Today I am quite honoured to be featured in an interview with Pole Position Production on their website.
As many are aware, Pole Position Production is well-known for their field recordings of rare and challenging vehicles for the game audio and feature film communities. They also capture many other field recordings, design custom sound, and share sound libraries on their Web shop.
Pole is running a series of interviews of the staff there, and I was humbled to be asked to talk about my contribution to the team.
Working With Field Recordists
I first started working with Pole around August 2017 mastering their field recordings and curating them for their Web shop, pole.se. It’s been a fantastic experience working with the team. They are a great bunch of guys, but what’s more, they are exceptionally talented people that strive for the best quality and results.
After working on my own for more than a decade, it has been a great experience being part of a team. When I was independent, I relied on myself to push my limits and invent and resolve new challenges. I enjoyed that, however, working with Pole has been a welcome change.
Collaboration in Technical and Creative Fields
I think it is easy for any professional to be accustomed to comfortable workflows, especially later in their careers. I’m the same. The collaboration between everyone at Pole has taken my thinking and practice in new directions. I’ve always been a lone wolf, so this experience has fired up my mind in a way that reminds me of my first years in sound, almost 25 years ago.
I appreciate the concept much more, now. Sound editing and field recording are crafts with a unique blend of technical and creative talents. While technical ability benefits from refinement and repetition, creativity plummets with stagnation. Being part of team with an expectation of accountable results is a good way to shake that up, and keep skills sharp and creativity fresh. The wider field recording community helps with this, too. (Incidentally, this helps falling into the “bitter sound pro” stereotype as well.)
From my time at Pole, I’ve learned volumes about the vehicles they record, new technique, rare and specialized microphones and recorders, and recording for game audio. I also feel it has kept me on my game. I’m grateful for it all.
Interview Series
In the interview, I chat about my history in sound and what I do at Pole. It touches a bit on some thoughts behind community, what makes a good field recording, and the thought process behind the work done at Pole.
Check out the interview at Pole.se.
I believe there are other interviews planned with the rest of the Pole team for their monthly newsletter. There’s a newsletter signup form at the bottom of Pole’s page if you’d like to hear more about the team.
My thanks to Pole Position Production.
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