KSDT Radio
Encyclopedia
KSDT is an online College radio station which refers to itself as "fiercely independent college radio." Its facilities are located on the campus of UCSD, the University of California
San Diego, in La Jolla.
It broadcasts on the internet over iTunes Radio (under College Radio) and from its homepage
station. Its staff, consisting of a General Manager
, Operations Manager, Head Engineer, Programming Director, Promotions Director, and its core staff of Music Directors
are all required by KSDT's charter
to be students at UCSD. Oversight is provided by the Associated Students (AS) and UCSD administration
.
The majority of the organization's staff and budget is devoted to providing a public service
to the surrounding communities by playing music and hosting programming not normally heard elsewhere; usually taking the form of music shows featuring independent and underground music
from a variety of genres. While so-called indie
rock music
and its many sub-genres are consistently found being broadcast from KSDT along with electronic music
, other genres such as jazz
, blues
, heavy metal
, experimental
, hip hop
, world
, and others often have considerably less airtime devoted to them. This is indicative not of any preference of music directors, but more on the makeup of its completely volunteer DJ staff and the communities they represent.
KSDT does feature an open-door policy to accepting volunteer DJ's. Any member of the community, student or not, can sign up to take the required 4 training classes and 1 two-hour hands-on training (basically DJing with someone more experienced there to help). After that, any open time slot can be filled with a new show featuring a new DJ. Despite this open-door policy, only a few non-student DJ's can be heard on KSDT.
KSDT also has a recording studio
, which runs under the responsibility of the Head Engineer. Mainly used for live broadcast
performances of visiting bands, it has been used to record demos for local bands, booked over longer periods of time to record full albums or EP's, and also to create and archive station identification
s.
cable radio
station broadcasting on the UCSD campus. Throughout its history, KSDT has tried multiple times to obtain a terrestrial FM radio signal but failed due to strict Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) broadcasting laws. It continues to pursue this goal.
As a public service college radio station, the format was largely musical, with some community access programming. Commercial-free, it received funding from the University.
In 1999 it moved to become an internet radio station. In 2000 and 2001, it split with its "sister station
" SRTV (student-run television).
Its current mission statement
in part "strives to promote independent music not available from other sources and works to help the San Diego Community as well."
The recording studio on its premises was used to record and broadcast live many independent bands such as Rookie Card
, Skeletor
, The Locust
, Estradasphere
, Dressy Bessy
, The Robot Ate Me
, etc.
Artists such as Lemmy from Motörhead, Björk
, The Flaming Lips
, Screaming Trees
, Mogwai
, Fugazi, and others have recorded station identifications for KSDT in the past.
Currently KSDT's most popular program is Dynamic Panel with PB&J broadcasted Sundays at 10PM. The program is hosted by Warren College student, Joseph Lieu and features Sixth College
students Paul Korol and Benjamin Young serving as a regular panelist and ombudsman respectively. The show was created in Winter of 2011 and gained popularity with its unique style combining humor with news. Dynamic Panel has several recurring jokes including the crew creating comical remixes of mainstream songs and Joseph frequently implying that the others have a dark past or bizarre sexual fetishes while discussing news stories.
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
San Diego, in La Jolla.
It broadcasts on the internet over iTunes Radio (under College Radio) and from its homepage
Organization
KSDT is a student run radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
station. Its staff, consisting of a General Manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
, Operations Manager, Head Engineer, Programming Director, Promotions Director, and its core staff of Music Directors
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
are all required by KSDT's charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
to be students at UCSD. Oversight is provided by the Associated Students (AS) and UCSD administration
Academic administration
An academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities...
.
The majority of the organization's staff and budget is devoted to providing a public service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
to the surrounding communities by playing music and hosting programming not normally heard elsewhere; usually taking the form of music shows featuring independent and underground music
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
from a variety of genres. While so-called indie
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and its many sub-genres are consistently found being broadcast from KSDT along with electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, other genres such as jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
, hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
, and others often have considerably less airtime devoted to them. This is indicative not of any preference of music directors, but more on the makeup of its completely volunteer DJ staff and the communities they represent.
KSDT does feature an open-door policy to accepting volunteer DJ's. Any member of the community, student or not, can sign up to take the required 4 training classes and 1 two-hour hands-on training (basically DJing with someone more experienced there to help). After that, any open time slot can be filled with a new show featuring a new DJ. Despite this open-door policy, only a few non-student DJ's can be heard on KSDT.
KSDT also has a recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
, which runs under the responsibility of the Head Engineer. Mainly used for live broadcast
Live radio
Live radio is radio broadcast without delay. Before the days of television, audiences listened to live dramas, comedies, quiz shows, and concerts on the radio much the same way that they now do on TV. Most talk radio is live radio where people can speak about their opinions/lives....
performances of visiting bands, it has been used to record demos for local bands, booked over longer periods of time to record full albums or EP's, and also to create and archive station identification
Station identification
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
s.
History
Founded in the 1960s, KSDT originally was an AM radio and FMFM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
cable radio
Cable radio
Cable radio or cable FM is a concept similar to that of cable television, bringing radio signals into homes and businesses via coaxial cable. It is generally used as cable TV was in its early days when it was "community antenna television", to enhance the quality of terrestrial radio signals that...
station broadcasting on the UCSD campus. Throughout its history, KSDT has tried multiple times to obtain a terrestrial FM radio signal but failed due to strict Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) broadcasting laws. It continues to pursue this goal.
As a public service college radio station, the format was largely musical, with some community access programming. Commercial-free, it received funding from the University.
In 1999 it moved to become an internet radio station. In 2000 and 2001, it split with its "sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
" SRTV (student-run television).
Its current mission statement
Mission statement
A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...
in part "strives to promote independent music not available from other sources and works to help the San Diego Community as well."
The recording studio on its premises was used to record and broadcast live many independent bands such as Rookie Card
Rookie card
"Rookie card" is a relatively subjective term generally referring to an athlete's first appearance on a trading card made for collectible or informational purposes...
, Skeletor
Skeletor
Skeletor is a featured villain in the Masters of the Universe franchise and the arch-enemy and main antagonist of He-Man. Depicted as a muscular blue humanoid with a purple hood over his yellowing bare-bone skull, Skeletor seeks to conquer Castle Grayskull so he can learn its ancient secrets,...
, The Locust
The Locust
The Locust is a musical group from San Diego, California, United States known for their unique mix of grindcore speed and aggression, mathcore complexity, and new wave weirdness.- Style :...
, Estradasphere
Estradasphere
Estradasphere was an experimental band that originated in Santa Cruz, California during the late 1990s. The band, which in its last incarnation was based in Seattle, consisted of 6 multi-instrumentalists from a variety of musical backgrounds trained in disciplines ranging from classical music and...
, Dressy Bessy
Dressy Bessy
Dressy Bessy is an indie rock band from Denver, Colorado, associated with the Elephant Six Collective. Guitarist John Hill also plays with The Apples in Stereo. Lead vocalist/guitarist Tammy Ealom formed the band with drummer Darren Albert and guitarist turned bassist Rob Greene in 1996. The name...
, The Robot Ate Me
The Robot Ate Me
The Robot Ate Me is an experimental indie rock band formed by Ryland Bouchard in 2002 which has been through many distinct phases incorporating aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia and avant-garde rock. Their critically acclaimed albums alternated between accessible pop and obscure musical art projects...
, etc.
Artists such as Lemmy from Motörhead, Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
, The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
, Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
, Mogwai
Mogwai
The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:...
, Fugazi, and others have recorded station identifications for KSDT in the past.
Currently KSDT's most popular program is Dynamic Panel with PB&J broadcasted Sundays at 10PM. The program is hosted by Warren College student, Joseph Lieu and features Sixth College
Sixth College
Sixth College is the sixth and newest college of the University of California, San Diego, and is as of yet unnamed. Sixth College aims to prepare its students to become effective citizens of the 21st century — innovative, interconnected and aware. Opened in September 2001, Sixth College seeks to...
students Paul Korol and Benjamin Young serving as a regular panelist and ombudsman respectively. The show was created in Winter of 2011 and gained popularity with its unique style combining humor with news. Dynamic Panel has several recurring jokes including the crew creating comical remixes of mainstream songs and Joseph frequently implying that the others have a dark past or bizarre sexual fetishes while discussing news stories.