Ending up at PAVI
In May 2005, nearly six years ago, a very good friend's taste in abstract and unconventional electronic music impressed into me a strong and compelling urge to download a cracked version of a music production software package. It was Fruity Loops. Not much luck with that and all the corny pirate sample libraries, I tried a demo version of Ableton Live and bought it soon after and never went to cracked sounds again. Good choice it was.
I started experimenting with simple and cheap recording devices and even cheaper microphones, and managed to “capture” some okay recordings. My mixing got more in depth, but was very hit and miss at first. I had sounds in head but no clue of how to get them because I didn't know what a compressor ratio did, nor had I heard of a compressor before throwing it into the mix for the first time.
I read about things, I kept experimenting, kept working on my own music, but was enjoying experiences of working with other musicians and the radio station I volunteered at, doing the audio as a job rather than my own creative art. I kept at it, and in the third quarter of my philosophy and English university degree, I started looking for audio recording schools.

Seemed a Natural Choice
When I stumbled onto www.pacificav.com and saw Blue Wave Studio's live recording and control rooms, I was intrigued. When it said all the instructors were working professionally in their field of instruction, I was intrigued again. I looked at the course descriptions, and they intrigued me, too! I thought I could handle a year of being exposed to the industry and applications I was curious about and dabbling into on my own.

Little did I know, I would find my interview with Gordon very informing. In the personal tour, I got to peek into the studios when students of that time were busy doing their work, and I had a conversation with Gordon about the difference between mixing and mastering, which I had never really read into before that moment. Through that tour and discussion, I became pretty certain I would enjoy being surrounded by intelligent, like minded, creative people for a year entirely devoted to the study of “Audio Engineering and Production!”

It turned out well, for me!
After 6 years (a stretch!) in university, continually mixing with first year students during your electives up to fourth year heavy reading and topic loads, I knew what to expect from a school: what I was willing, prepared, and able to put into my experience with good studying habits, keen and open interest, and diligence to complete homework and pay attention and stay focused on class. That doesn't mean not having fun. I just making reference to the fact that some students in all schools will not have a good time. They may realize it's too much or too out there from their personal desires or interests.

However, if you are prepared to be a “good student”, and the idea of working in the field of film, audio, and music is enjoyable enough to be a sure part of your life for many years to come, PAVI could be an awesome, awesome experience. It was for me.
I enjoyed class time a lot, and studio time was exquisite. I used every single one of the sessions I was allowed to book during my time at PAVI. Not a single session missed. And it was well worth it. I loved both Studio A and B. Each had its unique auditory colour and its own possible technical feats. I got a lot of good work done in there after I figured out how to let the signals flow, and I kept improving and I know I'm still improving on my own now that I've graduated and am starting to develop my career.

Getting it done and paid for
Almost twenty grand later in tuition, was it cost-effective? I know I learned a lot while I was in class and in the studio. I really pushed my knowledge forward and fortified some skills and upped my confidence a whole lot in professional situations that require concentration and detail. Good thing I like math and was curious. In university, after tuition, books, and other fees, it can cost $4500 a semester in BC. Two semesters a year and that's 9000, and you get access to an (admittedly probably excellent) library and academic professionals.

At PAVI, you have three semesters, so carrying the math ahead, that's $13,500. Add in roughly eight 4 hour sessions a month = 32 hrs/month and multiply that by 12 months = 384 hrs/year and multiply that by $200/hr (what the rooms of Blue Wave Studios would go for, on the cheap side, for a random customer) = $13,500 tuition + $76,800 worth of studio time= $90,300.....

Hmmm, it's not adding up right! I got a rockin good deal! PAVI admin, don't raise the prices on account of me!! While at PAVI, I finished mixing my last electronic album, learned a LOT, made decent sounding recordings for several old and new friends/clients, and enjoyed even more time than my 384 hrs while double booking with cooperative classmates. You can lock out the studio all day long if you work with your peers. That's a pretty good deal, when you really do the math. All is relative anyway when it comes to education and financial investment. Like I said before, what you get out is proportional to what you put in to it and where you go with it, with effort and with persistence, later.

Now as a PAVI grad
The first few months after school were quiet. I was still having fun with my own music. I was still in contact with several musicians. But no more totally free studio time. No more going to class every day. Out of routine and eager for action, I was scoping out work that I wanted to do. I might have found something I didn't like to do, sooner, but I kept holding out for and looking for the desirable work and didn't even look for other work.

I graduated September 2010, and December 2010 hit, and Craigslist seemed to be writhing with sound designers and composers needed postings. I eventually got two unpaid jobs. Composing the score for a short trailer done by mid January, and I did the complete sound design and score for a 9 minute short film titled Trash Bin, directed by Lisa Newell, sound work which I completed in early February. 

My background in electronic music and definitely the training I got in Audio for Video class at PAVI prepared me for this work. Thanks Kris Siegers for your illuminating descriptions of time code! Saved my butt when I realized the supposedly 24 fps video with time code numbers visible in the subtitles of the picture was actually a 23.97 fps video. Switched some session parameters around, and Pro Tools' time line was in sync with the world's, again; yay!

I'm also started to do some work for an audio book company called Post-Hypnotic Press, specializing in political and scientific literature of an academic sort, right up my philosophy interests! It is the first paid work I've really had, as well! My work has been well received, and I'm fairly sure work will keep coming for a long time, if I keep doing it!

All in all, I'm inspired by my experience at PAVI, and still have the motivation that brought me there, and I'm carrying my career forward, expanding into new terrain and increasingly familiar quality levels: professional quality levels! After PAVI, I have a stronger sense of what it is like to be involved in the world of contemporary recording and production. It looks like a large world!