The 3 winners of the Pro Tools Expert competition for TrainYourEars have been announced. Congratulations to Bernard Blackburn, Andy Alton & Will Wade-Pentel.

Bernard Blackburn

Bernard uses Pro Tools for Post Production and Music Production in his home studio and teaches students Post Production at the Victoria University of Wellington Film Program.

Andy Alton

I teach Audio Production at the Illinois  Institute of Art - Chicago and Music Business at College of DuPage.  I am the lead professor in the audio department and teach recording, audio technology, music theory, live sound, electronics, and audio ear training.  When I am not doing that I run a Sway Studios which is a small music production studio (SwayStudios.com).  Like many I play many instrument and write songs as well.  My most current project is has me working on a meditation and relaxation album due this coming fall.

I run Pro Tools 12.5 with Apollo in my facility with Focal, Genelec, and KRK monitors for most of my audio projects.  Most of my workflow and teaching centres around Pro Tools.  I also work on a SSL console a lot at the college where we are also teaching Pro Tools.

I am looking forward to experimenting with Train Your Ears and look forward to sharing this information with all of my students. 

Will Wade-Pentel

I was born and raised in NYC and grew up in the professional audio world. My dad, Don Wade, owns Collegium Sound, a live sound and rental company, and is co-owner of the record label Minstrel Records.  I went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where I worked for a local live sound company while studying for my degree in Political Science. While trying to figure out what jobs to apply to after college, I realized I was already doing a job that I loved. So I moved back to NYC to continue working in the professional audio world, mostly in live sound. I have been lucky to work all over NYC.

My experience with Pro Tools comes mostly from working at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, which has an Avid VENUE Profile console which is connected to Pro Tools so we can record direct to multi-track during live shows. I love working with that board, and Pro Tools expands what we can do with it. I have Pro Tools 11 at home and I am always trying to improve my Pro Tools skills, both for recording live shows and for using it in its more traditional role in the studio.

I play guitar and a little bit of fiddle, and "Train Your Ears" will hopefully make me a better sound engineer and musician. Thanks Pro Tools Expert!