Internship at Glass City Radio!

After all my hard work for my first three semester's, I got the chance to partake in an internship of my choosing. I ended up selecting Glass City Radio, as I wanted a little taste as to how radio is compared to my usual audio engineering activities. Glass City Radio operates HOT 97.3 and MIX 95.7 in Toledo, Ohio. Here, I assisted with many weekly tasks such as changing commercial end dates and adding commercials and other audio elements to NexGen Digital radio automation software, editing the Urban Beat show almost every week, creating banners for both stations social media pages and ticket giveaways, voicing, editing, and even writing my own PSAs to be played on the stations, and a lot of other tasks as well. My internship has taught me a lot about the broadcasting field and my internship manager at my site has given me a lot of information about the industry and her own personal rise to her current position. I was very fortunate to get this experience that I believe will help me long after I graduate and enter the workforce. I will be continuing the internship until I graduate in May, so I will update this post again then.

This is my favorite banner that I have created!

An image of the HOT 97.3 studio.

Example of a typical commercial script I would use to make a commercial.

Songs section on NexGen Digital

An event calendar of concert with artists in the Hip-Hop and R&B genre going on around Toledo, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton.

An event calendar of concerts with artists in the Urban Adult Contemporary genre going on around Toledo, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Chicago.

Glass City Liner Sheet - I wrote all of these PSAs, although not all got used.

Journal from Internship - I wrote down everything that I did every time I showed up to the Internship, and put it all together in a nice, readable format. (I will update again when my time at the internship is up.)

The Mix by The Arts Commission in Toledo, OH

I assisted Great Lakes Sound Inc with an event called The Mix by The Arts Commission in Toledo, Ohio. This involved offloading all of the audio and lighting equipment, setting up the truss for the moving lights and speaker array, getting all of the audio components put together, and miking the bands and setting up the stage. I also got the opportunity to mix some of the band's performances live over an iPad via a LAN. Lastly, I helped teardown all of the audio and lighting equipment and loaded it back into the truck.Assisted Great Lakes Sound Inc with an event called The Mix by The Arts Commission in Toledo, Ohio. This involved offloading all of the audio and lighting equipment, setting up the truss for the moving lights and speaker array, getting all of the audio components put together, and miking the bands and setting up the stage. I also got the opportunity to mix some of the band's performances live over an iPad via a LAN. Lastly, I helped teardown all of the audio and lighting equipment and loaded it back into the truck.

An image of the truss that we set up from scratch.

An image of one of the sides of the stage, we had two bands who performed so we set them up on two different sides of the stage.

An image of the other side of the stage.

An image of the CL5 that we used for the concert, although we relied more on using an iPad in the front of house.

An image of the completed stage setup before the performances began.

An image of the iPad that we used CL StageMix on to mix the concerts remotely from the front of house.

An image of the first performance.

An image of the second performance.

T.J. The D.J., Live on Outcast, OCCR, Owens Community College Radio!

During my last semester of my time at Owens, I worked as the main radio programmer and on-air talent for OCCR. Before school started up for the semester, I spent every Monday-Thursday 10am-3pm doing shifts for OCCR and getting practice with the APEX radio automation software, and the Arrakis ARC-15 board. Then, I began my weekly shifts every Monday from 9:30-10:30. During this time, I speak about whatever topics I decide upon, and I program APEX to play whatever it is I want it to. I eventually began doing my top 5 songs for the week, and adding them to the system. Also, I assisted with most events and remotes OCCR was taking part in, such as Pack the Shac and the College and Career Preview Night, to name a few. I taught others how to use the board and the APEX software, and also lead them when we all went on-air together. I even helped the station manager activate more microphone channels on the board, which required opening up the ARC-15 console!

An image of the OCCR on-air station, the APEX radio automation software, and the Arrakis ARC-15 board that I learned to operate.

An image of the inside of the ARC-15 board, which I helped the station manager figure out how to active more mic channels, and how to activate the monitor mute for when a mic is turned on.

College and Career Preview Night

OCCR held a station event during the College & Career Preview Night going on at the SHAC. This time, I had others go on-air with me, and we talked about a bunch of different topics surrounding colleges and careers. It was a whole lot of fun, as this was my first time going on-air in the OCCR station with a group of others with the new setup, and it was some of the others first-time on-air at all. It was a good teaching moment, as I have dedicated a lot of time in the on-air studio, so I got to show the others how everything worked. They really enjoyed it, so I'm very happy with the outcome as more people are getting interested in working for the station. Again, I do not have any images or audio of the event, so I will just add the flyer below!

Accent on the Arts: Westbound Situation Concert

For the third performance in the 2021-2022 Accent on the Arts concert series, progressive stringband Westbound Situation were the performers. This was my personal favorite concert, as they were a group of some extremely talented individuals! The setup and tear down for the concert was extremely easy as well, since they only used a stereo pair of mics, and no monitors at all. Since they were using mostly the same instruments and the same mics, there wasn't a whole lot of mixing involved, so I got to enjoy the show! Sadly, I was the only student there to assist the concert, but thankfully it was easy, so all I really had to do was introduce the concert again! However, I am no longer in the class, so I didn't get the chance to mixdown the concert afterwards, but I will add the image I took of the concert below. I will link their website within the image, so you can check out their music!

Click above for Westbound Situation's Website!

Pack the Shac #2

I helped OCCR run the spring Pack the Shac for the Owens women's basketball team. The station manager and I came up with a way to utilize both the on-air studio and the podcast studio at the same time where everyone can hear each other. Although no one was able to assist me in the studio, I still was able to interview some of the people attending and participating in the event, so I had some content! I do not have any images of the setup or anything, but I will post the flyer below!

Mashup

For Radio Production, we created a Mashup of all of our content that we created in the class. This gave me a really good overview of all that I have completed in my time with the class, and showed my growth in skills over the course of the semester. 

Click above for Mashup

Accent on the Arts: Westbound Situation Commercial

For Portfolio I, we created another Accent on the Arts commercial, this time for Westbound Situation. I am pleased with the outcome of this commercial, as it sounds really nice and clean. Nothing to special with this one, but nothing is wrong with that. 

Click above for Commercial

Denise Grupp-Verbon's 21st Annual Harp Recital

For Portfolio I, we got to select a Creative Noises Live! event to setup and record. For mine, I did Denise Grupp-Verbon's 21st Annual Harp Recital. This involved setting up the Dante system and miking her harp and her husband Michael's Mandolin and sending it to our recording studio. Then, I mixed down the songs from the concert. Sadly, I do not have the rights to share this content.

In Spite of All the Danger

For Portfolio I, we were given the opportunity to record, mix, and master a song. For my project, I had my friend and musician Finn Jacobs come in and recreate a song he wanted to do a cover for. I recorded him playing the drums, electric and acoustic guitar, shaker, tambourine, piano, and vocals. Then, I got to edit, mix, and master the song the way I wanted to. I really enjoyed how this project felt like I was an audio engineer in a professional recording studio, as I was in charge of the whole engineering aspect of the song. 

Click above for In Spite of All the Danger

Weather

For Radio Production, we did the weather bits for OCCR. We had a template and a script to utilize that helped us keep a consistent pattern of how we created each of the bits as a group. Below, I have attached both of the weather bits I did.

Weather for 11-29-21

Weather for 12-6-21

Post Production Project

For Portfolio I, we took a game trailer and redid all of the audio for the trailer. We had to source and implement sound effects, atmosphere, and a score for the trailer. This is arguably one of my best creations so far, and I utilized a lot of advanced audio techniques to fine tune this project. Go ahead and take a watch for yourself!

Click above for Post Production Project

9 at 9 Show

In Radio Production, we got the chance to do one of OCCR's 9 at 9 shows. This project was very enjoyable, as we got the creative choice to pick whatever songs we wanted to, so long as they all had something in common. I don't want to give too many details away, as part of the show is trying to guess what they all have in common. I will give another hint with the image below, so give it a listen, and try to guess what they all have in common :)

Click Above for 9 at 9 Show

Too Turnt Thursdays - MGK

In Radio Production, we got to create our own hour-long radio shows to air on OCCR. Mine was called Too Turnt Thursdays, and my show consisted of going through some of a specific artists discography and talking about it. For my first episode, I went through Machine Gun Kelly's discography. I really enjoyed creating the show, as it gave me plenty of freedom to choose what I want it to be about while giving a basic structure to follow. I was waiting all semester to produce this and I am happy with the outcome.

Click above for Too Turnt Thursdays - MGK

Accent on the Arts: Mustard's Retreat Concert

For the 2nd performance in the 2021-2022 Accent on the Arts Concert Series, folk duo Mustard's Retreat were the performers. This was another great concert and was a little bit more work as we had to set up two monitors for each of the performers and use a DI that was getting it's signal from a bass amp that one of the performers was using. We also used a 100 foot snake to connect the mics and DI to our digital mixing console that controlled the theatre speakers. This event required active mixing as the performers used different instruments on the same mics throughout. Attendance was much greater for this concert and they even had fans come in all the way from Columbus! We again mixed down the concert so below the images will be links to the different songs they performed. 

Barred Owl Waltz (Who Cooks For You)

Canned Goods

Gather The Family

Unknown Title

Dem Deer

Hopelessly Midwestern

I'm Gonna Walk It With You

Gentle Arms of Eden

If I Had A Hammer

The Lumberman's Alphabet

Faded Blue and Gold

Shenandoah

The Thimble Island Ghost

Planting Trees

Branching Out

O-H-I-O

War of the Worlds Pierson Dialogue

I was asked to assist in the recording of some dialogue for the War of the Worlds theatre production at Owens Community College. To do this, we set up a WA47 microphone in a treated room and recorded a voice actor over our Dante network. Then, I edited the voice lines together to make it as though someone was reading the script. Lastly, I did some light mixing of the voice actors vocals. 

Click Above for Dialogue

Accent on the Arts: Mustard's Retreat Commercial

In Portfolio I, we created another commercial for the Accent on the Arts Concert Series, but for Mustard's Retreat this time around. I kept the same formula as I had for Matt Watroba's as I feel it gave all the information necessary in a clean and concise manner while showcasing some of their tracks. I used the same old-timey effect for my vocals as Mustard's Retreat are folk performers as well. This ad aired on OCCR just like the previous commercial.

Click above for Commercial

Accent on the Arts: Mustard's Retreat Press Release

For Portfolio I, we had to create a second press release, this time for our second Accent on the Arts Concert Series performance, Mustard's Retreat. After completing the first press release, I felt more comfortable and noticed some ways I could word things better. I feel that the improvement is very noticeable between this press release and the first, so I am glad that I got to create these documents and learn from them.

Click above for Press Release

Pack the Shac Set

For the Pack the Shac event, the Radio Production class hosted a live remote. For the majority of the event, I produced/directed others on what time we needed to wrap a set up, what we were gonna do next, and how we were gonna transition to the next set. I also created my own set to preview my show that I will be doing later in the semester and got on air for the last 20 min along with my set.

Click above for my Pack the Shac Set

OCCR Sweepers

For Radio Production, we had to produce sweepers for OCCR to use as transitions between songs, shows, etc. These truly helped me differentiate between a sweeper in a song and a sweeper for radio.

Hello Bozo Sweeper

One Eye Sweeper

Accent on the Arts: Matt Watroba Concert

For the first performance in the 2021 Accent on the Arts Concert Series, folk artist Matt Watroba was the performer. This concert was a great event and it truly opened my mind to the fact that good music is good music, regardless of if it is one of your preferred genres or not. I would've liked to see more attendance but marketing efforts were a bit rushed and we didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare, so the next one should have better attendance. I learned how to set up mics and monitors in a theatre/stage setting and how to mix for a theatre/live sound event. Matt Watroba's wife Kim also accompanied him in later songs that they performed together, so we had a nice surprise guest. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the concert, so I have added an image of them performing at a different venue. After the concert, we mixed down some of the songs that they performed, so I have attached those below the image.

You Are My Sunshine

Country Roads

Get Up and Go

Immigrant Eyes

Pinball Wizard

I Heard the Bluebirds Sing

Southern Moon

Where the Soul of Man Never Dies

How Will I Leave

Could You Love Me?

Ours is a Simple Faith

Scary Story

For Portfolio I, we took a scary story and recorded the dialogue and added music and sound effects to it. I spent a lot of time on this project and am extremely happy with how it turned out. Although I have since learned some different ways I could have done things, by no means do I regret any part of this project as I feel I did a great job. This also aired on both OCCR for 28 Days of Shocktober and during an OCCR live remote for the Owens Trick or Treat event. Of course, my story was a fan-made story about Michael Myers, who is my favorite horror character.

Click above for my Scary Story Submission

Accent on the Arts: Matt Watroba Commercial

For both Portfolio I and Radio Production, I created a commercial advertisement to air on Owens Community College Radio. I gave my voice an old-timey radio effect and had some of Matt Watroba's music playing in the background. This was made to both give content to OCCR and promote our Accent on the Arts Concert Series.

Click above for Commercial

Accent on the Arts: Matt Watroba Phone Interview

In Portfolio I, we conducted a phone interview with Matt Watroba leading up to his performance in the Accent on the Arts Concert Series. We asked some questions about how he became a musician, his past musical career, and what he had planned on doing for our concert. Then, I took the concert and edited it into a condensed version to air on OCCR. This helped both the audience that had heard the interview and us who conducted the interview to better connect with Matt before he came and performed.

Click above for Phone Interview

Accent on the Arts: Matt Watroba Press Release

For Portfolio I, we had to create a press release for our first Accent on the Arts Concert Series performer Matt Watroba. This helped give various media outlets a summary of the concert so that they can make a article/post about it. I feel better prepared for my future when I will have to create more press releases.

Click above for Press Release

Audio Recording II Final Project

In Audio Recording II, my choice for my final project was to take a free multitrack stem project of my choosing and do a full mix and faux master of it. The song I chose was called Back Down by Ryan Cali and it is a hip-hop/trap song. This mix had a lot of challenges as this was my first mix of a hip hop song and the song had some profanity in it which I had to edit out but it was overall a fun track to mix. I was able to experiment and I feel that it turned out great. Below, I have linked the original uncensored version and then my faux master version, respectively.

Back Down (Original) (Uncensored)

Back Down (My Faux Master)

Band Recruitment Assignment

In Music Business II, we had an assignment to recruit potential performers for the Accent on the Arts 2021-2022 concert series. We had to locate potential candidates, get in touch with them, and get some basic information out of them to have them be eligible for selection. This project helped us learn how to find and recruit musicians and get some basic info about them that you would get if you are actually booking them.  Below, I have linked the file to reach the proposal One Sheet required to use them as potential performers.

2021-2022 Accent on the Arts Concert Proposals T.J. Tressler

Music Technology II Song Production Project

In Music Technology II, we used our DAWs at home to create a beat. We used a song production process given by out professor to create a song from scratch using samples, loops, and self made musical elements. We also went ahead and analyzed the track using a song analysis sheet from EDMprod.com, so that we could dig deeper into the songs core elements. It was a very entertaining project that everyone in my class did a great job on. My track was called Reminiscent and although it lacks lyrics, I feel the track turned out exactly how I wanted it to.

This is the Faux Master

This is without the Mastering Chain

Audio Recording I Final Project

For my final Audio Recording I project, we had to pick a royalty free silent film and add our own audio to said silent film. We used Pro Tools to complete the project, and we had to record and add our own narration of the film, add sound effects and background music, and line all of those components up to what happened in the video. We also had to route all of those tracks to an individual bus track based upon what the track contained, add automation to some tracks where reasonable, and fill out a SFX cue list, track list, and actor list, and lastly write a daily journal of what progress we made that day. I feel this project was very representative of what we had learned throughout the semester, as it took many of the various projects, concepts, and exercises we had completed and bundled them into one last project.

Biography

T.J. (Todd) Tressler is an aspiring audio professional. He has experience using multiple DAWs such as Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, Reason,  and FL Studio. He also knows how to use various radio automation softwares, such as NexGen Digital and APEX. He also is skilled in using the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite of Applications such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator to name a few.
Throughout his life, T.J. has always been a music lover at heart, whether it be from his grade school memories of wanting to be a pop singer, to him picking up bass guitar, and then eventually getting into videography to help produce visuals to accompany music pieces.
Although he loves and can appreciate all music, he has always been into the digital aspects of music, such as using DAWs to mix music in more modern genres such as Pop, Rock, RnB, Hip Hop, and EDM, to name a few.
To aid and guide him on his journey of learning to create, mix, and work in any position in the audio field, T.J. is attending Owens Community College to obtain the knowledge necessary, and to receive a Music Business Technology degree, to show his hard work and commitment to becoming a professional in the audio industry.