Public invited to learn history of recording, tour broadcasting museum during International Radio Day event

Community members toured Northwest's Warren Stucki Museum of Broadcasting last summer. The museum will open for the public again on Feb. 13 as part of International Radio Day activities. (Photo by Todd Weddle/Northwest Missouri State University)

Northwest Missouri State University will commemorate International Radio Day with a program about the history of recording as well as a recording demonstration and tours of the University’s broadcasting museum.

The public is invited to the event, which is free, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at Wells Hall in Room 117.

Alex Kirt, an assistant professor of mass media in the School of Communication and Mass Media, will discuss the history of recording. Kirt, who formerly worked as an audio engineer and professional musician, also will demonstrate how to cut a record using original equipment from the 1940s.

Kirt says he started experimenting with recording lathes as an undergraduate student. He was so fascinated with them that he purchased his own. He uses equipment similar to pieces used in Memphis during the 1950s to record Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.

“It’s a personal thing for me because I like to work with sound and use it to make art,” Kirt said.

Attendees of the program may also tour Northwest’s Warren Stucki Museum of Broadcasting, where they can try their hands at Morse code and test their newscaster skills in a studio from the 1990s. Tours of KXCV-KRNW, Northwest’s National Public Radio affiliate, also will be offered.

The event is hosted by the Northwest Campus Museums, the School of Communication and Mass Media, and the College of Arts and Sciences.