How did Brenda get the idea to start Modesto Sound ?. . .
If you have time, feel free to read on . . .
About seven years ago I had a chance to go to college full-time. After considering various options, I decided to major in something to do with music. Throughout my youth I had dabbled in music, playing an instrument here and there, mostly at school. Once on a New Year’s Eve I was at a reggae concert with a friend and I said “I would like to be a drummer.” My friend said “I could see you doing that. “ So I took up drumming and when the chance to pick a new occupation came along, the fun of drumming and the way music always lifted my spirits, steered me towards a music degree.
One of the degrees offered at University of Pacific in Stockton is called Music Business (really it’s much longer than that—Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Art & Entertainment Management). You can be a business student or a music conservatory student and get a similar degree. Since I had all kinds of business experience from my work history I chose that. The required classes included Music in Society, Music Appreciation, Entertainment Law, and Music Recording. Although the lectures in Music Recording were very boring, the lab was thrilling. It involved computers, hooking up cables, talking to people, listening to music and learning how to work devices that help make music sound good. I started to think I might want to be a producer because they seemed to make good money whether the album sells a lot or not. Plus being the boss sounded good. I checked around about being a producer, but it did seem out of my reach. I wasn’t sure about being a recording engineer because the job possibilities seemed dismal, but little by little I came up with an idea of how I could have a successful recording studio.
My idea was to have a non-profit studio so that I could apply for grants and then charge less for the artists to record. Since I knew I enjoyed working with youth I thought “Why not make it for teenagers?” It would be a way for teens to have something to do that was affordable and good for their self-esteem. I felt like this was a way a studio could make it (many go out of business because of lack of customers). Previously when I needed to record a CD with a band I was in I had a bad experience. The price to record was high, and I was so nervous my legs were shaking. I didn’t feel comfortable at that studio so I wanted my studio to put people at ease. I went around for three years and told everyone that would listen about my idea to open a non-profit studio for teens. People mostly said, “Yeah that might work.” Meanwhile I worked at music jobs to gain experience.
I interned at the local symphony, then I managed the youth symphony for a couple of years.
I did everything except conduct: Personnel Director, Stage Manager, Librarian and Public Relations person. We even toured Europe and played in famous music halls. In addition to that job, I gained recording experience working at a large recording studio that used the leading software Pro Tools.
While furthering my education by getting a Master’s in Business Administration I got to work with youth at Pacific Music Camp for two summers. I worked behind the scenes before camp started with enrollment, budget and staffing. Then during camp I taught the only non-music class—beading bracelets and key chains. Kids loved it because it gave them a break to sit and chat while stringing beads. But I also sat in on some of the music camp classes to learn more about music.’
I knew I needed to learn more about recording because I had only taken the one class in school so I signed up for a recording class at the local community college. Again, the lectures were a little dry with not much listening to music or music effects during the lectures, but later there were group projects that included recording. Now whenever I go to lecture at schools about music careers or music technology, I play music throughout the whole presentation to demonstrate points I am making and to keep people’s interest while making the learning experience more effective.
I visited a career counselor at UOP to see if there were any job leads in the music industry and she told me about an internship at a large music club. The pay was low, the work was strenuous (bringing in bands’ gear from truck ramps), but it was perfect for learning about sound: microphones, frequencies, gear. I worked there for a full year setting up, and often running sound for local bands and famous bands such as Buddy Guy, Vertical Horizon, Five for Fighting, Inner Circle, and George Thorogood. I got to learn about how things work from booking artists to selling merchandise. Once I got my studio up and running, I quit working at the club because of the heavy lifting and late nights. The experience I gained, however, was priceless. Now I feel at home with microphone stands and setting up bands, and when I need to do live sound, I know how—so that’s a real gift.
One of my favorite graduate courses was Leadership Management Skills because the teacher gave us some interesting assignments such as interviewing someone well-known in the community who has the job we want to do. I interviewed Lucky Lew who mixes for two record labels and is a producer and engineer. The smart thing about this assignment, that the teacher must have known about, was that the local person might become your mentor. This is what happened in my case. After graduating, I looked Lucky Lew up for private recording lessons and then when I was ready to purchase equipment for the studio and make a superior acoustic room, he served as my consultant. The best thing I can say about him helping me is that after I had taken classes in recording at the University of the Pacific and Modesto Junior College as well as read books and interned at two places, he said that I needed to start recording people. I asked about interning some more at other studios. He told me it was time to open my own place and take the helm. If it weren’t for him encouraging me to get both feet wet, I would probably still be tiptoeing around at someone else’s studio trying not to get in the way.
Another milestone for the studio was when I walked into the Stanislaus Arts Council to meet with the Executive Director, Grace Lieberman. I explained my business idea and she fell in love with it because it was new and exciting and something not being done by anybody in the area. She was in need of another educational component that was innovative. So Grace offered me a chance to be part of the Stanislaus Arts Council and that way I didn’t have to spend money to become my own non-profit. And in the process I got to meet a whole new group of artistic people from all realms of art.
I’ll end this with a little about my web site. I’m very proud of it because I did it all by myself. I had taken a mini class at MJC in Dreamweaver (software for web pages), but didn’t use it right away. A few months later I was networking at a recording seminar sponsored by the San Francisco chapter of the Grammy Association and that led to my being interviewed for an article in one of the biggest recording magazines, “Mix.” The article was going to list my web site and at that time I only had a starter page up. That got me motivated to design some nice looking pages. Ever since then I ask permission from each person I record to put their photo and a sample of their music on my site. This turns out to be fun for everyone because they get to see their picture/audio on the web shortly after they record, and I get to show off what is going on at the studio! After many years of school, hard work and risk taking, I’ve got a fantastic job that empowers youth to be successful and is supported by the community.
