S. ABINGTON TWP. — New Jersey-based music producer, composer and sound designer Brent Daniels had students jiving to the tunes during an assembly Feb. 28 at South Abington Elementary School. The event was sponsored by the Parent Teacher Organization as part of Read Across America Week.
During the interactive program for students in grades kindergarten through fourth, Daniels taught the students how to turn ordinary sounds into a piece of music.
Members of the South Abington PTA, including Bonnie Jo Yoder, booked Daniels through Academic Entertainment.
Daniels has been creating content for television and films for more than two decades, but recently sharpened his focus.
“The last two years, I began specializing in music for movie, television and video game trailers,” he said.
He visits approximately 200 schools each year to spread his message about the power of music and the value of education. The assemblies serve a bit of an escape from the grind of a demanding profession.
Throughout the program, the smiles on the students’ faces were as bright as the sunlight shining through the windows in the gym.
“The business I’m in can be really stressful with serious deadlines and a lot of competition, but it’s also fun and I enjoy it very much,” Daniels said. “This is a different kind of fun and it’s rewarding to see the looks on the kids’ faces when they understand how you can make a sound or when they start connecting the dots between the technology they’re using and the music they hear. It’s really fulfilling for me.”
Daniels’ music career started when he was signed to a record label, but he transitioned from wanting to be the lead singer of his band and performing live music to producing music for films and commercials.
“That was a big shift and it took a long time to kind of figure that out,” he said.
Over time, Daniels also developed a passion for teaching the magic of music to students.
“Whether they’re young or old, it’s like a magic trick when they see how some of this stuff is done,” he said. “It’s eye opening for a lot of people and they start to hear music on the radio in a different way or start watching movies in a different way.”
Although the students were rolling with laughter throughout most of the program, Daniels also stressed the importance of reading books and performing well in school in order to have a career in the music industry.
“You can take bits and pieces of sounds and do whatever you want with them,” he said.
Among his recent work has been producing a movie trailer for “Black Panther.”
“That was really cool for me because it was such a well-done movie and I’m a big Marvel fan,” Daniels said.
