With everything that has been going on recently, yet again we have got a little behind with the Sonnox Community Awards. We are delighted to announce the the winners for February and March 2016 are David Finnamore and Michael Greenberg for their support to the community through comments and content.
David Finnamore - Winner in February 2016
I'm a musician by formal training, though I've always loved and self-studied the practical sciences, as well, including electrical engineering. I spent over a decade in Nashville, Tennessee, where I had some success writing music for commercials for the likes of Kelloggs, McDonalds, and Jeep. But I soon found it easier to make a living as a recording engineer and composer's assistant. Pro Tools became the tool of choice in that industry in 1995, and I've used it continuously ever since.
For the past 10 years, I've worked mainly on spoken-word audio and conforming to video for Ligonier Ministries in Sanford, Florida. On the side, for fun, I produce song demos for friends, write orchestral and choral music for the church, and sing in three amateur performing groups.
One plug-in I use on practically every spoken-word and vocal track, and on many other tracks, is Sonnox Oxford SuprEsser. It's kind of hard to imagine doing audio work without it. It's dynamic response is wonderfully natural and transparent. It's ability to adapt to changing levels is almost magical.
The plug-in that I will choose from the Elite Collection, for the same reason, is Oxford Dynamics. You can never have too many different compressors, but Oxford Dynamics is a complete package of tremendous power and flexibility. I've used it at other studios for a variety of applications. It's always delighted me with its musicality, whether as an expander, compressor, or limiter. I expect to use it on just about everything.
Thanks so much, Pro Tools Expert, and Sonnox!
Michael Greenberg - Winner in March 2016
I am a Los Angeles based Re-Recording Mixer and Recording Engineer. I have been working in audio for television, film, radio, and web for over 20 years. On any given day I can go from recording an 8 person ensemble for an animated show to mixing a 30 minute episodic television show so I have to change gears quite often and quickly. Since all of the post-production mixing I do is a one man operation, I like to keep things simple in my sessions in order to manage hundreds of tracks of dialog, music, and effects. Pro-Tools-Expert has really helped me become a very efficient engineer and has also allowed me to share my input with the audio community around the globe.
I am so honored to have been chosen for the March Community Award. My Sonnox plug-in of choice is the Oxford SuprEsser. I have chosen this plug-in for its versatility as not only a De-Esser, but also as a Multiband Dynamic EQ. This was a tough choice for me as I also like the Sonnox Dynamics Plugin. Both are much more than just a single purpose plug-in. Working with a lot of animated shows means that my dialog may have been recorded in different studios, different days, and sometimes with different microphones. Therefore, sonic consistency is often a problem. Some lines of dialog, from the same actor, may have more plosives and harsh sibilance while others do not. Having the ability to manage all of these problem areas with one plugin like SuprEsser allows me to spend more time on the overall mix instead of having to fix each and every problem area individually. I can adjust the plug-in to focus on only the problem frequencies within a particular character’s track or place it in my dialog bus to apply global changes. With shrinking budgets and time frames, having the right tools to apply to a mix allows me to be efficient with my time without sacrificing quality.
I’d really like to thank Mike and the team at Pro-Tools-Expert for all of their hard work and contributions to the audio world.
What Is The Sonnox Community Award?
As we have said on many occasions we aren’t the only Pro Tools Experts, it works best when we pull together as a community to help each other when and where we can. There are plenty of places on the web for trolls and negativity, but many of our members work hard to create a positive and supportive community of Pro Tools Experts and we think that kind of attitude should be recognised and encouraged. With all of that in mind we are rewarding those in the community who go the extra mile to help others.
Each month we award the Community Member Of The Month Award sponsored by Sonnox. This award goes to the individual, who in the judges opinion, made an ongoing contribution to the Pro Tools Expert community.