Barry R. Hill, D.Ed.
Professor of Audio Engineering
Director, Audio & Music Production Program
Lebanon Valley College of Pennsylvania
I am the owner and Principal of Rivershore Creative, Ltd. Rivershore Press is our boutique publishing company, focusing on experience design (theme parks, museums, events, etc), audio engineering, and education. We work with industry experts, such as former Disney Imagineers, to share their expertise and wisdom with students, professionals, and fans. We also love to produce coffee table books, including specialty project for theme parks to sell in their shops.
For over thirty years I was professor and director of the Audio & Music Production Degree Program at Lebanon Valley College of Pennsylvania. I developed the curriculum, taught courses in the areas of recording and audio engineering, oversaw a fantastic team of adjunct instructors, built pretty awesome recording studio facilities, and got to work with some amazing students over the years.
I’m an author of several books on audio engineering, podcasting, and theme parks. See my books page on this site for more, or go to www.rivershorepress.com for details.
Along with my experience in developing and teaching academic programs, I have various areas of experience in the industry. As a recording engineer, I’ve got a long list of album credits, including several national chart-placing singles. As a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammys), Audio Engineering Society, and the Themed Entertainment Association, I’ve been involved in recording productions, church audio, concert performances, theater sound design, theme park shows, system installations, workshops, and seminars.
I am the designer and producer of the Themed Attraction Podcast, a show focused on theme park design. My two former Disney colleagues interview designers and other professionals who’ve worked on parks you’ve enjoyed over the years. The site also has lots of articles on park design and the industry, including a few from me, so go check those out as well.
My academic research interests, presentations, and publications involve instructional design and learning theories—finding ways to make learning more meaningful and effective. This affects how courses are designed and delivered while guiding development of specialized resources used in class. I apply the concepts of mental models and eliciting how individuals understand, or “see,” a specific topic to help faculty better know how their students are progressing. Information on mental models and how they are applied in education can be found at my (old) website mental model assessment.
It’s way past time we modernize and improve the school music experiences for K-12 students, so my contribution for years was teaching a graduate course entitled Psychology of Music Teaching and Learning for the Master’s of Music Education program at LVC. This course focused on applying what we know about human learning to the field of music education, giving school music teachers the opportunity to re-think how they approach their classes and students.
Several years ago I collaborated with a colleague at the college to develop a course on theme park design…well, primarily user experience, but we focused on how to design immersive, storytelling, placemaking experiences whether it be for a park, museum, or even a retail store.
After spending a zillion dollars and driving thousands of miles, I’ve earned degrees in Instructional Design from The Pennsylvania State University, Music Technology and Interactive Media from New York University, and Music with Recording Arts from the University of North Carolina Asheville. I’ve always been a piano guy; my main thing is playing for church, but I’ve also performed in numerous capacities including symphony performances, solo competitions, theme park shows, and various bands and ensembles. I served as the Director of Music & Technical Arts for my church for a few decades, where I played piano, organized our music and worship teams, and oversaw our audio/visual teams and facilities.
Barry R. Hill, D.Ed. 