by Devyn Lansden, Student Reporter
You’re walking to your next class as the Herod Hall bell starts chiming the University’s alma mater.
The recently reconstructed bell system added two new songs that are connected to speakers in the Herod Hall bell tower giving the impression of a bell. The director of NWOSU’s band, Dr. Michael Cudd, recorded the university’s fight song and alma mater. The two songs now play through the bell system’s speakers.
“I just enjoyed the whole process,” Cudd said.
The idea to record and upload these songs came from President Janet Cunningham about a year ago.
The whole process to make these recordings took Cudd about 20 hours. He did not work alone, with help from his student, Jeffery Cher-aime who worked on the music for about 15 hours.
Cudd took the band recording of the fight song and condensed it into one instrument.
He did this with a “midi recording” known as Music Instrument Digital Interface. It is a computer language for music. With the alma mater, he took the band and choir recording and condensed them into a “midi file.”
The fight song, alma mater, national anthem, the Oklahoma state song and the bells chiming now all play on a daily basis.
“What you’re hearing is coming from a computer that is going up to the speakers.” Dr. David Pecha said when he explained the process of the bell system and speakers.
When the older system stopped working it wasn’t replaced for a few years. A private donor replaced the speakers and the system.