Teino Evans, Staff Reporter

Tandra Jhagroo, in studio. - Contributed

Tandra Jhagroo, a female studio engineer from Canada, recently took up residence in Jamaica as she said she had fallen in love with the Jamaican vibe, reggae and dancehall music.

One of the few female studio engineers in Jamaica, said she didn't actually start out as a studio engineer. She "was a selector in Toronto, but one day I wanted to try my hand at acoustics so I applied for a graduate course. But I didn't get in, so I opted to take a local college degree in audio engineering".

"That's where it started," she said, as "a lot of my teachers took a liking to me. After I graduated I ended up getting a job at a studio called 'Slamm' that was owned by Sam Weller, who was my head instructor in college."

After two years there, Tandra landed a job as an audio instructor at the Toronto Film School.

It was while working there that Tandra made the trip to Jamaica that would change her whole outlook on music.

"Two years ago I left and came here (Jamaica), because there was an artiste that I was working with and his father was one of my best clients, so when he came to Jamaica to do some work with his son he brought me with him. The first two producers I met were Bulby and Anthony Red Rose and I loved the vibes," she said.

Transitional phase

Tandra said what she discovered was that Jamaica was going through a transitional phase and Protools was the in-thing.

"Everybody here has a HD (which is the high end of the Protools digital audio system) and in Canada a lot of the studios started out with the Protool 001 system, which is the way earlier model. In Jamaica, everybody is starting out way ahead by using the HD," she said.

The vibe in Jamaica is "intoxicating" she said, "because you can produce something in the studio today and by tonight it's on radio. That never happens in Canada!"

Tandra said her entire experience so far was like rekindling the flames, as she has Jamaican roots.

"My family is from Jamaica. My father is from Black River and my mom's side of family is from Kingston," she said.

So far, Tandra has worked with producers such as Clive Hunt, Fat Eyes, Robert Livingston, Gussie Clarke, Frenchie, out of England, Overheat Records, Toots, Alric and Boyd, Christopher Birch, Ra-Umi Alkebu-Lan and Shane Brown.

Currently, Tandra works closely with Robert Livingston and the Big Yard Label, "with some of their artistes like Iceman, D-Major, Hawkeye, Wesley Diamond and my artiste Sa-Blade (a local deejay). I also do mixing for Toots".

Studios that she has worked extensively with include Music Works and Mixing Lab.

It hasn't taken Tandra long to form alliances, as she said "one of the things that I have done since I have been here is that I have found a set of junior studio engineers. I met them all at Mixing Lab - Kevin, Richie, Nelly and Kamal - and together we have formed Tremma House. It's a production company that also offers engineering services".

This new production company, she said, "has been working out real well and we are even planning on taking on a few more engineers".

As a female engineer, Tandra said, "I would love to see more women doing this, because when I just came here I never knew men would be so receptive to the idea of a woman doing this job. I was in studio one day and Ninja Man came in and saw me and said, yea man, a woman behind di board, I love it."

Lack of formal training

Tandra is, however, concerned about the lack of formal training that is available in Jamaica.

"I would love to see some proper training courses, because there is none anymore. I honestly believe that the way reggae music is mixed is an art form and it needs to be passed on. I can't see why Jamaica doesn't have one (a formal training programme), because there is definitely talent here," Tandra said.

"I would encourage people to get into it, but the money right now is kinda sticky. But being in music is a lifestyle. It changes your life; it's different than anything else you could possibly know," she said.