Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542296
GETTING TO FIRST BASS HOW LOVE OF MUSIC LED TO A SOUND CAREER Patrick Christensen. 24 C I N E M O N T A G E U N I O N M A D E By Patrick Christensen R o c h e s te r, N e w Yo r k , i n t h e l a te 1980s, wasn't exactly the pinna- cle of excitement. There wasn't a whole lot for a brooding teen to do besides jumping off bridges into the Erie Canal, or spending too much time in Perkins Restaurant drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes until inevitably getting kicked out. So after sneaking into my older broth- er's room one day and rifling through his box of cassettes, I stumbled upon a small cache of musical treasures: legendary bands like AC/DC and Metallica. The tapes found their way into my possession and quickly went into heavy rotation. I became hooked on the pure musical power of these artists and wanted to harness it for myself. At Christmas 1991, I got my first bass guitar — a Washburn Force ABT in can- dy-apple red — and started taking lessons at the local music shop. There, I made friends who became my first bandmates. My high school years were spent listening to and learning grunge songs, writing orig- inals, and trying to book gigs whenever we could. Rochester had a few local venues, like the Penny Arcade up near Brighton Beach, that would let lowly high school bands play, most notably my punk band i4Ni (what, you haven't heard of us?!). Writing and playing music heightened my desire to understand how music was produced and recorded. A f t e r g r a d u a t i n g i n 1 9 9 6 , I go t a n internship at Dajhelon Studios. It was a grand place to learn the ins and outs of daily studio life. Studio A had a gorgeous, large live room, and the control room housed the revered Neve VR60 mixing console. I wanted to continue learning. Full Sail University offered a focused program with the most up-to-date gear I could get my hands on, plus the chance to graduate in a year and a half. Post-college, I tested my mettle in New York City. There were still massive studios there, including Sony Music and The Hit Factory. After numerous interviews, fate came along: a call from Full Sail's placement off ice! Howard Schwartz Recording in Midtown had an opening for a production assistant. Although it wasn't a music stu- dio, they had great rooms, benefits, and a 401(k)! I just had to learn what post audio was all about, and there were plenty of professionals working there to help. Plus, I could moonlight music jobs around the city to keep my music candle burning. At HSR, I started learning how to be a professional in our industry. Attention to detail is paramount, and careless mistakes cost time and money. During that era, machine rooms were full of loud whirring fans, which served as the backdrop as I made thousands of copies of commercials on various antiquated formats. After a few years of climbing through the ranks, I felt compelled to seek out a better fit for myself — and I found it at the Sound Lounge: it was artist-owned and operated, well regarded, quirky, and fun. I was fortunate to land a job as an as- sistant engineer, with a trajectory toward becoming a commercial mixer. Within a few years, Sound Lounge trusted me to work with large clients — recording voiceover, editing, and mixing commercials. During that time, they launched their Film + Televi- sion division, including the construction of an ADR (automated dialogue replacement) ro o m . O n e d ay, a s re - re co rd i n g m i xe r Tony Volante and I sipped our morning caffeine drinks, he asked, "Hey, want to record ADR?" "Sure ... um, what's that?" I'd be leaving the comfort of the commercial world for a completely unknown entity. But here was a shot to do something new and potentially move my career forward. I learned the art of running ADR ses- sions on the fly. It was quick-paced, social, and let me use the skills I had developed. A busy day might include working on a movie, two TV shows, and a scripted podcast. Each project needed a tailored microphone/audio set-up, so preparation was key. One project may have five tightly scheduled actors; an- other may have someone re-recording lines for a show they haven't worked on in over a year; and another may have a celebrity actor who arrives late, questions every line, and has to leave in 10 minutes. It felt great to apply my technical knowledge and add a touch of creative flair to get exactly what we needed to preserve a performance or make it even better. As a professional in the industry, I feel that mentoring the next generation is im- perative, paying back our debt to the people and institutions that gave us that first shot at becoming industry pros. I joined the Guild in 2009 and have been an active union member ever since. Among other union functions, I currently play on the MPEG Eastern Region softball team in New York City, the Cutters. This summer, we're hoping to bring home the pendant… which is more likely than the Mets! ■ Patrick Christensen lives in Rockland County, NY, with his fiancée and family. He feels honored to be an Emmy winner for "The Bear" as well as other C.A.S. nominations and wins. Reach him at: pat@soundlounge.com.