Confederation students work on project for Toronto production company

Students in Confederation Secondary School’s recording class were pleasantly surprised recently to be invited to participate in a project for Mulehaus Music, a production company based in Toronto. In search of new talent, Mulehaus heard about the school’s state of the art recording studio in Val Caron and decided to look North.

The students were asked to record and mix song tracks for three local artists.  One of the artists is graduating from Laurentian University. She recently won a singing contest at Cousin Vinny’s, which was judged by former Canadian Idol personality, Zack Werner. The second artist is a former vocalist from the Confederation Secondary School Evolutionary Band. The third artist is one of the band’s current vocalists.  The three female artists were invited to record a song of their own choosing as well as an original song written by Peter Mueller and Rebecca Stephens and produced by Mulehaus Music.

Confederation Secondary School Principal Pablo Gil-Alfau says he is delighted that his students are participating in this exciting venture. “This is an exceptional hands-on learning opportunity for our recording class students. We certainly thank Mulehaus Music for tapping our talent and making use of our facilities. We welcome the opportunity.”

Recording class student Hayley Chinn says it is a privilege for the class to be asked to make this recording for Mulehaus. “As teenagers, we are honoured to contribute to this project,” she said. “Imagine them being interested in what we do here in the studio! I am anxious to hear what they think of our work.”

According to music teacher Norm McIntosh, the students are preparing professional quality demo CD’s. “The students are getting to experience what it’s like to work in the real world of the recording industry,” said McIntosh. “We are close to being ready to submit our work. We’re just putting on the finishing touches.”

Mulehaus Music was created when David Moore joined forces with Juno-winning guitarist, Peter Mueller. Moore is a graduate of the Humber College Music Program as well as an accomplished session club musician and entrepreneur.

Peter Mueller, a Humber College Music graduate, is an accomplished guitarist, music writer and producer. He has toured and recorded with Tom Cochrane, Buffy St. Marie, Marc Jordan, Ian Thomas and others.  He has written and recorded music for CTV, TSN, and MTV Canada, and worked on TV and stage shows such as Canadian Idol, Mama Mia, Tommy and more. In addition to touring with many Toronto-based show bands, David Moore has recorded music that has been played on several CBC productions.

"As fellow graduates of the Humber College School of Music, Norm McIntosh and I re-connected recently and I became interested in the recording studio aspect of his program at Confederation Secondary School,” said David Moore of Mulehaus Music. “Peter Mueller and I then decided to approach Mr. McIntosh to ask if he had any vocalists who would like to record some of our songs. Artist development is a focus among other projects here at Mulehaus Music. It is our hope that perhaps we can work with Evolutionary in the near future.”

The Valley East Heritage Recording Studio was created in 2005 through a partnership between the Valley East Lions Club and the Rainbow District School Board with a grant from the Trillium Foundation.  Since then, the facility has been used steadily to record local talent. The studio operates on a not-for-profit basis and is available to all community members for bookings. The studio and lab are equipped with the top-of-the-line recording software program – ProTools. Students not only record, they use their recordings to produce finished CD’s.

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Media Contact:

Pablo Gil-Alfau, Principal, Confederation Secondary School,
Rainbow District School Board, 705-671-5948.