Canada’s finest or how Gary V changed his mind –…
Guys, your remember Sean, he was on the blog two years ago as contender for the Iron Imager and he is an awesome imaging guy, dad, dude and proud member of our benztown imaging brigade handling a ton of clients for us through various formats. The more we work with Sean, the more impressed I get with his style, the improvements he made over the last years and of course how versatile he has become. So learn how Sean manages his time, whats his latest plugin favs and of course listen to his stunning audio demo.
Enter Sean!
WHICH PRODUCTION SYSTEM DO YOU USE AND WHY?
I still use Reaper and love it. It continues to evolve and does everything and more at a low budget. The number 1 reason I use is because it’s a one and done program. No annual fees, both Adobe and Avid have gone this way. If you bought the Reaper Commercial license today for $225 you would be on version 5.31 and would have free updates until version 6.99. If you are a student or a small business then the license is $60. You can demo it for free. It’s so powerful, I would recommend to anyone. All of Toronto production is running it now and we love it.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE PLUGINS? WHAT IS THE PERFECT VO CHAIN?
I have a few!
Speakerphone by Audio Ease – is one of my favorites. It allows you to eq things in there’s natural setting and allow you to create the thing that radio does best – theater of the mind. Here’s an audio sample of Steve Stone as ride operator at an amusement park.
Waves Metafilter – it’s my newest toy, it’s a sequencer but applied on a voice you get some awesome textures.
Waves IR-1 Full Reverb is amazing for the reverse delay on a voice, you here it all over my demo.
Waves H-Delay – this one continues to blow my mind with endless possibilities. A really cool delay, this is one of my favourite presets.
You want to make sure you have the your project set up to the bpm/tempo of the music you are working with. You also want cut the low end (high pass at 800 – 1000 hz) off so you get a grand canyon effect, where the delay will go from loud to quiet.
V/O Chain – I keep things very simple. Compressor, Limiter, 400hz EQ, Limiter, Reverb, Limiter.
HOW DO YOU SCHEDULE YOUR WORK AND OF COURSE AS A FATHER “LIVE” PRIORITIES?
Awesome question and it’s one I continue to work at. I am and always will be a husband/father first. Family is the foundation of who I am. I am so proud of my wife and kids they inspire to do what I do. So from that I have always work around them to make sure they come first. I start my day at 6am at Z1035 and finish at 2pm so I can up my daughter at 3pm. My freelance is mixed in with that and I basically work when the kids go to bed. On weekends I jam harder at night and into the early hours of the morning. I have a great wife and she fully understands that I love my job and that I want to grow as an entrepreneur. I want the same things for her in her career and we make it work. We are each others cheerleaders and I think you need to understand those things when you decide to have a family. If she had a conflict or if it started to harm my family then I would stop. Family first always for sure 100 percent.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT WORKING ON YOUR OWN COMPARED BEING THE HEAD OF IMAGING IN A MARKET LIKE TORONTO FOR A STATION LIKE Z1035?
It’s no different, I have the same freedom working on my own vs working for a great company like Z1035. I like the aspect of working on my own, and that has given me an entrepreneurial mind set. I love the relationships I have built. Here’s the weird thing about me, I treat my freelance like a hobby, I don’t rely on the money. If you love what you do, you’ll do it for free. I have a lot of passion and I think that’s what differentiates me and allows me to continue to grow. Working on my owns has made me a better producer, it’s all “win” win.
WHAT IS THE BEST PRO TOOLS IMAGING OR PRODUCTION TRICK ANYONE SHOULD KNOW?
Stacking v/o and using plugins. If you stack v/o perfectly below each other and then apply an effect below or above (delay, eq, flange, etc) and start adjusting the volume the v/o up or down you can let in or let out what you need from that delay, eq, flange, etc. Sometimes dedicating that effect or plugin to the entire v/o is too much. You need the original file there to keep it in phase or not overpowered.
HOW DO YOU GET INSPIRED AND WHAT DO YOU USE AS A SOURCE OF CREATIVITY? WHAT MEANS THE TERM ‘CREATIVE’ IMAGING TO YOU?
It used to be streaming radio all over the world, now it’s really hard to do that. So now it’s soundcloud. There are so many great producers out there sharing their stuff.
WHO WERE YOUR PRODUCTION IDOLS, WHO INFLUENCED YOUR WORK AS A PRODUCER?
Hands down Jeff Thomas has been a great mentor and a help to my career for so many years. I’ve always kept in touch with him. He’s so a approachable and will answer anything you ask. His sound is unreal and he continues to innovate our craft. Great guy.
Others like Dave Foxx, Eric Chase, Steve Piggott and Adam Burgess all great. All people who I have reached out and are great people in this industry.
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR 3 KEY ADVICES FOR A YOUNGSTER?
- Content – create it, share it. Content connects us, I can honestly say that it”has”and “continues” to evolve my career at radio imaging. Start a soundcloud account and start sharing there. There are communities out there, start watching and following, eventually they will do the same.
- Always give back and pay it forward. If you have any questions email me: [email protected]. I’m on soundcloud, facebook, etc. I am more than happy to help!
- Follow Gary Vaynerchuk. The guy has changed my thinking about digital forever.
