NORTHRIDGE KIDS LEARN FROM SOUND ART IN SEVEN WEEKS, THEY WRITE AND RECORD MUSIC AND PRODUCE THEIR OWN CD.

Byline: ALEJANDRO GUZMAN Valley News Writer

Kids at Park Parthenia in Northridge have a whole new take on music after spending seven weeks learning how to write and record their own songs with help from Sound Art instructors.

Denise Echeverria, 13, is an eigth-grader at Holmes Middle School and a participant of Sound Art.

Echeverria says the nonprofit program is really cool and her instructor Lucas Cheadle made it fun for her to learn how to play the acoustic guitar.

She had some musical experience going into the program, having played the violin for two years.

At Sound Art, however, she not only learned to play an instrument but how to put an entire song together.

She also enjoyed spending time with Cheadle, who was not the stereotypical, strict music instructor.

Instead, she says he had fun with the kids and was extremely patient. Echeverria says instructions were easy because they were given step by step.

She says Sound Art changed her life because she learned new things about music and how it is made.

Sound Art is a nonprofit music education program designed for underserved youth and brings music to 1,000 kids every week in schools all over Los Angeles, says Sura Radcliffe, director of community relations. Students learn to play guitar and keyboard and record and produce their own music.

She says kids range from 9 to 16 years old. They attend three, one-hour classes on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Although students are charged a $10 fee, families who could not afford to pay were subsidized by Park Parthenia.

Maya Rogers, 25, works part time as an instructor for Sound Art.

She handles teaching kids the recording and production side of music.

``We take kids from writing songs to the very end and help them record,'' Rogers said.

The end result is a CD for family and friends. After seven weeks of hard work, the group at Park Parthenia produced seven songs.

Each student has his or her own duties. Some may spend time writing songs while others play instruments.

Rogers says Pro Tools and Reason software combined with a laptop makes it easy to produce music.

She says the format of the class allows children to decide what style of music they will work on each day. They decide as a class.

At Park Parthenia, classes were divided into three sections. Two groups had 10 kids and one had about 20.

Rogers says kids are really motivated by the project. They get excited and are amazed to see that they can make their own songs.

Radcliffe says Sound Art provides everything the kids need to record an album: guitars, keyboards and recording and production equipment.

About 40 kids participated in the Park Parthenia program and together produced seven songs.

Now that the program has come to an end, Radcliffe says Sound Art is working to become a permanent fixture at Park Parthenia.

Radcliffe says the program wants to reach as many kids as possible and it is unfortunate that while many kids joined the program, many who wanted in were left out because of lack of space.

Meanwhile, Rogers recalls some of the kids' first experiences with recording their voices.

She remembers hearing them say ``pretty neat'' after hearing their own voices on a recording.

She says what really makes her job special is that they are very grateful to be learning. She is satisfied knowing the kids have something fun to do.

Rogers is a flute player and sings and writes songs. Her favorite music includes rock and R&B but has been working a lot on Reggaeton, the childrens' favorite.

``I think (Sound Art) is great, I wish there was something like this when I was a kid,'' Rogers said.

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Sound Art participants from Park Parthenia enjoy an evening at the Skirball Cultural Center.