Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541592
22 M PS E . O R G BREAKING ENTERING & BERNARD MACMAHON 2025 2025 2025 2025 2025 AWARDS N O M I N E E T H E F I L M AWA R D rate went up quickly. I did every sort of job you could possibly do with Pro Tools. I did a lot of CD mastering, I did a few random SFX jobs, I edited dialogue for cartoon shows. I tried helping a scientist do scientific stuff, I even created an M&E from a finished soundtrack for a producer who got the rights to distribute a film in eastern Europe. I was making a living working out of my little apartment above the Eagle Rock Italian Bakery. Then I got some breaks. I got a call one day from Soundelux, a major Hollywood sound company. They said, "Oh, we have your resume here and were wondering if you would be interested in editing a book on tape?" What? Who? I stammered. I had sent in a resume a year earlier; no one calls you back, right? I got the job. A week into the job, I get another phone call. "Oh, we have your resume here and were wondering if you would be interested in a music editing job?" What? Who? I told them I'm already working for you. The person explained that it was for a different division of the company, and I could finish the book on tape job before moving on to the music job. The music editing job was working directly with Lon Bender, one of the founders of Soundelux. The project was an audio cassette version of the children's movie The Pagemaster. I was to pick and cut classical music to score the show. That done, Lon sent me to Scott Gershin who headed the game division. There I produced music in my home studio for a couple of games. Scott even offered me a position as staff composer. I turned it down for what now seems like a silly reason—I didn't want to work in the dark windowless studio of Soundelux. I was working out of my little duplex in Laurel Canyon with a view I did not want to give up. Then they sent me to Modern Music which is where this story started. On my first day at Modern Music, I worked with the temp music editor for Braveheart, Andrew Silver. The first thing to do was to watch the movie. Andrew explained that the film was in 18 reels, like that was a very big deal. I had no idea what that meant and why did Pro Tools have an option to show the timeline in "feet"? What do feet have to do with a computer? I was just amazed that I was going to be well paid to sit and watch a movie. One week later, I have Mel Gibson in my room showing him my work. I sometimes tell people that I started at the top and worked my way down. I was teaching my mentors Andrew and Ken Karman how to use Pro Tools, and they were teaching me how to be a music editor, but I was still not in the union. One day I heard some weird sounds (what I'm into) coming from Ken's room. Ken was creating an unusual piece for a set playback for the film Virtuosity. I told him that for what he was trying to do, he really needed a sampler. Sample Cell had just come out with a sampler card that worked with Pro Tools. So, they got me into the union because I had a special and necessary skill. I continued to work with Ken on Virtuosity until he had to leave for another gig. He left me to take over. I was thrown into the deep end, and that dear reader, is a whole other story.