Booming through the study hall, blasting through student’s ear buds, and exploding at assemblies and concerts, music is everywhere at SAS. Seeing music as one of the most integral parts of a person’s passion and identity, SAS’s very own Amptone Records is working tirelessly to encourage students to chase their dreams and realize their potential in creating and producing music. “Amptone Records is a student-run record label with the sole purpose of debunking the fable that students can’t create decent music,” says founder Ray Tsao (’19), “we house talented producers, audio engineers, and artists who create near industry standard music”. He speaks on the need for an organization set to help musicians here, saying that, “I’ve already been producing and engineering for other people who wanted to create songs in our school. That’s when I realized the sheer amount of people who were actually interested in creating musical projects, but lack the ability to do so.”
With the help of Dr. Hundley, Ray is tackling this problem head on and is determined to give students the resources and abilities to grow their interest in music production into full bodied projects or even careers. Amptone Records has already signed 8 artists, released 2 albums, 2 EPs, and 6 singles since 2017. Amptone Records gives aspiring musicians everything: equipment and studios, expertise and advice, and a promotional team dedicated to boosting awareness.
“Do you have a vision for a vocal melody but lack the recording equipment? We have an array of microphones for you to pick from. Do you need to properly engineer your song so it sounds professional? Take a pick from any of the current three audio engineers we have. Anything you sonically envision, we can provide,” says Ray.
Eagles now have at their disposal essential resources such as a professional standard recording studio, a top of line MIDI keyboard, a sampler, a mixer board, instruments, digital audio workstations, DJ kits, and an assortment of microphones.
Alternatively, new sound engineers are presented with lessons and workshops lead by Ray and other qualified consultants that are designed to help familiarize students with audio software and hardware. Students even have the option of shadowing current engineers to “learn from hands-on experience on how to manipulate certain audio frequencies to your liking,” says Ray Tsao.
In addition, the promotional team of Amptone Records provides a range of platforms for advertising musical projects through media such as short films, interviews, written publications, playlist promotions, and live gigs. Amptone’s promotional department has used its experience and abilities to amass over 50,000 streams collectively in the one and a half years their label has been running.
So then the relevant question is why? Why has Ray and Dr. Hundley spent so much time and energy into creating an organization focused on curating musicians in SAS? “Too many times students in this school have given up on their dream because the academic route offers a stable income for the future. Students here aren’t taking risks anymore with their future, preferring to achieve their parents’ dream for them rather than their own,” says Ray. “Amptone serves students by offering them an alternative. That alternative doesn’t necessarily need to be in music, but just needs to allow us to rediscover the feeling of a passion that you put your everything into. Once they see the numbers through promotion, student musicians realize they have the potential to do many other things.” In essence, Ray recognizes the importance of proving that chasing your true dreams is not a mistake that leads to nowhere, but is viable, important, and impactful. It can be easy to disregard personal goals and interests when presented with what ‘is good for your future’, however, Amptone shows that your dreams aren’t worth forgetting and that at times, these two things can overlap.
Regarding the future of the club, Ray Tsao hopes that his label can grow to further increase the scale and quality of music made. “I want more audio engineers, more producers, and more artists so that we could have the resources to release even more music in a shorter span of time.” Ray speaks on Amptone’s focus on quality, mentioning multiple members and checkpoints the label employs to ensure only top-notch music gets released. Furthermore, Amptone’s managerial services for artists seem to only be growing as the emphasis is also put on giving every musician individual care and attention. Ray expresses this when he replies that he sees “a future where every student artist is paired with a student manager, promoting them and finding them gigs”.
Amptone Records fills the gaps for any eagle looking to create and promote music. They supply resources, expertise, and advertisements to aspiring artists and sound engineers in order to create an environment where students at SAS can truly have the courage to live their dreams. Like the SAS mission, Amptone’s mission hopes to inspire and bolster the students who have a dream of creating music of their own. “Music is a powerful tool of expression, and I fully believe students here in SAS have what it takes to harness its full energy,” says Ray.
For any catchy melody or funky riff students have rolling around in their heads, Amptone Records will give them the tools to materialize their songs, the guidance to polish their sound, and the exposure to get their projects out into the world. Anyone interested in joining Amptone Record’s vision as either a creator, sound engineer, promoter, manager, organizer, or anything else should not hesitate to reach out to any officer or member. Better yet, check out their website amptonerecords.com or their Instagram @amptonerecords for more.
With the help of Dr. Hundley, Ray is tackling this problem head on and is determined to give students the resources and abilities to grow their interest in music production into full bodied projects or even careers. Amptone Records has already signed 8 artists, released 2 albums, 2 EPs, and 6 singles since 2017. Amptone Records gives aspiring musicians everything: equipment and studios, expertise and advice, and a promotional team dedicated to boosting awareness.
“Do you have a vision for a vocal melody but lack the recording equipment? We have an array of microphones for you to pick from. Do you need to properly engineer your song so it sounds professional? Take a pick from any of the current three audio engineers we have. Anything you sonically envision, we can provide,” says Ray.
Eagles now have at their disposal essential resources such as a professional standard recording studio, a top of line MIDI keyboard, a sampler, a mixer board, instruments, digital audio workstations, DJ kits, and an assortment of microphones.
Alternatively, new sound engineers are presented with lessons and workshops lead by Ray and other qualified consultants that are designed to help familiarize students with audio software and hardware. Students even have the option of shadowing current engineers to “learn from hands-on experience on how to manipulate certain audio frequencies to your liking,” says Ray Tsao.
In addition, the promotional team of Amptone Records provides a range of platforms for advertising musical projects through media such as short films, interviews, written publications, playlist promotions, and live gigs. Amptone’s promotional department has used its experience and abilities to amass over 50,000 streams collectively in the one and a half years their label has been running.
So then the relevant question is why? Why has Ray and Dr. Hundley spent so much time and energy into creating an organization focused on curating musicians in SAS? “Too many times students in this school have given up on their dream because the academic route offers a stable income for the future. Students here aren’t taking risks anymore with their future, preferring to achieve their parents’ dream for them rather than their own,” says Ray. “Amptone serves students by offering them an alternative. That alternative doesn’t necessarily need to be in music, but just needs to allow us to rediscover the feeling of a passion that you put your everything into. Once they see the numbers through promotion, student musicians realize they have the potential to do many other things.” In essence, Ray recognizes the importance of proving that chasing your true dreams is not a mistake that leads to nowhere, but is viable, important, and impactful. It can be easy to disregard personal goals and interests when presented with what ‘is good for your future’, however, Amptone shows that your dreams aren’t worth forgetting and that at times, these two things can overlap.
Regarding the future of the club, Ray Tsao hopes that his label can grow to further increase the scale and quality of music made. “I want more audio engineers, more producers, and more artists so that we could have the resources to release even more music in a shorter span of time.” Ray speaks on Amptone’s focus on quality, mentioning multiple members and checkpoints the label employs to ensure only top-notch music gets released. Furthermore, Amptone’s managerial services for artists seem to only be growing as the emphasis is also put on giving every musician individual care and attention. Ray expresses this when he replies that he sees “a future where every student artist is paired with a student manager, promoting them and finding them gigs”.
Amptone Records fills the gaps for any eagle looking to create and promote music. They supply resources, expertise, and advertisements to aspiring artists and sound engineers in order to create an environment where students at SAS can truly have the courage to live their dreams. Like the SAS mission, Amptone’s mission hopes to inspire and bolster the students who have a dream of creating music of their own. “Music is a powerful tool of expression, and I fully believe students here in SAS have what it takes to harness its full energy,” says Ray.
For any catchy melody or funky riff students have rolling around in their heads, Amptone Records will give them the tools to materialize their songs, the guidance to polish their sound, and the exposure to get their projects out into the world. Anyone interested in joining Amptone Record’s vision as either a creator, sound engineer, promoter, manager, organizer, or anything else should not hesitate to reach out to any officer or member. Better yet, check out their website amptonerecords.com or their Instagram @amptonerecords for more.