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For those who are interested in radio production, Towson University offers opportunities for students to hone their skills. One notable place is at XTSR, a student run online radio station located at the Electronic Media and Film (EMF) department.
XTSR is a starting point for students to improve their skills in broadcasting, music selection, and social media to name a few. One such student in particular is Matthew Terry, an EMF audio major at Towson University and voice actor.
While attending Towson University, the EMF department gave him the opportunity to improve his voice acting and learn how to be effective on air.
“I heard that they had a really good EMF program,” he said. “A friend of mine at Harvard Community said, if you like doing this you should go through Towson’s EMF program.”
James Armstrong, a Towson professor, was brought up as a big motivator for becoming a voice actor and for being instrumental in Matthew’s success and his talents earned him a spot at XTSR. He would fool around with his voice and make it sound silly and try to voice other characters to gain the attention of his audience on air. He shows his desire for improvement by watching movies and listening closely to the sounds and voice work done.
Roles at XTSR include voicing promos, station breaks, and announcements. One of his most notable roles is the voice of Captain X, who is used for promos, a character who encompasses the style of old radio shows like Buck Rodgers and The Phantom with the cheesiness of Flash Gordon.
In addition, he spends time writing, voicing skits and working on other projects with friends and fellow classmates. One in particular was a radio drama based in the world of Fallout, a western role-playing game.
“He’s super cool and really kind,” said Keelia Keating, a friend of Matthew and volunteer at XTSR. “He has really dedicated to his work and he’s really creative and he has always tried to make new things and just keeps going.”
Both Matthew and Keelia are working together at XTSR and are currently working on a Christmas skit that appears to be worth listening to if it is ever released.
“I always like grew up really liking cartoons and I wanted to work in animations, but I never went to animation as a major,” she said. “I got into audio and I’ve always been able to do a lot of cool voices. We’ve been friends before and I used to be the radio operator at this station and he just asked me to do stuff for him and I was one of those people who could do stuff.”
“It’s been enlightening,” said Matthew. “I don’t know of any other place that I can cultivate my craft and do voice overs and make public service announcements, not just write for radio and for voice over, I can perform it as well.”
Not only does he enjoy what he does, he also wishes for other radio majors to join in and get the training they need.
“The best way to do it is to just dive right in and that’s where you’ll get the best training. So come on down, we’ll have you. Come with your best foot forward.”
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T-Adams Journalism 