Sound Seeds, part 1
- SoundTree
- Apr 8
- 4 min read
Ty Boyland Emmy-Nominated Producer/Engineer, Music Teacher, Crosstown High School, TN
At a young age, I was bitten by the music bug. I wanted to be near it, surrounded by it, and immersed in it at all times. But the part of music I longed to participate in wasn’t easily accessible to me. I didn’t have the vocabulary for it back then, but what I truly wanted was to be a producer. How were these incredible songwriters able to turn their ideas into fully realized songs, recorded and shared with the world?
This is Part 1 of how I built the classroom I wish I had when I was in school.
I remember being about 9 or 10 years old when I got my first real taste of music equipment — a mini, 25-key, battery-operated keyboard and a blue radio with a microphone attached. That Christmas gift became my world. I wore out those cassette tapes, pressing play, rewind, fast forward, and stop until the buttons couldn’t take it anymore. I was determined to learn every song on every tape, but with no guidance and no one to show me the way, I was left to teach myself. And for a while, I was bad — really bad.
But I kept at it.
About a year and a half later, I had gotten better. I had taught myself to play by ear, picking out melodies from most of the songs I loved. I even started using the radio to record myself playing them. Still, something was missing — that polish, that magic.
Fast forward to 9th grade. I joined the band, convinced this was finally where I’d learn what I craved. Finally, the mystery behind the music would be unlocked! Sadly, I was wrong. There I was, stuck on the tenor saxophone, playing old songs written by old composers — music that didn’t resonate with me. By then, I had notebooks filled with my lyrics, my ideas. I was frustrated because, while I was being taught that music mattered, it felt like my music didn’t.
As kind as my band director was, he couldn’t teach me what I needed most — songwriting, production, engineering. I felt stuck, like I was peeking through a window but couldn’t open the door.
Then, like something out of a movie, fate stepped in.
One day, my best friend and I were at a local music store buying reeds for our saxophones when I noticed a Korg X3 keyboard set up for demo. Like a moth to a flame, I rushed over and started playing. By then, I had gotten much better at combining chords and melodies. I started playing every song I knew from the radio, catching the attention of an older gentleman who approached me and said, “Hey, sounding pretty good, man! You got anything you’ve made? ”Without hesitation, I replied, “Do I!?” and played him my latest song, Lucky Star. He smiled and said, “I like that! Are you trying to record it?” I proudly answered, “I recorded it at home on my radio.”
The man and the store clerk chuckled and said, “No, I mean in a studio — a real studio.”
At that moment, I only knew about the legendary STAX and Sun Studios, both of which were no longer operating. He handed me his card and invited me to bring my parents by. A week later, I walked into a professional studio for the first time — and I knew, without a doubt, this was what I was meant to do for the rest of my life.
My first visit was just a tour. But days later, I was back, learning about drum machines and sequencing. Up until then, I was using the pre-programmed drums on my little keyboard, but now I was hands-on with professional equipment. All I could think was, Why don’t we have this stuff at school? If I had daily access to this, they would have had to kick me out just to get me to leave.
Eventually, my best friend and I recorded Lucky Star at that studio. The owner handed me two cassette tapes and the reel-to-reel master — what I later learned meant I owned my masters. The next day, we went back to school and asked our band director if we could play it for the class. Thankfully, he agreed.
As soon as the song ended, you would’ve thought we were celebrities. Our classmates were amazed. They, like us, had no idea that making and recording our own music was even possible. That validation — from my parents, the studio owner, and now my peers — was priceless. But it wouldn’t have meant half as much without access. Access changed everything.
Though I didn’t always enjoy being in the band, I fully recognize the importance of music in education. But I also recognize the necessity of offering diverse musical experiences within that education. There’s more than one way to engage with music, and every student deserves to find their way in.
This series will take you inside the kind of classroom I longed for as a child — and the one I’ve now created. Together, let’s explore what happens when we plant Sound Seeds.
Ty Boyland is an Emmy-nominated producer/engineer and Music Production Teacher at Crosstown High School in Memphis, TN. Founder of Ty Boyland Consulting LLC Author of " How To SEL Music: Tuning Into Emotions: A Guide to Music in SEL"