By Ayanna Kirton, Staff ReporterBLACKSAND Production, a recording studio housed in the Technology Innovation Centre at the University of Technology, provides quality music production services using state-of the art high tech equipment.
Blacksand Production offers clients an intimate recording environment often collaborating with clients from concept to finished product. The company also maintains a world-class level of technical excellence. "Our recording studio provides the ultimate digital tracking and writing facilities," says Jonathan Todd, the company's managing director, explaining that the majority of the company's start up costs, which amounted to US$30,000, was used to finance the equipment.
"The control room is also fully equipped with a Digidesign Focusrite MBox control unit and Pro Tools Digital Audio Workstation, microphones and monitoring systems (which are all) at (international) music industry standards," he says. The company is also closely linked to Canada's Big Smoke Audio, a full service recording and production studio owned by Dennis Patterson, which plays a significant role in providing technical support for the company.
Specialists in mixing and producing advertisements for commercial entities, Blacksand has recently expanded its services by adding artist recording and production to its portfolio. "We know how difficult it can be for an upcoming artist to get their foot in the door so we're trying to make recording accessible and easier for them," says the managing director. Providing an outlet for young talent was enough motivation for him to start Blacksand Records, the company's album production arm. The company currently covers the bulk of its costs through revenue generated from rental of the studio and plans to create additional revenue streams through the sale of music created by Blacksand's own camp of artists.
Jonathan Todd's years of experience as a director for Letts Investment in Canada and as the owner of a distribution company here in Jamaica have also helped him to understand the importance of management. "When you find the right artist you need a good management team behind them since a successful music career is a lot more than talent," says Todd.
Operating in an industry with numerous players, Blacksand's studio manager, Ricardo Martin said the company's biggest challenge is gaining credibility. However, the company's managing director hopes that by striking the balance between maintaining a relaxed but businesslike environment to stimulate the production of quality material, Blacksand will become a premier recording studio.
For Blacksand's next project, the company will contribute to the soundtrack of a film scheduled to be shot in Jamaica in the near future. This should also help to put the company that has been in business for less than a year on the local industry map. "We see this as a big opportunity, " says Todd, "It will supersede focusing on any other production and we intend to use it to our advantage."
