HARTINGTON – Singing on a recording can be a thrill.
Some Hartington Cedar Catholic students were able to do just that on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Northeast Community College, after practicing and getting some tips ahead of the recording session.
Tony Beardslee, Northeast program director of Arts & Design, remembers the thrill he had when he experienced it as a junior high student at Norfolk Catholic.
The Cedar Catholic students, and their director, JoAnne Hamilton, were the first ones of the current academic year at Northeast to try it.
“This is an opportunity for them to see how the recording process works,” Beardslee said. “It’s an opportunity for us to bring them to the college, to give them a tour of the campus and see Union 73 and the dorms. It helps to start that awareness at an early age and promote some interest in media arts and the music performing units.”
Margaret Schultz, Northeast music instructor/choral activities director and accompanist, and Kevin McLouth, director of instrumental studies, helped during rehearsals, giving the Cedar students suggestions to help improve their performance.
After the sessions, the students were broken into three groups. They were given tours of the Northeast campus, including the recording studio. There, the students could hear what they recorded and what could be done to make it sound even more polished.
“This is how I got interested in the recording program back in the 1980s when it was new. They brought in our junior high choir and that’s where I became aware of what we had,” Beardslee said.
While the Northeast recording experience isn’t going to be confused with Muscle Shoals where artists from Bob Dylan to Lynyrd Skynyrd have recorded, it does let students see and experience what a recording involves. That includes collaboration, creativity and seeing how a recording can evolve.
Beyond that, Beardslee said the visit helps students see firsthand that Northeast is a good option, and it allows them to see what it would be like to be a student on campus.
Any high schools interested in learning more about the Media Arts program at Northeast is invited to contact Tony Beardslee at anthony@northeast.edu.
Recording students
Chelsea Hartmann of Rapid City, S.D., a sophomore audio technology recording major, and Tyler Throener of Norfolk, a sophomore audio technology recording major, monitor recording equipment on Wednesday, Oct. 30, as students from Hartington Cedar Catholic rehearse for a recording session. (Northeast Community College)
###