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September 2016

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SOUND LIBRARIES www.postmagazine.com 31 POST SEPTEMBER 2016 tracks because we ended up needing mul- tiple tracks for the cut." After graduating from Berklee College of Music, Delaney moved to Chicago. There he helped Noise Floor owners/ sound designers Cory Coken and Jamie Vanadia to establish a music department. For the past six years, Delaney has han- dled all of Noise Floor's music needs, on projects ranging from commercials to app soundtracks. "We are a full-service audio post facility so we work on a wide range of projects. Our bread-and-butter is ad- vertising but we do just about everything under the sun," says Delaney. As a composer, Delaney loves writing and producing music whenever a project allows. When acting as a music supervisor, Delaney understands that the music op- tions he curates for clients are a represen- tation of his creative point of view. "Being able to find and share music with clients that feels up to my standards as a musician is super important. FirstCom's EVO series is just awesome. It has very modern, beau- tifully-produced, slick tracks," says Delaney. Sometimes slick and modern aren't the directions to go in. Since their client's needs are so unique from project to project, Delaney appreciates the ver- satility that FirstCom Music's extensive library offers. He says, "I've been working on jobs that need very unique music. I'm shocked at what I can find. FirstCom is great at the modern sound, and also peri- od-specific sound. I can throw a lot at it and it tends not to break. I can always at least get a handful of tracks that should work for the project." For example, Noise Floor is currently handling the music, sound design and mix for 'Detours' — interactive, geo-locat- ed audio guided tours that Detour app users (www.detour.com) can download and play to learn more about the city they're visiting. "Some of the Detours we did needed a huge palette of music because they were going through the history of Chicago. We needed minimalist piano, orchestral, Ragtime, John Coltrane- style jazz, very contemporary tracks and modern atonal film score. But, it all needed to feel consistent," says Delaney. Having a wealth of tracks to choose from on FirstCom's site, Delaney was able to create a unique soundtrack that took listeners on a journey musically. Delaney feels that FirstCom's search engine is very intuitive, and it's easy to find similar-sounding tracks. "If I find a song I like, it's a simple process to find similar tracks. The song isn't just this isolated diamond in the rough. Once I find that diamond, I can go searching for other dia- monds," he says. Another benefit of FirstCom Music is having access to a knowledgeable rep- resentative who can help with searches, getting stems or answering questions about usage rates. "My rep at FirstCom, Roger, is also one of the main reasons that I use them. He totally understands that it's 2016 and that our projects can make less sense than our election cycle," jokes Delaney. Knowing FirstCom is equally apt to assist with big multi-spot campaigns as they are with indie horror films, Delaney feels his clients are getting the best tracks at a price that fits their budget. "FirstCom has a predictable, easy licensing structure. I can just shoot an email over to Roger and know exactly what I'm dealing with right then and there. It takes the guess- work out of it." While FirstCom Music typically offers underscore mixes for their busier tracks, Delaney would like to see even more options available for immediate download. "This goes for every music library across the industry. I'd like to see more splits and stems available, because for me, super simple tracks can sometimes be the hard- est to find. The first :30 of the song might be perfect, but then suddenly a slew of other instruments come in, and it's like, 'Where the hell did those come from?'" Delaney explains. Additionally, Delaney notes, if he's using stock music to build a soundtrack for a long-form project, like a branding video, he could edit and layer the stems in different ways to increase the duration of a song without it sounding looped. "The more splits and options I have to work with, the more flexible I can be with the music." KILLER TRACKS Workaholic Productions (workaholictv. com) in Encino, CA, produces multiple TV shows, handling the production, post production and delivery on series like TLC's My Giant Life and America: Facts vs. Fiction on American Heroes Channel. "We also do extensive development projects, so we are always pitching new shows to the networks," says post supervisor Steven Schwab. Schwab has been with Workaholic Productions for six months but has been in the biz all his life. After completing film school at New York University, he's worked in every aspect of film and television pro- duction. "I was a grip. I've done writing, I've done producing, I've done some directing and eventually, ended up as a post super- visor. I like the position and working in a stable environment," says Schwab. As post supervisor, Schwab is respon- sible for deciding which music libraries Noise Floor's Devin Delaney likes FirstCom's intuitive search engine, and both its modern and period- specific sounds.

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