Faces of Music & Sound

Joshua Tidsbury

Audio Engineer, Canada
Audio Associate Work Study Program

Although Joshua Tidsbury had been involved in audio for over nine years and music for more than 15, a degree in neuroscience was not what most recording schools were looking for in their acceptance process. “I didn’t fit the standard profile they were looking for – that is I didn’t have a music degree.” While on the course to become a doctor, music was a passion of Josh’s. However, after completing the neuroscience degree, Josh decided that he was more interested in a career in the music field. He applied to the sound recording master’s program at McGill, but was accepted only to complete a pre-requisite year and would have to re-apply to the master’s program the following year

It was around the same time that Josh met Theresa Leonard, The Banff Centre’s director of audio. She encouraged Josh to apply for the audio assistant program, as he already had some impressive credits under his belt, such as building a recording studio and founding Canada’s first high school recording technology program at a Calgary school.

Josh did apply, and was accepted as an audio assistant in the fall of 2004. By the spring of 2005, he was promoted to an audio associate. He worked on projects from jazz recording sessions in the studio, engineering for big band, recording on film sets and of more than 30 live classical concerts, demos for rock, pop, folk, and classical artists, as well as doing audio post-production. “The exposure to a truly professional audio engineering environment doesn’t exist elsewhere in an educational environment,” Josh remarks about The Banff Centre. “Here, I’ve been given the opportunity to work on my own projects, experiment, fail, and learn from it. I have time to re-mix something six times and six ways, and learn from the process. For people who are self-directed and have a goal – there is nowhere else that will put you as far ahead.”

And Josh has succeeded at his goal – he was one of the six engineers accepted to the McGill Master’s program this year. When talking about Josh’s accomplishments during his year in the work-study program, Theresa Leonard said: “Josh came to Banff with great potential. His time here has allowed him to develop on his talent and education to the point where he has been offered a full tuition scholarship to McGill for graduate studies in sound recording.”

Having been self-taught before coming to The Banff Centre, Josh found it extremely difficult to find people in the industry willing to help someone starting out. “It’s very competitive for work. I feel that is one of the main reasons that you just can’t find people willing to give mentorship,” he says. That guidance is exactly what Josh needed – and exactly what he found at Banff. “Theresa was willing to take a chance on me. She really pushed me to achieve. For those two things, I owe her and The Banff Centre greatly.”

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