Brandon McDuff sat absorbing the sting of rejection from being turned down for a job he had high hopes for when his phone rang with the news that he had won a national competition for theatre sound design. In an instant, his disappointment turned to elation.

“I have never won anything before,” said McDuff, an MFA-Design candidate with a focus in Sound Design in the Department of Theatre at Michigan State University. “I had just been turned down for a summer job, then 10 minutes later I’m getting a call that I won the contest. It elevated everything I had worked so hard for and made me feel like a ‘real’ sound designer.”

The “Your Story in Sound” Student Sound Design Contest that McDuff had won was open to all students studying sound design or a related field at any college or university within the United States. Sponsored by Point Source Audio, this is the first year for this national competition, which celebrates the creativity, passion, and hard work that students bring to sound design, offering an opportunity for those students to showcase their work while providing a platform for them to grow and connect within the industry.

McDuff’s contest entry, a compilation of the work he had done on the new play, “Stevie and the Real World,” topped a field of gifted young sound designers nationwide. This work required a fusion of storytelling prowess and technical precision. The result was a mesmerizing auditory experience.

The judges of the “Your Story in Sound” contest said that McDuff’s entry stood out for its “creative sound design, technical execution, and immersive storytelling. But what truly set his entry apart was his dynamic and multidimensional approach to sound design.”

McDuff’s winning entry earned him an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2025 United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Conference. His achievement as the winner of the contest is particularly striking because “Stevie and the Real World” was the first production he had worked on as a graduate student at MSU.

“Stevie and the Real World”

“Stevie and the Real World” follows a protagonist who navigates layers of truth and fantasy, exploring the worlds we create when we lie to ourselves. The production itself was conceived when MSU’s Department of Theatre put out a call for emerging playwrights to write a new play for its diverse cohort of MFA Acting and Design candidates. From more than 300 submissions, Iraisa Ann Reilly, a writer, performer, and educator from New Jersey, was selected and spent more than a year writing “Stevie and the Real World,” which premiered at the Fairchild Theatre in the MSU Auditorium Feb. 9-18, 2024.

For the production, McDuff employed specific soundscapes to distinguish reality from Stevie’s fantasy world. During a climactic moment at the end of Act I, when the characters plummet into an alternate dimension, McDuff crafted a deeply layered soundscape: deep, ominous rumblings interwoven with resounding organ chords; a dramatic crescendo leading to a chilling silence; and, as the characters emerged into a new, whimsical reality, an enchanting, peculiar atmosphere constructed entirely from the sound of kazoos.

“I elevated the real world with TV sounds where every scene was a different genre of stylized TV show,” McDuff said. “Then once the characters fell into Stevie’s dimension, I tried to make it as realistic as possible. Well, as realistic as a puppet-dimension can sound. While it is whimsical, there is a layer of mystery and unknown. Stevie’s world soundscape was entirely made up of sounds I recorded on my kazoo, and what’s more whimsical than a kazoo?”

McDuff’s work on the play pushed him into roles that typically involve an entire team of artistic and technical specialists. He served as composer, foley artist, programmer, engineer, designer, music director, and studio engineer for recording voiceover lines with the cast. He worked closely with lighting designers, set designers, and performers to make sure every element harmonized for the best overall theatrical experience.

“We had all of our art being displayed for the world,” he said, “and it had to compliment each other.”

Passion for Music Leads to Sound Design Career

McDuff’s journey to this turning point in his career began with a passion for music. He started writing his own music in high school. His first experience in sound design also came in high school during a production of “Still Life with Iris,” where McDuff acted, played live music, and, most formatively, operated the soundboard.

After pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre, McDuff recognized that, although he enjoyed acting, his passion was rooted in sound design.

“Aside from my passion for sound, I have an immense passion for teaching, and Michigan State offered me the best of both worlds. With a focus on pedagogy, artistic design, a healthy dose of funding, and immense support from faculty, I am very much at home.”

“There is art to be found in creating sounds,” he said. “It sounds silly, but does the doorbell really have to sound like “ding-dong?” Maybe the house is old and not kept and the doorbell just sputters out. There is more to sound than looking in the script and doing what it says.”

McDuff’s search for graduate programs led him to Michigan State University.

“Aside from my passion for sound, I have an immense passion for teaching, and Michigan State offered me the best of both worlds,” he said. “With a focus on pedagogy, artistic design, a healthy dose of funding, and immense support from faculty, I am very much at home.”

McDuff plans to graduate from MSU in Spring 2026 with his MFA in Theatre Design and dreams of one day creating his own immersive, one-man sound production, an ambitious project that would fully realize his artistic vision while merging the technical and artistic aspects of sound design. He also envisions a future rooted in academia.

“My wish is to work at a theater or university long term,” he said. “I have a huge passion for teaching and wish to guide the next generation of sound designers.”

McDuff is the sound designer and composer for the MSU Department of Theatre’s current production, “Inching Towards Yeolha,” which has performances scheduled for April 11-19, 2025, at the Pasant Theatre in the Wharton Center for Performing Arts.

“Theater is in a constant state of fluctuation, and it is filled with wins and losses. After years of losses, it feels great to have some wins line up.”

At the 2025 USITT Conference, which was held March 5-8 in Columbus, Ohio, McDuff connected with industry leaders, experienced cutting-edge sound technologies, and chatted with other sound design students. He also had the opportunity to meet with the creators of the software and sound boards he uses in his work.

“I was blown away by USITT,” McDuff said. “I learned more about mixing, but the networking was the most significant part of my time there. I received a few job interviews and even received a few job offers.”

In a significant turn of events, one of those offers was for the same job McDuff was turned down for minutes before learning he had won the “Your Story in Sound” Student Sound Design Contest. He has since accepted that offer and will be working this summer as the Audio Supervisor at the Two-Time Tony-Winning Regional Theater, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut.

“Career validation is a rare thing, and I am blessed to be able to be a part of this industry,” McDuff said. “I was at the O’Neill last year as the Associate Supervisor and I am so honored to be able to go back. Theater is in a constant state of fluctuation, and it is filled with wins and losses. After years of losses, it feels great to have some wins line up.”

By Austin Curtis and Kim Popiolek