Ramapo’s lively music scene, previously most accessible through on-campus programming like Open Mic Nights, is now reaching online audiences in a new web series called “Tune In.” The show is a collaborative effort between Ramapo College Television, or RCTV, and the Ramapo Music Club, and can be viewed on the RCTV YouTube channel, RCTV69.
Paul Iannelli, RCTV’s publicist and a producer of "Tune In,” spearheaded the web series after being inspired by Ramapo’s many on-campus musicians.
“The idea came from seeing and hearing the abundant amount of awesome musical talent on campus that I felt needed to be exposed to a broader audience,” said Iannelli. “Also, having experience with filming and knowledge of Ramapo College Television's capabilities provided me with the mindset of envisioning a web series. I wanted to find a way to bring the students of this school together to work on something really positive and fun.”
Iannelli’s initial idea was met with enthusiasm by the Ramapo Music Club, or RMC, whom he approached as potential partners in creating “Tune In.”
“I was approached by Paul Iannelli about the idea of doing a music show along the lines of the NPR Tiny Desk series,” said Emily Munro, the president of RMC. “RMC is always looking for ways to collaborate with other clubs and types of artists, so we were really excited about this idea. When Paul came to one of our meetings and brought it up, everyone was immediately on board.”
The web series averages around 10 minutes an episode and is split into three sections beginning and ending with songs performed by the featured band and an interview in between. Currently, four “Tune In” episodes can be found on RCTV’s YouTube page. Initially, Iannelli and the other producers of “Tune In” would approach musicians on campus and ask them to be on the show. However, since then, Iannelli says bands and musicians have started to contact them.
“Our goal is to get to everyone on campus, so it isn't so much a selection process as a scheduling one,” said Munro about the bands featured by “Tune In.” “We tried to get some familiar faces out there to start the series, like Ambary Lake, but now we're trying to expand to all types of music around campus.”
WRPR, Ramapo’s campus radio station, also plays a part in “Tune In,” broadcasting audio files of the performances aired on the web series. According to Iannelli, many artists also record bonus tracks to be played on WRPR.
Both Iannelli and Munro describe the project as beneficial to their respective communities – members of RCTV get experience filming music performances, while members of RMC work toward their goal of creating a vibrant music scene on campus.
“First of all, it gives us something positive to spend our time on,” said Iannelli. “It’s hard work, but it's extremely rewarding to produce something that can be enjoyed by many people … The people that work on the show gain experience in things including video-audio production, teamwork and much more. And as college students, we are always looking for ways to build abilities and experiences that can be useful in the future.”
The students behind “Tune In” aim to feature eclectic musical talents, giving exposure to lesser known bands and artists on campus in an attempt to show members of the Ramapo community, and beyond, that at the College there are “more than just rock bands,” according to Munro.
“RMC's mission is to help create a music community at Ramapo. This show directly helps us with that mission,” said Munro. “It not only lets us know what musicians are out there on campus, but also gives us hands on learning experiences we otherwise wouldn't get the chance to do … There's a lot of troubleshooting and compromising that goes on in a creative collaboration like this. The most valuable aspect of this project for RMC members, though, is getting to work with people in other majors and artistic concentrations. Getting to work with RCTV and see how they attack a project has been a great learning experience for RMC.”
rking2@ramapo.edu
