Over the course of this year, I've tried to make The Sound Wagon as diverse as possible when it comes to audio postproduction and other aspects of sound. This has been somewhat accomplished by incorporating reviews, award opinions, festival experiences, and even theoretical sound analysis from a sound professional standpoint. I currently stand in a place that's very different from where I was standing in the beginnings of this blog. I've come to realize that I haven't really introduced myself as a writer and as a professional in the field. When I started this blog in early 2016, my primary goal was to write sound for film and television, a topic that tends to go through life as "invisible". I catered to sound pros and nerds as well as people who were interested in sound but didn't necessarily work with it for a living. Furthermore, I tried to never go off-topic with my entries.
Although that's the path that I took, I feel like most of what I've written, I've written because of film-related experiences and situations that have happened to me which I've managed to somehow tie them up with sound. The reality is that there's much more to me as a sound editor--I see myself as a content creator, traveler, and storyteller as well. I want to introduce a new chapter of The Sound Wagon. A blog written by a Recording Arts graduate that's currently studying the culture and sociopolitics of film and television. A self-declared writer with a heavy interest in social justice and civic engagement who also eats and breathes Pro Tools. That being said, I would like to introduce myself like I didn't do when I introduced the blog for the very first time. With this entry, I will be opening The Sound Wagon to the sound editor's world rather than the sound editing world--this is my journey...
Who am I?
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| Me circa 2001 |
I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where I grew up in a very creative environment with people that were nothing but supportive. As a kid, I was mostly interested in music and the creation of stuff. I started taking guitar lessons when I was 13 years old and longed for a career in the music industry as a performer. Enrolled in an extracurricular arts school, I started playing in different bands and composing music of my own in the hopes that someday I'd stand on stages bigger than the ones I was used to. Of course, being a musician for a living can be really hard when it comes to... well, living in the real world. In other words, sustaining yourself financially. The moment came where I had to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The thought of performing never left my head; I didn't let it leave. I then decided to major in Music Engineering in college as a way to be forever involved in music, just in case my "gigs" didn't work out. I was blinded by a dream that I wasn't 100% comfortable with.
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| Me circa 2014 |
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| L to R: Miguel Falette and myself playing an acoustic set at The Poet's Passage in San Juan, PR in 2013 |
Long story short, I ended up joining the accelerated and fast-paced Bachelor's degree program at Full Sail University. In two years, 120 credits were crammed into the college experience that I feared I was going to get by enrolling myself in such a program--a nonexistent college experience. Nonetheless, while I was there, I was able to get a taste of what the industry was like. I had classes and laboratories at 9 pm, 1 am, 5 am etc. I got the real world education that no other college would've given me. It also made me realize that my passion truly laid in sound for film and not in music engineering and production. This is important to acknowledge because the program that they offered was very diverse--it wasn't just music engineering it was recording arts. Don't get me wrong, I still write music and I still play... I just don't do it as a career. I was very determined to be the greatest sound editor and get to the best audio postproduction studios. I worked very hard to put myself out there and networked my way through everything. One dream's failure introduced me to another. Three months prior to graduation, I started to panic. I was 19 years old and about to be a college graduate. I wasn't prepared, I didn't feel prepared to be done with education but at the same time, I really wanted to put myself out there as a sound editor. I was desperate and confused. I wanted to study abroad and I wanted to be able to choose my classes and feel a semester. It's like those two years gave me everything I needed to know in order to start my career but gave me nothing that would help me as a human being.
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| My graduation from Full Sail University (B.S. in Recording Arts / 2014) |
I always dreamed of New York City as a possibility when it came to starting my career, which is why decided to apply to Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School right after my Full Sail graduation. I originally wanted to pursue an M.A. in Media Studies. Given that my Bachelor's degree was Recording Arts and not Film, I was let in as a transfer so I could finish the B.A. in their Film equivalent (Screen Studies) and then apply for the M.A.. I was primarily interested in their Culture and Media program but ended up going for Screen Studies, which is basically film but it leans more towards psychoanalysis and the understanding of culture, formalities, and sociopolitics the film and media. I didn't want to be in a program that was heavy in filmmaking. I was there because I wanted that liberal arts education and at the same time to learn more about the industry that I was getting myself into as a sound person. It sounds crazy but I don't need this second degree to pursue the career that I want. Don't get me wrong, it's been hard, especially because all the film knowledge that I had during my first semester was all consumer-based whilst my peers really dominated the terminology. I couldn't care less about cinematography or directing but it's something that I've had and still have to confront as part of my degree. I decided to not do the M.A. and just finish the B.A. leaving me with two Bachelor's degrees at the end of my college life.
I'm currently 4 months away from going abroad to London, England where I'll be spending a semester at the prestigious King's College London. Film noir and folk horror have suddenly become passions of mine and most of the film terminology I thought I didn't need have been key to communicating with film directors which film's soundtrack I've worked on. A lot of former friends and instructors back at Full Sail discouraged me from coming to New York City because they didn't see it possible for me to have a freelancing career as I finish my degree and am able to move into a studio. They told me it would be a waste of time and money. But if one thing is for sure is that everything I've accomplished is because of this decision. Whether I thought them good or bad at the time, I've come to understand that everything happens for a reason and sometimes doors have to close in other for others to open. I would've never thought I'd be where I am right now the day I was sitting down in my old couch back in Florida, rushing to finish The Sound Wagon's first entry so I could join my neighbor in a Superbowl get-together. I've worked in 4 different films as a freelancer since then. I'm currently developing myself and discovering many hidden corners of passions that I didn't know I had and will help me grow as a sound editor and perhaps, film theorist. Yet, I keep thinking of where this road will take me...