a professional, as an educator and as a friend.

“He’s a great guy. He’s very knowledgeable and a very fine musician. It’s a real pleasure working with him.”

Throughout his years of experience, Kikta said his career highlight was writing ballet music for the New York City Ballet in 2015.

A dancer in a blue dress is receiving a bouquet of flowers while shaking hands with a man holding a guitar on stage, with a musician visible in the background. — [Courtesy of Thomas Kikta] Emily Kikta (left) and her father, Thomas Kikta (right), hold hands after a performance of the show “ten in seven.”

The ballet, “ten in seven,” was an 18-minute ballet, choreographed by Peter Walker. It centered on guitar performance, which meant that Kikta performed on the guitar in the shows.

Emily Kikta, his daughter, also happened to be a soloist in the ballet.

“The choreographer even gave us a moment where I’m playing a solo, and she’s dancing to the solo before the pas de deux starts, and her dance partner comes on stage,” he said. “So that was a career highlight for me, because it brought both of my loves to the table: writing my music and my family working with my daughter, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Ella Fahey can be reached at faheyi@duq.edu