Hawaii Middle School Studio Supports Local Culture

Honolulu, HI (October 24, 2024)—Washington Middle School in Honolulu has launched a recording studio project intended to support creative and career aspirations in an under-served and disadvantaged community.

Line Studio at WMS, as the facility is known, is an example of contextualized learning, explains Sam Fong, sound recording studio director. A recording studio where students in a district where more than half the population lives below the poverty line will support opportunities for students to create dreams and build confidence. Exposing middle school students, ages 10 to 15, to opportunities to follow their passion and find their voice is key to future success, Michael Harano, WMS principal, has publicly stated.

The project, backed by the Hawaii State Department of Education and eight years in the making, supports stereo and immersive productions and sports a long list of high-end recording equipment, including an SSL AWS 948 delta SuperAnalogue mixing console. The outboard audio gear ranges from vintage-style compressors to a pair of high-end reverbs and a collection of mic preamp alternatives. Main in-wall stereo monitors are from Symphonics Acoustics with an ATC 7.1.4 speaker system supporting Dolby Atmos work.

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“Digital technology is really convenient, and a console like the AWS 948 delta basically combines the consoles of the ‘80s with modern workflows,” Fong says. “Press a button and it becomes a comprehensive DAW controller. Then press a button and boom, you are back to a classic SSL console with all that glue and punch, with SSL’s famous Bus Compressor, with fully analog preamps, E or G Series analog EQs and analog faders.”

The architectural and acoustic design of Line Studio at WMS, a 1,600-square-foot space previously occupied by a computer classroom, was provided by WSDG, which also collaborated with Fong and Harano on the pro audio and video equipment complement and technical design. PK Pandey and AVN provided equipment and integration. ​

“We really want to support our culture and our young people and artists by providing things that most people just can’t afford to access and to give them access to this acoustical space,” Fong comments. “We haven’t given people this access before in Hawaii and this will open doors for them. Opportunities for our young people are limited by being on an island, and we tend to limit our dreams to the parameters that we’re given. Boy, I wish I had such opportunities when I was a teenager.”