Dust of War trailer debuts

During Summer 2011, the movie Dust of War was filmed near western South Dakota.  The film features several big screen veterans including Tony Todd, who has played roles in a number of films and television productions, and Doug Jones, who has also played a number of roles including that of "Pan" in the film, Pan's Labrynth.

Several DSU students assisted on the production crew of this film, including audio production student Mitch Williams, and digital arts students Carrie Aus and Donna Rice.  The DSU theatre instructor, Kelly MacLeod, was also a key member of the production crew.

The film is set for release within the next several months, and the trailer was just recently debuted.  We are hugely excited to have a connection with what looks to be a phenomenal movie production.

Funk Musicians Record at DSU

Audio Student Tyler Steele found a great way to kick off the holiday break by recording a group of musicians from the University of South Dakota called 'Olde Funk Riot'.  In order to capture the entire band live, they set up in the adjacent auditorium, utilizing a drum shield and the hallways to create separation between the instrumentalists.  With Tyler bringing out his tracking and mixing skills, the project is sure to produce some fantastic results!

Digital Arts Students Premiere Video

Digital Arts and Design students Luke Arens and Paul Schipper made their big video debut this week, when they showed a 5-minute video presentation at the annual Scholarship Banquet, with an attendance of upwards of 400 people.  The video was created as a part of Paul and Luke's university-related internship, which challenges them to create promotional material for the DSU Alumni Foundation.

The video featured DSU alumni and donors who stressed the importance of supporting current and future students through scholarships.  It also featured students who discussed the benefits of their scholarships.

The response to the presentation was overwhelmingly positive, and the students will continue to work with the Foundation in order to continue creating their engaging presentation materials.

'DSU Live' brings huge talent to campus

It's been a busy month for members of our campus live music organization, 'DSU Live', which includes many of the university's Audio Production Program members. In addition to DJ'ing a huge Halloween Dance hosted by the Student Activities Board, the group has hosted some really exciting musical acts during October:

The premiere band showcase of the semester featured Sioux Falls area band, Avian Sunrise, with The Broken Resolve. We treated this as our big event to show the campus and community the kind of great shows that we are able to bring to DSU. The bands were a lot of fun and both played stellar sets. The Broken Resolve has an uptempo pop-rock sound, while Avian Sunrise has a piano-driven sound with a strong emotional core. The DSU Live crew was very on top of things, and they impressed the band members with their quickness and efficiency.

More pics can be seen in the flickr gallery.  The group also had the pleasure of hosting an acoustic show in the 'Myxers' coffee shop in the campus Trojan Center. Our first show of this kind featured a hugely talented singer-songwriter, Audri Vargas. Her amazing vocal skills made it clear why she was a top 50 finalist in American Idol several years ago. DSU student Austin Donley kicked off the night. There was an excellent turnout and a very positive response that helped to ensure that DSU Live will be hosting more events of this kind very soon!  Check out Audri's cover of Taylor Swift's song, 'Mean':

Student Creates New Electronic Music

DSU Students have been hard at work this semester in our Recording Sessions class. One student in particular, Kristen Cooper, has been keeping a blog showing off her latest work. She has been using a portable field recorder to capture and edit sound effects for a video game project being produced in the Gaming department. Additionally, she has been practicing her skills using the software program, Reason, and recently finished a song titled, "Nightmare Moon Remix Rhapsody": Nightmare Moon Remix Rhapsody by Cooper Production

As mentioned above, she has also been capturing many sound effects and editing them in Pro Tools for the video game. She was requested to gather effects related to burning, trash cans, and howling winds. Here's the latest from what she's been working on:

Latest tracks by Cooper Production

I'm excited to see where this and the other Recording Sessions projects will lead this semester!

DSU Live has a HUGE start!

As students have been getting back to work in their classes this semester, the campus music organization, DSU Live, has been off to a really strong start.  The opening "GO! Karaoke" event packed the Underground and gave students the opportunity to sing their hearts out on stage.  It was also a great opportunity to show off the updates to the Underground which includes brand new LED stage lighting!  DSU Live also worked hard to promote themselves during the annual Activities Fair.  

Above, you see founding member Matt Lyon posing with organization advisor, Nathan Edwards.  Also helping out were student members Tyler Steele, Bruce Schulz, Paul Schipper, and faculty advisor, Sandy Champion.  Check out all of the upcoming events at the brand new DSU Live website:  www.dsulive.com!

Students visit for Digital Art Camp at DSU

During July 2011, students visited Dakota State to spend a week at camp learning about the various elements of the digital arts arena. In the Audio Production section, there were two really great students in class: Sara and Megan. We went through the entire recording process, including recording vocals, instruments, MIDI drums, and the skills and nuance required to create a great mix.

Most of the week was spent reverse-engineering a song (in other words, creating a cover) by Martina McBride. It was sung with great skill by DSU faculty member, Tracy Pardy. Instruments and backing vocals were added, and the track turned out sounding fantastic! It was a really fun week.

Here’s the video that the students helped put together, complete with the song:

Digital Art Camp 2011: Audio Production from Nathan Edwards on Vimeo.