DSU Alumni Composes Soundtrack for Documentary Film

Kristen Cooper, a graduate of the DSU Digital Arts and Design Program, specializing in Audio Production, has been featured in an article about her soundtrack composition for the documentary, "Cosplay Nation"!

Kristen has been especially active in electronic and MIDI composition, as well as performing as a DJ. "When I produce my own songs and remix," said Cooper in the article, "the songs become dark trance more than anything. However, when I produce a piece of music like I did for 'Cosplayer Nation',  I base it off of more what they wanted it to sound like or genre they may want. This way I don't stick to one genre and I adventure out."

In addition to her work as a composer and producer of electronic music, Kristen has been a featured DJ at a number of events, including Sogen Con, Hetalia Masquerade Ball, Sodak, The Eclective Collective Fashion Show, CoreCon, and most recently, at Anime Fargo.

Kristen's music can be heard on her SoundCloud website, and the article can be read at the website 925rebellion.com. We can't wait to see what great work Kristen will do next!

DSU Live hosts folks band Condor

DSU Live, in collaboration with the Madison Area Arts Council, was excited to invite the Sioux Falls band Condor to perform a concert on the DSU Campus. Condor is unique in that they are a three-piece group with banjo, acoustic guitar, and cello. The band performed an extended set with a variety of original songs, and even threw in a surprising cello piece on Bach while a broken acoustic string was being replaced!

As is a traditional part of the concert series, we also recorded the audio of the show and will be sending it to SDPB radio to be broadcast on the show, “No Cover, No Minimum”. There was also student artwork on display from Cassie’s Design 2: Color class. The concert was a lot of fun, both in terms of listening, and practicing recording techniques. Here is a video of one of the songs, "Sunshine Wine", with the mixed audio:

"Condor" to perform at DSU!

Condor is an outstanding folk trio from Sioux Falls, featuring cello, guitar, and banjo. They will be visiting DSU on Saturday, February 21st at 7:30pm for an intimate concert.

DSU Live and the Madison Area Arts Council are very excited to add another talented band to their series that has been running over the past several years. There are plans for Audio Production students to record the concert for potential airplay on South Dakota Public Broadcasting Radio. It looks to be a fantastic event!

Audio Students Return to the State Capital

For the second year, students from the Audio Production program visited the state Capital in Pierre for the annual "Madison Hosts the Legislature" event. After taking a visit to the Capitol building, we set up for the reception, in which legislators are given the opportunity to browse the various displays and talk with students, faculty, and Madison representatives.

It was fun to travel and connect with our state representatives, as well as people from the Madison community that we don't often have a chance to connect with. Students Dan Shay, Kyle Vis, Dylan Norris, and Derek Carlson set up an excellent audio/visual presentation and promoted our program with enthusiasm. It was great to get the word out about Audio Production at DSU!

Students Take the Stage for Open Mic Night and More!

Open Mic nights can be a fun way for students to take the stage and show off their skills, and that's exactly what happened in late October when DSU Live assisted student Tanner Bowman and the English club with the event.

Talent included some great singers and poets, some of which were using this as a warm-up for the English Club Poetry Slam that took place several weeks later. In a change of outcome from the past several years, the faculty snagged a victory based on the final tally from the judges' scoring.

The entertainment continues as DSU Live hosts a Karaoke night this week and Sandy Champion's music students perform a musical variety concert this weekend featuring the music of Disney!

DSU Live Hosts Jami Lynn and Chris Champion

It was a great pleasure to welcome Jami Lynn and Chris Champion to DSU as a part of our ongoing concert series collaboration between DSU Live and the Madison Area Arts council. As in previous semesters, we transformed an auditorium into an intimate acoustic music venue, complete with staging and lighting. The DSU Live students did a fantastic job helping with setup, and Nolan Moser took the help as our lead live engineer.

Chris is always impressive on guitar, sharing both originals and covers, and showing off his stellar guitar chops. Jami followed with her South Dakota-inspired original tunes, sung with acoustic guitar and banjo. She was later joined by Andrew Reinartz on upright bass, and Dalton Coffey on dobro. The trio made for a gorgeous sound that perfectly filled the auditorium.

Once mixed and mastered, the recording will be submitted for broadcast on SDPB radio’s “No Cover, No Minimum”, and there also will be several videos produced from the evening. Below is the first one completed, a tune performed by the trio called “Red Fox”:

Audio Program Featured in Recent Ad

Audio Production student Derek Carlson (and a blurry Daryl Becker and Cody Welu) were featured in a recent DSU advertisement highlighting the Audio program. The pic was posed during one of our Live Sound classes in the Trojan Center Underground last year, as we practiced setting up various live audio scenarios. Check it out!