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DJ GIVES STUDENTS
SOUND ADVICE
LONGTIME VALLEY
VOICE SHOWS YOUTHS HIS SHOWMANSHIP
by TARA
TUCKWILLER
"WINFIELD ... Thiiiis SUNDAY!"
Seventh-grader Jodi Myers glanced
toward her teacher, startled that the bellowing radio-announcer imitation came
from her diminutive self.
"It's slammin' rammin' jammin'
speed skating on the ice,"
eighth-grader Matt Hill chimed in,
barely above a whisper. Teacher Charlie Cooper took time out to explain the
difference between "warm" and "hard" voices.
"Warm is soft, calm, reassuring," Cooper breathed
huskily, drawing close to the microphone. "We're trying to show people our
chemical plant is not a threat to the environment. We've got grass, and trees,
and birds. "Hard," he boomed abruptly, with
Jodi-like gruffness, "is when you step back from the microphone and talk
louder!"
People may not know Cooper on
sight, although his waist-length ponytail is his trademark. But anyone who has
ever clicked on a radio in the Kanawha Valley knows his voice. The longtime
Charleston disc jockey now produces commercials with his company, Admix
Broadcast Service. For years, he was "Super Duper Charlie Cooper" on WKAZ-AM.
"I grew up listening to Charlie Cooper on WKAZ," said
Dale Slack, who teaches technology at Winfield Middle School. "So when Betty
Bennett asked me if I could do this exploratory, I thought, this is cool." Bennett, the school's music teacher, knew Cooper through a
mutual friend, Slack said. She thought the DJ might make a good "exploratory"
class, where students learn nontraditional school subjects such as fishing and
baby-sitting.
For the past
month, Cooper has spent two mornings a week teaching sixth-, seventh- and
eighth-graders in Slack's class about sound, speech and showmanship.
"I have always said DJing can't be taught," said
Cooper, who started his 30-year career making announcements over his junior high
public address system. "I've got six kids in the class. I screened them pretty
carefully, to make sure they didn't want to just
play music."
By the end of the
semester in January, the students will know the basics of on-air broadcasting
and on-stage DJing. That includes setting up equipment, adjusting sound,
selecting music and entertaining a crowd.
"You can't be shy, for one thing," said Hill, who reads
radio copy fluidly and calmly in his quiet voice. "I'm shy most of the time, but
you have to keep their attention. If not, everything goes quiet and messes up." Hill and his classmates are preparing for an upcoming
school dance. They will be the entertainment.
"Don't take requests from guys," Hill advises. "They
just want to sit back and listen. When girls request a song, they get out and
dance. And they mostly like slow songs." Aaron
Knight said he took the class so he can DJ school dances in the future. "I'm really shy. I just try to overcome it," said the
tall eighth-grader, who adapts his voice easily according to Cooper's
instructions. "This'll really help me with my public speaking."
Slack's classroom has an audio booth, which the
students will eventually use to make morning announcements at the school. After
the upcoming lunchtime dance, the students will graduate to DJing bigger dances. "We've had a lot of trouble trying to have dances," Slack
said. "Kids try to DJ, but we end up with a lot of time elapsed between songs,
and they don't introduce songs."
Cooper's students get quickly down to business as soon
as he arrives, making the most of the half-hour he can be there. "He's got to drive all the way from Charleston and back
just to be here in the morning," Slack said. "He's not getting paid for this.
His only satisfaction is watching the kids progress." Cooper said he doesn't know of any other class in the area
where children learn from an experienced DJ.
"You've got to remember, I spent 30 years being 14 years old," he said. "I can
really relate to these kids."
from an article in the
CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: December 10, 1998
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