The Sheffield Institute for the Recording Arts

At a Glance
Name: The Sheffield Institute for the Recording Arts Contact: Admissions Office Major Courses of Study: AudioWorks, VideoWorks, TechWorks certificate programs Degree Offered: Certificate Program Accreditation: Maryland Higher Education Commission Main Technology Platforms: SSL, Pro Tools, extensive MIDI implementation, Avid nonlinear video-editing, all professional analog and digital media formats Tuition: All three program tracks range from $9,400 to $9,900 Financial Assistance: Commercial tuition financing available.

The Sheffield Institute for the Recording Arts was founded in 1995 with a mission to provide the professional audio and video industries with highly trained and motivated graduates for the challenging landscape of media technology. The Institute’s comprehensive and extensive curricula in audio, video and systems integration is designed to help aspiring media professionals achieve their personal goals and meet the increasingly complex and demanding requirements of the expanding media industry.

The Sheffield Institute for the Recording Arts offers three primary educational career pathways, each of which earns graduates a fully accredited certificate of completion. The AudioWorks program trains students in basic, intermediate and advanced audio engineering and production theory and applications. The 292-hour course of study prepares graduates to work in a variety of audio-related fields, including music recording and mixing, sound reinforcement, sound for picture, MIDI (computer and electronic music production), remote recording, and nonlinear digital audio recording and editing.

The VideoWorks program effectively teaches a full skill set in video arts and sciences in a 244-hour certificate program. Graduates leave this track ready to work in all areas of video production and post-production, including A2 and E2 positions, nonlinear video editing, camera operation, lighting, video graphics design and many other roles.

The innovative and unique TechWorks curriculum provides an in-depth and intensive study in systems integration and audio/video system maintenance. One of the few programs in the world dedicated to installation and maintenance, TechWorks trains graduates who will find that they are readily in demand in a broad range of applications including broadcasting, recording studios, post-production facilities, live sound, multimedia, film and other industry sectors. With intense instruction in electronics, test equipment use, troubleshooting, signal path, cable construction, wiring design and installation, and preventive maintenance, TechWorks program graduates are enthusiastically welcomed into the media business as the people who keep the industry’s infrastructure running smoothly.

All three courses of study, which start quarterly and enroll about 125 students annually, were created by Sheffield’s faculty in a unique manner. “We polled many major-media industry employers, collected and analyzed their longterm skill requirements for entry-level employees, and reverse-engineered the curricula based on that,” explains Sal Chandon, Sheffield’s director of education. “As a result, our graduates have excellent employment prospects, because they come out of here well-prepared for a variety of positions.”

At Sheffield, students work on state-of-the-art equipment, including Solid State Logic analog consoles, Digidesign Pro Tools hard disk recording systems and Avid nonlinear video-editing platforms. The school’s two main studios were designed by Sheffield founder John Ariosa, and since 1968, have developed a reputation as the leading recording facility in the Baltimore area. Sheffield is also renowned for its remote-recording facilities, which have handled broadcasts and recordings for the Grammys, the Boston Pops Orchestra, Mariah Carey, Fox Sports and many others.

“Students get the benefit of learning in a working environment at Sheffield,” says Chandon. “The school is not an appendage to the studios facilities; it’s an integral part of them. And that advantage shows in the quality of our graduates year after year.” •