Originally published on November 5, 2016
It is often said that the Christian walk is a journey with many detours and obstacles. The process of becoming more like Christ takes a long time. The same can be said about building a recording studio in Africa. Two years ago at workshops taught by Heart Sounds International in Tanzania, the vision for the studio emerged. The workshops ignited a passion to create and share new songs as well as the spoken Word in participants’ “mother tongues” instead of the national language.
After the workshops, a regional association of pastors worked together to raise funds to purchase land and build a studio structure in 2015. Working with Educational Media Corp. (EdMedia), Pete Stover, an American media specialist who has been involved in various global sound, recording and radio projects, picked up the vision and assisted with studio design, equipment acquisition and installation. In August 2016, he travelled to Tanzania with basic audio recording equipment, set it up and provided a week long training session. As part of this training session, Pete arranged for several recording sessions that provided a “hands-on” experience for the producers to learn the basics about sound and how to capture audio.
One pastor said, “Some didn’t believe this would ever happen, but in God’s time, He has made it so and we rejoice because of what He has done and what He will do through this new studio.” The studio, which has been named Victory Recording Studio, will primarily focus on “choir” vocals. Typically, a music/keyboard producer will create tracks outside the studio using their own equipment and then bring the tracks to the studio for a choir to sing along with.
Frank Fortunato, one of the founding members, stated that this project “goes back to the original concepts that were part of the launch of HSI—recordings studios in areas that had no facilities, as a catalyst to encourage indigenous worship. It demonstrates our cooperative and partnership ethos.”
We rejoice with our fellow believers in the completion of this part of the journey and join with them in prayer that this studio will have a lasting effect on the people of Tanzania and beyond.
