Parent Testimonials

Before Clayton started at Nimbus…

I have to admit that when our son came to us and told his father and I that he wanted to go to school in BC, I was not immediately supportive. Both of his sisters had gone to schools in our home province of Alberta, and the idea of having him at a greater distance was a bit unsettling. While I was happy he wanted to further his education, I had hope that he would do so a little closer to home. He had done all the research concerning the school itself though and soon convinced us quite thoroughly that Nimbus was reputable and would provide a quality education. As unusual as this may sound, that was the least of my worries.

As a mother, my concerns were much more personal and if I am to be honest, selfish. I was more concerned about dropping off our youngest child in a different city, different province and simply hoping for the best. The logistics of such a move were daunting to say the least. While I did respect my son’s choice of schools, I did tell him that I needed to be securely satisfied before we could agree to support his choice. From the very outset, Kevin and Diane went out of their ways to answer all of my questions, and encouraged my husband and me to visit the school when we came to Vancouver. They willingly opened their doors to scrutiny, provided a guided tour, introduced us to staff and students and even went so far as to help us navigate a city new to us in terms of housing and transportation. Although we were comfortable with the level of service our daughters had received at the University they attended in Alberta, the hands-on attention we received from Nimbus staff was much more personal and directed. Definitely an unexpected but appreciated surprise.

I know that my son is now firmly entrenched in a place where he (and his dad and I) have been made to feel comfortable, welcome, and part of something good. The program is exciting, challenging, and our son is happy. Kevin, Diane (and Tim’s) personal involvement and willingness to take the time satisfied a very nervous mother, and that was not an easy thing to do!

…and after Clayton finished

Just thought that I would take a minute to check in with you both, now that Clayton is almost finished. I can’t believe that a whole year has passed!

I do want you both to know how much of a difference your program has made. Clayton is so happy it is unbelievable. He told me that only about 5% of what he is doing ever feels like work. He is a completely different young man than the kid who left home last August. He has made fast friends and as you probably know, now has a signature file on his emails that includes his title of “Mastering Engineer”! I don’t know anything at all about these things but I think he is pretty good. (Not biased at all! J)

He is working with his friends from Nimbus at “The Facility” and seems to have quite a bit of work.  He is working with people now that I don’t even know (too old or maybe I just don’t get out much), but the talent is unbelievable. Clayton has stories and more stories about Dutch Robinson (I just learned who he is…), the stream of rappers and other artists,  and seems to be learning so much. He is completely grateful for the education and the experience and I don’t think that a day goes by when he doesn’t realize how lucky he has been. He knows that everything had to happen just right in order to bring him to where he is, but he is so happy to be there. We have lost our kid to the bright lights of Vancouver – but it is not such a bad trip to make when I start missing my kid!

Thank you very much for all you have done. I’m thinking that you won’t be finished with Clayton all together once he finishes the program. Nimbus holds a special spot for him (and us), and I’m sure he’ll be visiting. He is young enough to believe that everything will work out for the best, and now educated enough to work to make it happen.

Thank you, very much.

To the Parents of Sons and Daughters thinking about Nimbus:

After three years of university and changing majors, my son still had no idea what he was going to do and quite frankly was lacking enthusiasm to go on just for the sake of going on. His lack luster enthusiasm was reflected in late assignments and poor results in exams. Why get enthused about the mundane? What sparked his interest? Music… sound…

With this in mind, I looked up an old friend in the sound engineering industry whom I hadn’t seen for a while. Roger Monk, of Dick & Roger’s Sound Studio Vancouver, said to me that what he would like to see is a school where students not only received a thorough theoretical knowledge base but they would also obtain practical experience in a real world environment! That, he said, would be brilliant.

Well we proceeded to search out engineering schools. At the same time we looked for feedback from those in the industry that had a working knowledge of the quality of the graduates. What we found was that those in the industry did not have much in the way of positive feedback regarding the quality of the end product. In all our discussions, no matter which school we mentioned the only constant was the recurring name… Nimbus: The school of recording reality.

Here students will get all the necessary theory but with the added bonus of hands on training in real studios with real sound equipment taught by real professional sound engineers… experts in the field with the gold and platinum records on the wall to prove it!

I sat in on a session in Studio One (now A) and watched as three students learnt the diversities and nuances of microphone placement in recording. These three young men, who have been in school for less than two months, worked an enormous sound board recording an acoustic guitarist under the careful eye and tutelage of instructor Mark Gordon. While they were hard at work, I took the liberty to flip through their note books and text books… Theory? Yikes! Hands on? Right in front of me.

So I asked Kevin questions… and I came away very impressed. Like all parents I am concerned that my son is not just wasting time playing… believe me this is a real school. There is zero tolerance on late assignments and projects. Zero tolerance for drug or alcohol abuse. Every student is expected to be fully engaged. This is what school should be like! Their learning is done as if it is in an actual work environment. Their projects are to be completed as if they were handing them to an employer not a teacher. Very valuable… very, very valuable. And what the industry demands.

I am impressed. The few I have met, Garth, Kevin, and today, Mark (there are others) not only demand excellence but do it in an unbelievably friendly learning environment that will both harness and produce excellence! I have never seen a group of students so engaged and excited. Not just the nerds (I don’t think I saw any) … all of them!

We just wanted to thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us and show us around the school.  We were very impressed with you and the way you presented not only Nimbus and its philosophy but the music industry as a whole.  It was incredibly refreshing to hear the “real” story of life outside the school walls, and to feel your passion for what you do and what you expect out of the students.

If you were to ask Scott and myself as Chris’ parents, what we wanted for our child, we probably would never have answered “to be in the music industry” to be perfectly honest!!  I am in health care, Scott a mechanic and we both hail from BCIT backgrounds….trades have been drilled into our brains.  But Chris is different, and when he says music is his life, he is not bluffing an inch.  He not only enjoys music, especially the good old rock of the 70s and 80s!, but his knowledge of the inner workings of bands and their members, their history, is amazing to both of us.  And because of this, we know there is simply no other route but for him to pursue his dream of working in the industry.

We talked at length with Chris after we left Nimbus and I asked him what he thought of the philosophy of your school, if it felt like a good fit for him.  He LOVED everything you had to say… I know Chris doesn’t show it but he was very pleased with what he heard from you, as were the both of us.  So pleased in fact, that he asked us to cancel this afternoons appointment with a 3^rd school he was looking into.  He felt so much more comfortable with you and we all appreciated your honest approach.

We didn’t have a chance to discuss the financial aspect with you, but we are aware of the tuition fees based on what the website stated.  We are counting on Chris to follow thru with his promise to apply for multiple scholarships!  We will figure out that part of it when the time comes J

So I guess our question is, what is our next step in order for Chris to continue the application process?

Thanks again for everything.