SOUND check

IU alumnus David Kneeland knows music from the inside out. \nHe spends hours every day working with music videos and clips from Linkin Park, Tratt and Mystique. Kneeland, as a DVD audio authoring specialist for Warner Bros. Records, broadcasts the latest pop music onto the Internet for the whole world to hear.\nAll the way from California, Kneeland owes everything he knows to his degree in recording arts at IU. \n"The audio degree gave me a really great background in the kinds of things I'm working with now. It helped my transition into the music video world," Kneeland said. \nEstablished in 1982, the IU Department of Recording Arts is a flourishing phenomenon, training students to record music professionally and preparing them for work in post-production for CD, DVD, TV and film, studio maintenance and live sound.\nAs part of the curriculum, each student serves on the Audio Crew, providing recording services for nearly 500 events at the School of Music each year. Among these events, students gain nearly 600 hours of production experience in the environments of symphony orchestras, operas, jazz bands and musicals.\nKonrad Strauss, director of the recording arts program, joined the audio department just four years ago. By employing new ideas and expanding on others, his contributions to the program are as constant as the industry itself.\n"The entertainment industry is growing," Strauss said. "The proliferation of new media and new media outlets such as DVD, the Internet, gaming, cable television, along with traditional media outlets, has created a demand for people who can create content."\nStrauss said in order to succeed in this field, it takes a combination of technical skills, musical training and the quick ability to learn new technologies. \nThe program offers two degrees in recording arts: a Bachelor of Science and an Associate of Science, admitting only 15 to 17 students into the program each year. By limiting admission, each student can be guaranteed adequate time in the recording facilities each week. \n"We limit admission because we believe that the best way to educate our students is to offer them significant hands-on experience," Strauss said.\nWithin the seven different studios, students use top-of-the-line equipment, including Pro Tools, Yamaha and Lexicon, an extensive microphone collection, CD mastering, DVD authoring and video editing equipment.\nIn their coursework, advanced students engage in individual recording and production projects, ranging from recordings for local bands to CD projects for ensembles in the School of Music.\nAside from their work with recording services, both Kurtis Heidolph, a senior in the program, and Kneeland have created their own independent recording businesses in the past. Music students come to them, requesting their services and the creation of a CD.\nKneeland and Heidolph are musicians themselves, both carrying an additional major in musical performance through the School of Music.\n"As a clarinet performer, I can interact with musicians much better. I can listen to a piece and tell them what to fix, and the people I've worked with really appreciate that," Kneeland said.\nHeidolph, who plays the euphonium, agrees. \n"By using the skills I've acquired through music training, I feel better-equipped to make musical decisions in the recording world," Heidolph said.\nAlthough the majority of students in the department have a double major in music performance, others study in outside fields such as informatics, telecommunications and business. \nStrauss explained most students who are passionate about the recording industry gained a solid understanding of computer technology even before coming to college. \n"A lot of students are getting into audio production in high school through working with theater groups and concert bands," Strauss said. "They're using computers and finding fun."\nStrauss said the audio world is a combination of passions for technology and art.\nIn order to create this perfect harmony, these students spend hours in the studio, mixing and re-dubbing repeatedly, simply to produce the right sound -- the one that is pleasing to the ear. \n"A lot of times, we get little recognition for what we do. Most people have no clue how much goes into it," Kneeland said.\nMost students have no clue where the "Live from Bloomington" CD comes from, or who works behind the scenes in one of the top music schools in the country. Yet the students who do this everyday find the most satisfaction. To them, the greatest reward is the final product.\nHis students agree, whether the audio world points them to pop music videos in California or classical recording for Broadway in New York. \n"One of the greatest things is that (audio is) always changing," Heidolph said. "You meet a lot of interesting, talented people and you get to play with a lot high-tech, fancy technology. There's nothing like playing with fancy toys."\n-- Contact staff writer Lyssa Rebholz at lrebholz@indiana.edu.