David Ott Lab for Music and Health

Ott lab

The newly redesigned David Ott Lab for Music and Health is an innovative space for research and education on the role of digital music technologies in the promotion of human wellbeing in its various forms. The Lab is equipped with current digital music technologies and serves as a resource for students, music therapists, and other members of the community to learn about the role of digital music in health-promoting practice and research.

David Ott Lab

Lab equipment includes:

  1. A recording studio equipped with Logic Pro X, Ableton Live Suite10, Arcade by Output, Splice, Ableton Push 2, MOTU UltraLite mk4  interface, Korg microKey and nanoKey Studio, and recording microphones.
  2. A beat-making station equipped with the latest drum machines, samplers, and synthesizers from Korg (Volca series, electribe series, kaossilator 2) and Akai (MPC Live).
  3. A DJ station with Pioneer controllers and Serato software.
  4. A portable recording studio with the latest mobile recording software and digital music applications including iPad Pro, IK multimedia iRig Pro Duo Studio Suite with MIDI keyboard.

These four stations can be configured in a variety of ways allowing for new discoveries into health affordances of digital technology.

The David Ott Lab for Music and Health will provide our community a space to innovate new research methodologies and discover new health-promoting applications of digital technology in music therapy. It also provides an educational space for current students to learn about advanced methods of clinical practice using digital technologies.

Ott lab
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Exploring the Power of Music to Support Health and Wellbeing

The David Ott Lab for Music and Health gives Cali students a dedicated space to explore how music can support healing, connection, and quality of life. Through hands-on learning, research, and clinical practice, students gain experience using music in thoughtful, evidence-informed ways while preparing for meaningful work in the field of music therapy.

"I graduated from Cali’s music therapy program and am now a Board-Certified Music Therapist. The knowledgeable, kind professors created an environment that inspired me to pursue this challenging, rewarding career."

—Baylee Kramer MT-BC, '24, Music Therapy major
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Beats from the Heart

Beats from the Heart brings a diverse array of music technologies and music production equipment directly to the community to support the social and emotional wellness of middle and high school students who have recently arrived to the United States from Spanish-speaking countries. The program provides a safe space for these youth to express themselves through songwriting, beat-making, composition, instrumental music and video creation, with a goal of centering their own agency towards increasing resilience in the face of the challenges they face, and promoting community empowerment through music. Beats from the Heart was piloted in the Fall of 2022 with Entrenadores Escolares, part of Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, a nonprofit educational program in Montclair, NJ that provides after-school bilingual tutoring and social support to middle and high school students in the public schools. Montclair State University students studying music therapy, under the direction of dedicated faculty, lead a weekly program during the school year. The healing and sense of empowerment that the program provides is evident: Entrenadores Escolares students have formed their own musical group, Musica del Mundo.

2026 Program: Rise Up! 

The David Ott Lab for Music and Health was proud to collaborate with CLaSE and the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence on Rise Up: Overcoming Challenges and Finding Inner Strength. Through music production, mentorship, and performance, Montclair music therapy students helped young people from immigrant families build confidence, express their creativity, and share their voices with the community. This partnership brought community music therapy into action through connection, collaboration, and music-making. Read more about Rise Up.

Music Therapy Ott Lab program "Rise Up!" Students in lab
Rise Up program 2 students and professor in Ott Lab
Music Therapy Ott Lab program "Rise Up!" Students on stage

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"The undergraduate music therapy program at Montclair State University gave me a strong foundation. As a recent graduate, I strengthened my clinical reasoning, musicianship, and understanding of client-centered practice."

Elena Latiano, '26, Music Therapy, Voice primary
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Current and Upcoming Projects:

  1. Cultural Identity Audio-biography Study (IRB Protocol #IRB-FY22-23-2995)
    Primary Investigators: Drs. Michael Viega, Director of the David Ott Lab for Music and Health; Dr. Pamela K Saril, Director of the Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center (AAARCC) at Purdue University, and Dr. Stewart Chang Alexander, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health.
    The David Ott Lab for Music and Health is researching a unique protocol for music therapy called  Cultural Identity Audio-Biography (CIAB). For this initial study Asian American teenagers were invited to create DJ mixes telling their unique stories in sound and song. Working with a Board-Certified Music Therapist, participants combined meaningful songs and quotes to explore their cultural identities, life experiences, and sense of belonging. The study examines how music and digital technologies can help young people express the complex parts of who they are. More Info

Recent Publications and Presentations 

  1. Viega, M. (2024). Queering the sonic episteme within music therapy using digital music technologies. In C. A. Lee (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of queer and trans music therapy (pp. 459–482). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192898364.013.30
  2. Viega, M., Druziako, V., Millrod, J., & Hoberman, A. (2023). Entering the ambient: A performative collaborative autoethnography of music therapists’ improvising with digital music technologies. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v23i1.3510
  3. Understanding Transgenerational Trauma and Grief Through Digitally Remixing Music of the Holocaust: Brian Abrams, Ph.D., MT-BC, LCAT Michael Viega, Ph.D., MT-BC, LCAT https://youtu.be/nZDCY_Kn2XU
  4. The Politics of Noise: Digital Music Cultures and Identities in Music Therapy: Dr. Michael Viega, Ph.D., LCAT, MT-BC and Dr. Alexander Crooke (Australia). https://youtu.be/v5e4TTha4fM
  5. Every Door Will Open: Artistic Design and Performance in Music Therapy Research https://youtu.be/NmvpySLHCus

Questions?