Tucked away upstairs in the Carter Center for Worship and Music, behind an unassuming door, lies a hidden hub of creativity. The Bridgewater College Music Production Club’s studio is packed with microphones, amplifiers and cables, all dedicated to one mission: helping students bring music to life.
“The Music Production Club is an outlet for people who want to make music,” said club Vice President Jimmy Rosend ’25, a computer science major. “You don’t have to be a music major. The people who come to the meetings usually aren’t music majors; they’re just people who want to make music as a hobby.”
The Music Production Club began about five years ago when Alex Jensen ’24 founded it as a studio space for individual music production. It has since grown to become a place where students can both work together on collaborations and have access to equipment and resources to create their own work. The club is advised by Skip Burzumato, Senior Instructor of Sociology, who also provided most of the club’s equipment.
“It used to be only for making beats,” club President Stephen Marsden Jr. ’26 said. “Alex tried to make it into an everything production club with vocals and different elements.”
The Music Production Club is open to all students with an interest in music, whether that is rap, R&B, Christian music or another genre. In the club, members collaborate on songwriting, experiment with beat-making software that is often found in hip hop music and learn about the technical aspects of music production.
They also have opportunities to record their own tracks, receive feedback from peers and explore different styles of music production. Whether students are seasoned musicians or just starting out, the club provides a creative space to develop their skills and connect with others who share their passion for music.
“There are so many students who get involved,” Marsden said. “They’ll all just come in randomly looking to hop on tracks or to create.”
Marsden and Rosend also use the room for their own projects. Marsden is working on a Christian album with a handful of his peers, while Rosend focuses on writing guitar tracks.
“As a guitar player I like to write my own music,” Rosend said. “Now that I have the means of recording and creating it, it saves me a lot of money.”
“We really try to dip into everything,” Marsden said. “I’m learning how to record, and we’re about to start actually producing a lot of music.”
Both Marsden and Rosend have taught themselves how to record and produce music and have spent countless hours in the music production studio sharing their knowledge with other students.
“I started producing not too long ago,” Marsden said. “It’s been a great learning curve, but it’s helped me so much in learning how to produce and learning about different software. It’s really helped me progress in my music knowledge.”
Often the club will partake in collaborative projects that involve several different people to produce a track or album. Last year, students worked together to record and produce a R&B/soul song, “Just One More Drink.” The club came up with an idea, then composed the music, including chord progressions, lyrics, vocals and instrumental parts. Finally, in the recording phase, all the individual components were recorded and processed through a system like Pro Tools, allowing them to be edited, arranged and polished to create the final track.
“‘Just One More Drink’ was probably our best track as a club,” Marsden said. “Everyone was here working and contributing. It was such a teamwork-driven song, and it turned out so good.”
The Music Production Club gives Bridgewater students the opportunity to bring their music to a wider audience. Tracks produced through the club can be released on streaming platforms such as Spotify, SoundCloud and Apple Music, allowing students to share their work professionally and gain real-world experience in music distribution.
“The club is a great resource,” Marsden added. “People don’t have to pay a bunch of money to record, and anyone can come in whenever they want. And I can help them record, mix or even write. It’s a resource that anyone can have because the club is established.”
– Olivia DeWan ’27
2/10/25
