Making Music

the science of sound comes alive

Fifth graders bopped in their seats listening to Brent Daniels' remix  of“Eye in the Sky” by the Alan Parsons Project. “What if we added reverb or a loop,” Daniels wondered aloud, playing with the sound effects. It got even more interesting when Daniels recorded two of the students’ voices and layered them into the soundscape. Because they had been learning about the science of sound, the students knew that he was slowing down the recordings when the voices went lower. 

The virtual field trip to Daniel’s recording studio in New Jersey was set up by the fifth-grade teachers at Katonah Elementary School as the culminating activity for science unit on sound. Brent Daniel's program rolled music technology, innovative thinking and career day into a fun and informative forty-five minutes.

visiting Brent Daniels' studio

talking music tech with a sound professional

Daniels introduced himself to the students as a composer, producer and sound designer who makes music for television, movies and video games. He showed movie trailers for “Black Panther” and “A Wrinkle in Time”—two projects that he created the sound for—then gave students a close-up look at the digital sampling keyboard workstation he uses to craft the custom sound design elements.  

Having fun together

connecting school to students' futures

The young sound designer created a bridge from what students are learning in school to music-related careers. “

This is what you might do if you are a DJ,” Daniels said to the students as he changed the speed of the various sounds.

He began his demonstration of various tools in his studio by saying: “If you are a sound designer for Marvel …”

“Students loved the connections that they explored with Brent Daniels between science, technology and sound production,” said fifth grade teacher Lynn Garofolo.