Celebrating 20 years of sound education

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/03/2015 (3853 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Have you heard of MOSMA? I heard about Mid-Ocean School of Media Arts at 1588 Erin St. through a friend. It’s the only school of its kind in Manitoba, and this year it’s celebrating its 20th anniversary.

In a release explaining the origin of the school, owner/director, Carlos Vela said “MOSMA is a result of good timing. In the early ’90s Mid-Ocean Recording Studio offered courses in multi-track recording, developed by Doug Blakely.

“During this time Doug had begun to draft the curriculum for a full-time diploma program. In 1994, the owner changed direction to pursue a record label, ending Mid-Ocean Recording studios as an entity.

“Having  spent the time developing and running the Audio in Media program for two years, both Doug and Carlos Vela, a graduate of the Audio in Media program and current owner/director, saw the importance to continue training in this field.”

Thus MOSMA began in 1995, training students in audio production. Today it offers programs such as Introduction to Multi-Track Recording, a 10-week evening course which meets once a week for a total 30 hours; Introduction to Mixing and Editing Techniques, a 10-week evening course of 30 hours; Audio in Media, which is a full-time, 24-week diploma program. (The next offering of this course begins Sept. 1, 2015 and runs for six months.)

Over the years, Mid-Ocean has improved its curriculum, developed a strong faculty and doubled its intake of students from eight to 15 for the full-time program.

“During this time our relationship with the industry has also grown. We’ve had the privilege of countless musicians and industry professionals who have come through our studio to work with our students, such as Greg MacPherson, Sweet Alibi, Moses Mayes, Murray Pulver, Gilles Fournier, Steve Kirby, Curtis Nowosad and many, many more,” Vela said.

To apply for Mid-Ocean programs you have to be a high-school graduate or equivalent; 18 years old at the start of the course; have a strong interest in audio production; write a 300-word essay about why you are interested and your future goals; and have an interview with a MOSMA administrator.

MOSMA graduates find work in places such as recording studios, broadcasting, live sound reinforcement, sound for film and  television, and corporate audio-visual departments.
For more information visit midoceanschool.ca, call 204-775-3308, or email ingo@midoceanschool.ca

Arny Hjaltadottir is a community correspondent for the West End.