Education/training
Career opportunities in the recording arts are flourishingCreating the right vibesWith films and TV productions increasingly relying on studio-enhanced musical scores and sound effects, and music bands regularly turning to audio companies to get just the right sound on their CDs, career opportunities in the recording arts are flourishing. |
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 [ 2007-05-30 ] |
Marina Kobzariuk, a graduate of Trebas Institute, discovered a career in audio post production. (Photo by Post City Sound)
Enjoying a thriving career on the music side of the business is James Shaw, Halifax, N.S.-based owner of Redfish Audio, an established audio production facility. Since launching his business in 2001, Shaw has worked with hundreds of musical artists in all genres, from rock to hip hop to folk, to produce full albums and demos.
What played a key role in Redfish's evolution into one of the most popular audio studios on the bustling Halifax music scene is the practical, hands-on training Shaw received at Recording Arts Canada (RAC).
A vocalist and multi-instrument musician since his teens, Shaw decided to put his casual passion into action by enrolling in RAC's Recording Arts and Production Techniques program (now called Digital Sound and Music Recording, www.recordingarts.com/ main_about.htm). Shaw learned in cutting-edge audio workstations in the college's world-class recording facilities and received current training from industry-experienced teachers.
The comprehensive course curriculum led Shaw to develop the skills essential to work in the rapidly evolving audio production universe, including sound production, music recording, computer-assisted sound design, electro-acoustics, music for film and television, post-audio, surround sound mixing and recording, and more.
"AWESOME INTRODUCTION"
"I gained an awesome introduction to this field and actually found my calling," Shaw says. "It placed me in the right environment and gave me the technical knowledge to allow me to pursue a very satisfying career."
A two-month placement at Aztec Recording Studios, which was run by one of his instructors, gave Shaw the opportunity put his skills to use helping local Toronto bands cut demos.
He graduated in 1994 and that summer dabbled in freelance audio engineering, but soon decided he wanted to run his own audio recording business. After working for five years as a prison guard on Baffin Island to save money, he moved to Halifax in 2001 and launched Redfish, which, in addition to album production, also does some film and video post-production.
"I'm very happy with my path and with the fact that I'm achieving my goals," says Shaw, 37. "Whenever I manage to achieve something deemed significant in this industry ... it really makes a difference personally."
Marina Kobzariuk is likewise thrilled to be making an impact on an industry that's fascinated her whole life: film.
Kobzariuk has harboured a lifelong interest in both becoming an actor, as well as in learning about how movies are produced. However, acting seemed too far-fetched, so she decided to focus on her natural talent for music, nurtured by her two music teacher parents and her piano playing since the age of three.
In 2000, she enrolled in the Trebas Institute's nine-month Music Production program (now called Audio Engineering and Production/ DJ Arts, www.trebas.com/en/ toronto-ae.php, and discovered audio post-production -- a field that would let her blend her interests in both music and film.
"We worked with film and pictures and cut sounds effects to them, and I fell in love with it," says Kobzariuk, now 24. "I thought, this is what I would like to do. It's not acting, but it's still an integral part of it."
Overall, the program provided opportunities for Kobzariuk to learn about music theory, create and edit music for film and TV, understand how to use equipment in a modern studio, and more.
INTERN
Shortly after graduating, she interned for two months at Deluxe Toronto (Sound), a digital film and TV post-production facility, before joining Lenz Entertainment, where she worked for six years as a re-recording mixer/editor/ engineer on TV shows (including Designer Guys and Holmes on Homes), children's TV shows and feature films (including Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ).
"My Trebas training opened up a lot of doors for me and opened my eyes to new career choices," says Kobzariuk, now a freelancer. "I didn't even know this side of the business existed, and I discovered I could still do work I liked that was very much a part of the film industry."
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