Scotts Valley High School is the home of the newest music production studio in town after several local music engineers spent a rainy Saturday working with students last month to set up a computer workstation loaded with some of the hottest recording and production software on the market.
“(Scotts Valley companies) Anteres Audio and Universal Audio wanted to get involved in music education,” said Beth Hollenbeck, high school music teacher. “So it was a real outreach on their behalf.”
Key features of the new studio include an iMac workstation installed with Logic Studio Pro, a $500 program that allows the user to write, record, produce and perform almost any kind of music.
“It was really interesting to see how a music studio is set up,” said freshman Zane Wurtz, an electric guitarist in the school’s band who helped with the installation, along with students Chris Lallemand and Grant Simmons. “I’m so happy there’s a studio now.”
The studio — installed by Universal Audio president Matt Ward and his staff, as well as Jeff Forehan, director of Commercial Music at West Valley College — will allow Scotts Valley students to continue their music production education from middle school through college levels.
Anteres Audio CEO Georganna Hildebrand and the Scotts Valley Rotary Club also contributed to the project.
Hollenbeck said her choir and band classes can record their work, and she might institute a recording and engineering section in her curriculum.
The companies donated their time and solicited donations to outfit the studio.
“It’s a personal interest of mine, and the company is fostering education,” Ward said. “We want to help create a program here that feeds music technology programs (at local colleges). There will be more tech-savvy people, which helps our industry.”
Ward said he is thrilled about the hands-on nature of the studio, which will connect students’ lessons in core subjects, such as math, with a real-world application in music production.
“When I was a student, if someone could have made the connection, it would have made a big difference,” Ward said.
Scotts Valley Middle School classes already use Garage Band, a simpler software program, but the high school had nothing of the sort, Hollenbeck said. Now, students who begin learning music production in middle school can expand their work through high school and into college, she said.
At a glance
To read more about the Scotts Valley High music program: www.svhsmusicdept.wordpress.com
