Local metal band Buried Under Texas performs for the Commercial Music Project class Oct. 2 in Longwith. The students are working on the Sound of Science project in which bands perform in class live every Friday. Photo by Danielle Kelly
Students in MUSB 2450 spend all semester collaborating, recruiting bands to see their work aired on this college’s educational TV channel.
By Ryan A. Flournoy
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Music business sophomore Kaleb Castillo interviews local metal band Buried Under Texas Oct. 2 in Longwith. Band members are from left Christian Mata on bass, Thomas Alvarez on lead vocals, Xavier Rios on drums, Luis Lopez on guitar, and Carlos Mendiola, who was not present, on guitar. The Commercial Music Project class is working on the Sound of Science project in which bands perform in class live every Friday. Photo by Danielle Kelly
Students who wander deep enough into the Longwith Radio, Television and Film Building might find themselves behind the scenes of a live television broadcast not unlike “Austin City Limits.”
This is the case in Studio A on the second floor, where music business Coordinator and Instructor Donnie Meals directs Science of Sound.
Staged, recorded, edited and aired all on campus, Science of Sound allows music business students to gain live-for-television music production experience on a fully functional set in one of two studios.
“Students get to understand all the needs of live music video production, so when the performance happens, the music can be the best it can be,” Meals said.
InTV, the on-campus educational channel for the city of San Antonio, airs Science of Sound in December after the students have completed all necessary edits.
Started as a volunteer program in 2009, Science of Sound turned into a class, MUSB 2450, four years ago and is now a requirement for students who pursue an associate of applied science in music business.
Science of Sound will host six bands this semester for a total of six 30-minute segments.
Each segment consists of one band’s performance with a Q&A edited between songs. Science of Sound airs on inTV with educational commercial plug-ins.
The class meets once a week on Fridays where the students are paired in teams. They recruit local and regional musicians and bands to come to campus and perform on camera in the studio room.
Buried Under Texas, a San Antonio heavy metal band, visited Science of Sound last month for the 30-minute segment.
“Any publicity is good publicity,” lead vocalist Thomas Alvarez said of the decision to perform for Science of Sound.
Microphone steady in both hands, Alvarez — along with the rest of the band — awaited the countdown from the floor manager before cameras rolled.
Two giant mobilized cameras operated by two students rotated around the band as electric guitarist Luis Lopez released ultra high-frequency waves into the air, drowning out any other noise that wasn’t the booming percussion from drummer Xavier Rios.
Each band member displayed his own intense battle stance, including bass guitarist Christian Matta, whose fierce gaze remained somewhere between this world and a possible next dimension.
By the end of the segment the band had played four different songs followed by a live interview conducted by the band’s recruiter.
The band sat on a couch across from the cameras and interviewer Kaleb Castillo.
“What message are you trying to send through the music you create?” Castillo asked during the live interview.
“That you are not alone in this world,” Alvarez said.
The editing team will cut and edit the interview to play between songs and sometimes over songs when it is officially aired.
All the bands in Science of Sound this year have been recorded and are now in the editing stage.
The bands include Lynnwood King and The Revival, Blue Sundries, Buried Under Texas, Daniel Thomas Phipps, Celeste‘al Descent and Red Ivy.
The “Science of Sound” show will air next month on inTV on Time Warner Cable channel 98, AT&T channel 99 and Grande Communications channel 41. InTV has not scheduled a time and date yet.
For more information on the upcoming broadcasts, visit intv.alamo.edu or call 210-486-0593.
