The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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The Girls Who Code club met together in Sierra Hall, on Friday, Sept. 15, in Northridge, Calif. Club members played around with a program to create a virtual game.
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Students form a crowd for DJ Mal-Ski on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 in Northridge, Calif.
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The University Student Union hosted “Matador Nights” on Sept. 8 from 7 p.m. to midnight. The...

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock by FiledIMAGE.
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Luis Silva, Reporter • September 19, 2023

There is no longer a significant competitive gap in the sport of women’s soccer. There is a brighter...

The line for concert merchandise on the second night of The Eras Tour in Paradise, Nev., on Saturday, March 25, 2023.
My experience at The Eras Tour
Miley Alfaro, Sports Reporter • September 18, 2023

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Within the Oaxacan town of Asuncion Nochixtlan, we find my mother’s birthplace, Buena Vista. Photo taken July 29, 2023.
I Love Being Mexican
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A student holds up a sign during a rally outside of the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach, Calif., on Sept. 12, 2023.
CSU board approves tuition increase amid protests
Trisha Anas, Editor in Chief • September 15, 2023

The California State Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a 6% tuition increase for the next five...

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Miracles In Action Restores Patients’ Lives and Actualizes their Potential

Bedroom producer finds success at CSUN

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Meet Royal Dean, 22, who transferred to CSUN in spring of 2017 to work on his dreams of becoming a music composer for film. Photo credit: Chelsea Hays

Royal Dean, 22, is a senior who composes and produces all of his own music from his very own studio … which also happens to be his bedroom.

Dean moved to Northridge in early 2017 as a transfer student from Moorpark College. He grew up with a musical mom and a doctor as a dad. Following in his mom’s footsteps, he learned to play piano at an early age and grew up in the musical realm.

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Normally when a composer makes his music, there's someone he can pay who will transcribe everything onto a sheet of scales for a conductor to look at when bringing the song to life, but Dean has learned how to create his music, transcribe it and conduct it all himself. "Coming towards the end, it’s amazing to look back at my time at CSUN and to see my progression," he said. Photo credit: Chelsea Hays

Going into high school Dean began making beats in GarageBand but as the years went on he became savvier. Dean learned he could create music from his piano and alter the sound to make it sound like other instruments. After figuring this out, he composed music for a few short films in high school which is where he really found his passion for music and knew this was the career he wanted.

His first and possibly one of his most important steps was to decide on a school. In the midst of the pressure, Dean ultimately decided to enroll in a community college and work his way through. With heaps of research under his belt, Dean found his home at the CSUN musical program.

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After growing up within the musical realm and taking after his mother's passion, Dean took his own musical passion to college. He currently does mostly everything from his piano where he then tweaks it to sound like other instruments to compose a masterpiece including many different instruments such as the viola, violin, cello, saxophone, etc. Photo credit: Chelsea Hays

“Hearing about the program, it was right up my alley,” Dean said. “It was exactly what I was doing and it was exactly what I wanted to do and it was exactly what career I wanted.”

In college, he took a class where he was given muted scenes and he got to create his own music.

“What’s cool about this is that when we’re given it, it’s a completely blank canvas and we can do whatever we want with it and that’s what is so cool about whether it’s this, a school project or a real-world project, is that you can be creative and you can do whatever you want,” he said.

Normally when a composer makes his music, there’s someone he can pay who will transcribe everything onto a sheet of scales for a conductor to look at when bringing the song to life, but Dean has learned how to create his music, transcribe it and conduct it all himself.

“Coming towards the end, it’s amazing to look back at my time at CSUN and to see my progression,” he said.

During his time on campus, the musician joined a four-man band and passed classes that taught him to apply conduct, composition and collaboration. Now, nearly two years later, one more semester until graduation, Dean has a lot to look forward to. This fall, he will attend his first internship which he hopes will ultimately give him the experience he needs to attain his first composing job after college.

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