Sound & Story Labs

Sound & Story Labs is Department of Sound's flagship: cohort-based music production, audio engineering, and podcasting for youth ages 11 to 24, delivered in schools, after school, and in summer intensives. Every student finishes an original track or podcast episode.

What a cohort looks like. Up to 20 students and a teaching artist. Students learn beat-making, recording, mixing, and podcast production in Soundtrap, which runs on school Chromebooks. They write about their own lives and communities, give each other feedback, and close with a studio day at Shattered Records, a compilation album, and a listening party for families.

Formats. In-school residencies, after-school labs, production days and assemblies, and weekend pop-ups.

Where it runs. Twin Rivers Unified in Del Paso Heights since 2022, 916 Ink's Imaginarium in South Sacramento, and Washington Unified in West Sacramento (add once the contract is signed).

What we track. Retention, completion, work released, and pre and post measures of confidence and belonging. In the 2026 summer cohort, 86 percent of students completed the program and every one of them released a track.