Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1524863
lot, and started adding more sophisticated gear to aid in the sound design process, including my first sampler, the Emulator II (with a whopping 17.6 seconds of sample time!). Until then, I was using music- based synths like Oberheims and Prophets, along with outboard gear, but the sampler was a perfect fit for the way I worked and allowed me to use real sounds in addition to synth- based ones. In order to sync with timecode at the time, you needed to use a SMPTE to midi timecode converter and a sequencer to record the note data to trigger the sampled sounds in sync to picture. I was actually using the Oberheim DSX hardware sequencer before there was a software sequencer I could use. The first project I used this system on was making all the hits for the martial arts film The Last Dragon, and I remember an editor coming into my room saying, "This is the future." Little did he know how quickly that would come true. One of the most influential editor/supervisors that I met at Mag City was Julia Evershade. Julia (now retired) was a brilliant editor/designer/supervisor who had a knack for putting together great crews and nurturing talent. We worked together on many projects, and she was instrumental in bringing me over to Paramount to work with George Watters and Cecelia (Cece) Hall designing the jets for Top Gun, as well as a string of other amazing projects that followed. My room at Paramount was an old screening room with terrible air conditioning that I loaded with racks of gear which made it even hotter. Next door was the sound library consisting of hundreds of film boxes with 35mm mag sound On the starting grid at Darlington Raceway with Cece Hall, Days of Thunder 4/1/90. John in the NASCAR 2-seater with driver Sterling Marlin at Darlington Raceway, Days of Thunder 4/3/90. John with George Watters II after a skid and demolition session at Saugus Speedway for Beverly Hills Cop II 1987. 136 M PS E . O R G