I want to share a story of two very talented young adults who just graduated from Van Meter Community School in May. Meagan Blomgren and Tyler Hepworth. When their band teacher, Kyle Pape shared this story with us at the end of the year, I reached out to Meagan to share the story behind this amazing class, project and music they created.
Here is Meagan's story.
My name is Meagan Blomgren, and I recently graduated from Van Meter High School. At Van Meter, I was highly involved in almost everything- softball, track, drama, academics, and music. My last year at VM, I was introduced to a new classroom opportunity- Music Technology. At the beginning of the year, I barely knew what the class was even going to be about. I had known virtually nothing about what it takes to produce songs and put your music out there, but I was still very interested in the topic, so I thought I’d gave it a try.
Who would have know that Music Tech would be (by far) my favorite class at Van Meter.
My name is Meagan Blomgren, and I recently graduated from Van Meter High School. At Van Meter, I was highly involved in almost everything- softball, track, drama, academics, and music. My last year at VM, I was introduced to a new classroom opportunity- Music Technology. At the beginning of the year, I barely knew what the class was even going to be about. I had known virtually nothing about what it takes to produce songs and put your music out there, but I was still very interested in the topic, so I thought I’d gave it a try.
Who would have know that Music Tech would be (by far) my favorite class at Van Meter.
This class was split up into two different sections; the first semester was more focused on the techniques and tools that people use to make, edit, produce, and market their music, and the second semester was all about making your own music using what you learned first semester. I have always been very interested in music and songwriting, so I was super excited to start producing my own music that second semester.
Because we were limited on equipment, my friend Tyler and I paired up together to write and produce our own songs. Tyler (another recent Van Meter graduate) is also very interested in music and is intending on pursuing his music career and using what he learned in this class to create his own studio!
This is a picture of the “studio” space in one of the practice rooms that we used for recording and editing our projects. This was the beginning of the studio, in addition to a couple more speakers and microphones.
And this is the logo Tyler and I created for our label name- TyMe (pronounced like time).
This is a picture of the “studio” space in one of the practice rooms that we used for recording and editing our projects. This was the beginning of the studio, in addition to a couple more speakers and microphones.
It was very helpful having two minds that were both very passionate about music working on the same project. We both had very creative ideas and worked well together.
Our very first project was the song Cheat on Me, which is one of the songs featured on our EP. Throughout this process of producing the song, there were many moments of trial and error. It wasn’t a terrible start for our first song, but it wasn’t exactly our favorite project, looking back on the album.
After we got the process down, it took us less and less time to complete each project. Before I knew it, the end of the year rolled by, and we had completed 5 projects including Cheat on Me, Say, Lie with You, Pain, and...
This Love, which is a Meagan Blomgren original.
All of these projects are also available for streaming on our EP, available on all streaming sites including YouTube Channel,
All of these projects are also available for streaming on our EP, available on all streaming sites including YouTube Channel,
I also completed recording a 6th project by myself after the school year was over, which I performed at graduation for my Valedictorian speech. It is titled, Much Different Than Before. It is now available on iTunes and all streaming sites as of June 11, 2019.
This entire process was unreal, and I couldn’t have made a better choice for myself by taking this class with Mr. Pape. If this class is offered again in the years upcoming, I would highly recommend anyone with a passion for music to take this class!
Thank you Van Meter for everything! Next year, I am off to Simpson College to pursue a major in Pre-Med, and a minor in music! I plan to use what I learned in Thai class to continue recording and producing my own music in the future!
