David Strattford

On the morning of July 8th, 1990, I started out for Kelowna. It was another beautiful, warm, sunny day in the rockies and all was going well, that is till I was about 10 km out of Golden B.C. and I hit some rock in the middle of the road. I hit it with such force that my car crossed the highway and flew over a 750-foot cliff. A helicopter and paramedics came. After stabilizing me I was air lifted to Calgary's Foothills Hospital where it was determined that I had double vision, a broken neck, broken back, paralyzed from the neck down, a dislocated and broken hip, a broken leg etc., etc., etc. The Doctors did not think I would make through the night. I feel very lucky to be alive and for the most part I'm back to normal (well as normal as I ever was). To all those who sent flowers, cards, letters, called and came to visit . . . THANK YOU ! I never could have made it without your help and support. You really did make the difference.

THANKS AGAIN!
David Strattford - STRATTFORD ENQUIRER

July 1993

Soundbytes
By Steve Mason
Media One’s Digital Sound Guru

A monthly newsletter from Media One Communications.

This month, Soundbytes features some of Calgary's hottest composers. This group of talented musicians has each been creating magic for many years. Over time, each of them has crafted their own unique trademark style.

We are showcasing their roots and their talents this month as an introduction to our custom music scoring service . . . from jingles, to commercial beds to complete soundscores for film and video, we've got it covered! Together with our in-house digital sound design studio, we plan to bring another dimension of quality to your projects. Later this month, look for a cassette demo to be arriving featuring samples of these five composers.

David has to his credit an impressive list of accomplishments. At the age of eight, he began studying music, and by the time he was eighteen he had written his first original music score for TV. In the early eighties, David opened Trax Digital Recording, a music-for-film-and-video studio, in its prime; the studio had a staff of fourteen musicians. Since then, Trax has closed its doors, and he now maintains a one-man shop.

David is a "mover and a shaker" in the music scene; he is the founding Director of the international competition, The Canadian Songwriting Contest. He is also the author of eight books, including The Midi Conductor and has been nominated for the Sir Frederick Haultain Prize for contributions to the Canadian Music Industry.

His extensive background in music has taken him through Canada, the U.S., Hong Kong, Japan and England, engineering and producing music projects.

Currently, David is producer of the Lite 96 CHFM Songwriting Competition album, due for pre-release later this summer. - Media One Communications

Volume 1, Issue 6

May 1989

One thing that is vital to making a high quality production is sound. Whether it be for background "atmosphere," a full-blown score, or even a jingle for your corporate commercials, few producers worth their salt underestimate the importance of the audio tracks when it comes to the final "feel" of their work.

As in other branches of the entertainment industry and the various offshoots of that biz, Calgary offers a host of professional production studios that among them should be able to fill just about any required audio bill, from the afore mentioned jingle factories to a place where the budding rock band can get its first demos recorded professionally.

This month Reel Network decided to aim its spyglasses at a few of these arcane halls of audio wizardry and, though this is by no means a complete gazetteer of every studio in the city, if s an interesting mix of what's available to the producer no matter what his or her budget might be.

Since we needed to start somewhere, we thought we would take it in chronological order, with the oldest studio going first. That is TRAX Digital Recording Studios in Southwest Calgary. The brainchild of David Strattford, TRAX has been around for about seven years now and business seems to be booming.

Strattford, who wears the many hats of musician, producer, engineer, and author, wrote his first television score at the tender age of 18 and has also been involved in various musical groups and organizations.

Since the early beginnings of TRAX, though, Strattford found himself "Going backwards in business," working at projects he didn't find particularly rewarding but which paid the salaries of his five person staff. After some soul searching and reorganization a new version of TRAX was started, aimed specifically at scoring for film and video production. It was a move Strattford has never regretted, nor has he ever looked back, going on to write, produce, and record various scores since then.

TRAX uses digital equipment to produce most of its musical sounds, taking advantage of 762 digital MIDI tracks with SMPTE time code lockup. How ever, "Sometimes a client asks for real instruments to be used instead of electronic ones and we also incorporate those into the scores."

Among other projects, TRAX is currently putting its expertise into two skiing films for a summer completion. Strattford says "We only do film and video now and since we specialize we can concentrate on that and do a better job. Our hardware and software let us turn out the best finished result possible."

It also helps TRAX get its work done quickly and efficiently. How quickly? We can score a half hour television show in a week," Strattford says. The studio also offers complete printouts of the various scores laid down for a particular project. A nice touch that, according to Strattford, "Is all part of the service." TRAX Studios are located at #708, 9600 Southland Circle S.W., phone 252-9275.
- Reel NETWORK Newsletter

NBC Hawaii News 8 &
K5 The Home Team

Off Nimitz News
March 30, 2001

Engineering welcomes David Strattford and Ricky Lumford. David is currently a part-timer and moves into a full-time position in April. Most recently, he owned Trax, an audio engineering and recording studio operating here and in Canada. David's interesting background includes positions as a magazine photographer, an audio engineer and public relations / advertising. Originally, from Canada, he and his wife, Loraine moved to Hawaii 7 years ago. They spend a portion of each day at the beach having coffee in the morning and taking sunset walks in the evening. - NBC NEWS 8 & K5 THE HOME TEAM

2002 - presented 2003

Meditation Album of the Year
Ocean / David Strattford

Governor Ben Cayetano's Fine Arts Award
Neva Rego

Mayor Jeremy Harris's Performing Arts Award
Royal Hawaiian Band Aaron Mahi

Music Educator of the Year (3 honorees)
Charley Regua / Band Farrington High School
Mary Taylor / Choir & Piano Farrington High School
Catherine Payne / Principal Farrington High School

Music Students of the Year Roosevelt High School
Jennifer Lau, Kent Nishimura, Michael Foumai, Michael Maeda Leilehua High School Melissa Hernaez, Jasmine Narca, Lacey Fry Kekaulike High School (Maui) Megan Nakashima, Michelle Sagario, Gabriella Wimberly Hartman Farrington High School Jordan Segundo, Brandon James Valdez, Marissa Buendicho Kauai High School (Kauai) Steven Javinar, Stacey Sueoka

Male Vocalist of the Year
Norm

Female Vocalist of the Year
Raiatea Helm

Group of the Year
Keahiwai

Loyal Garner Award (4 honorees)
The Brew Moon
KHUI 99.5 Breeze
Kapono's (Aloha Tower Marketplace)
William G. Meyer III

Music Innovation Award
Aloha Radio Network / Aloha Joe

Entertainer of the Year
Society of Seven Las Vegas

Adult Contemporary Album of the Year
Coolest Drop of Rain / Daniel Ho

Anthology Album of the Year
Best of Flyin Hawaii Vol 3

Compilation Album of the Year
A Place Called Hawaii - Aloha JOE

Contemporary Album of the Year
Something to Remember / Danny Couch

Country Music Album
Keith Scott & Friends / Country Soul

Blues Album of the Year
Live Blues / Chance Gardner

Children's Album of the Year
Let There Be Peace On Earth / Allison

Classical Album of the Year
Sweet Dreaming / Greg & Junko MacDonald

Comedy Album of the Year
Locally Disturbed / Augie Tulba

Folk Album of the Year
Can't Sing Records / Larry Gallagher

Instrumental Hawaiian Album
Sunday Morning / Jake Shimabukuro

Hip Hop Album of the Year
B.E.T. Volume 3

Inspirational Album of the Year
Trust Him / Jan Brenner

Island Music Album of the Year
Satisfied / Keahiwai

Latin Music Album of the Year
Exotica Hawaii

New Age Album of the Year
After the Rain / El Lopez

Paniolo Album of the Year
Second Thoughts / Bradda Francis

Patriotic Album of the Year
Lest We Forget / Patriots

Polynesian Album of the Year
Pacific Soul

Pop Album of the Year
Kalapana

Rap Album of the Year
The Revolution / Tiki Entertainment

Rhythm & Blues Album of the Year
Fly Away / Lehua

Reggae Album of the Year
I Belong To You / Norm

Rock Album of the Year
Fate Stepped In / Chance Gardner

Seasonal Album of the Year (2 winners)
Maui Merry Christmas / Don Kauli'a
O Ka Lei La'i / Keith & Carmen Haugen

Slack Key Album of the Year
Aloha Kaikua'ana / John Keawe

Traditional Hawaii Album of the Year
E Apo Mai / Nathan Aweau

World Music Album of the Year
Shaka Jambe - Honolulu Advertiser