Several times a semester, local musicians enter the Stanton Audio Recording Studio in the Michael & Sara Kuhlin Center to play a three-song set. The result is the totally student-produced show, “Live & Loud” which livestreams on Falcon Radio and YouTube but also appears on the latter in a sleek production that includes some dialogue with the musician(s). The show is a result of the partnership between BGFalconMedia, WBGU 88.1 FM, and Music Industry Club. Intern Kelsi Case spoke with one of Live & Loud’s student leaders to learn more.
Give us the basics (name, major, hometown)
My name is Dawn Violet Todd, a fourth-year Media Production major from Dayton, Ohio.
How did Live & Loud come about?
Live & Loud originally started as a live-to-air concert series on WBGU. The team eventually added on video content, streaming a simply behind-the-scenes video on YouTube. Since then, the show has evolved into its current format. It was revived in 2020 by alumnus RC Cummings, who then handed the reins off to alumnae Emily Andersen in 2021. The show was handed off to myself and to my amazing producer, Sarah Richter.
What do you do at Live & Loud?
I am the director of the show. I am responsible for organizing the crew, supervising post-production, and overseeing all of the complications that come up along the way. I am the person in charge on set, communicating with the artists, engineers, and the entire team.
If someone had not heard of Live & Loud, how would you describe it to them?
Live & Loud is a live studio music show featuring performances and interviews with up-and-coming musicians, especially those local to Northwest Ohio.
Do you have any upcoming event or sets coming up?
Our episode with Cincinnati’s One For The Road is releasing Monday, April 10 It is our seventh episode of this season, and we are hoping to produce an eighth, though the end of the semester looms large for all of us.
Where can the alumni as well as current student watch Live & Loud?
BGFalconMedia on YouTube, and as always, BGFalconMedia.com.
What do you contribute to the Live & Loud’s success?
My job involves very few technical skills and quite a lot of people skills. You have to be a generalist in order to be be a director in any kind of production setting. I’m the go-between for absolutely everyone involved in the production, from the musicians, to my radio host, to my executive producer. A director should never really be the smartest person in the room, but a director’s job is to create a set filled with some of the smartest people they know. My audio engineers are experts at what they do, and so are my editors, my camera operators, et cetera. I bring the vision, I bring the unity, and I bring everyone together to make the best show we can make.
Any plans after graduation?
I am spending my summer far, far from technology in the mountains of Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimmaron, New Mexico. After that, I’m moving up to Southwest Michigan to start broadening my horizons in television, film, and all other sorts of media.