AES Student Blog

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and what do you study?

I’m an audio engineer from Cleveland, Ohio studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music. I study my audio program under the incredible Grammy award winning engineers: Bruce Egre, Alan Bise, and Jack Renner. It’s an honor being educated by such talented individuals who have experienced every bit of the industry. I also study saxophone performance with the world renowned, Greg Banaszak, at Case Western Reserve University and perform with wind groups around the area.

Receiving my education through CIM and CWRU allows me the opportunity to meet and work with some of the most talented classically trained musicians of our generation. During my time at CIM I’ve had the honor to record many successful string quartets, solo artists, wind chamber groups, and orchestras.

I have the privilege of working for CIM’s Recording Arts and Services where we record over 600 concerts, recitals, recording sessions and rehearsals for CIM faculty, students and alumni each school year. Over the summer of 2016 I worked as the audio engineer for Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine. In the past couple of years I’ve started working on a personal website, www.PazProject.com where many of my works, compositions, and recordings are displayed for others to hear.

What initiated your passion for audio? When did it start?

My passion for audio all started from my love for music. I was six years old when I first noticed a picture on the wall in music class. It was as if everything around me had stopped and all I could focus on was the shiny lust of the golden curves. For the entire period all I could do was wonder about this mysterious instrument. As soon as the bell rang, I jumped out of my seat to ask my teacher about the instrument in the picture. With a bright smile, she told me that it was a saxophone. From that day forward, music has been a part of my life every single day. Gradually my love for playing music has grown into creating and composing my own music. I have trained rigorously in music theory with private lessons in saxophone and guitar for over 15 years and counting. This education has allowed me to orchestrate the ideas in my head and put them on paper. The next step was finding a way to capture the words and sounds which introduced me to the art of audio recording.

During high school I purchased a simple beginner’s home recording kit, which included a cheap microphone, cable, a two channel interface, and free version of a DAW. Throughout the next few years I had self taught myself recording and mixing techniques which allowed me to create my own music. After placing in the top 10 rock charts on Reverbnation.com around the Cleveland area, I recieved great feedback on my works. These kind comments motivated me to continue and create music.

I only started thinking of audio as an optional path when I first applied to colleges. The idea of pursuing my passion as a career had truly inspired me to go into school for audio engineering and music.

I find the art of recording to be a beautiful way to capture specific moments in time which will never be repeated the same way again.

Tell us about production of your submission? What is the story behind it? What inspired it? How long did you work on it? Was it your first entry?

My submission for this AES Student Recording Competition was a recording of a live performance of the Requiem by Maurice Durufle. I was asked by my teacher, Bruce Egre, to cover for him on a session of a performance of several CWRU groups at a local church. It was recorded and mixed with a total of three stereo pairs of microphones and a single spot (vocal solo) microphone for one movement. I chose to present the 4th movement, “Sanctus”, at its entirety. It features an orchestra, a 60 voice choir, and a large church pipe organ. I also added a small section of the 5th movement, “Pie Jesu”, in order to present the vocal soloist, accompanied by a cello and pipe organ. Coming into this session, I had a main goal in mind. I wanted to achieve a clean recording of a live concert which consisted of the limitation of one take.

The recording session took only one evening with a couple of hours of preparation and soundcheck. I worked on the mixing stage of the project for a couple of weeks before reaching the aspired quality to present to the competition.

This recording was my first submission to the Traditional Acoustic Recording category in the competition. I had participated in the Traditional Studio Recording submission in the previous AES in New York City, which helped me have a better understanding of the judges’ expectations and prepared me for this competition in LA.

What/who made you join AES?

I joined AES after hearing great feedback about the conventions from students in my program. I was very inspired to be part of a larger group of people who shared the same love and passion for audio as I do. After consulting with my teachers, I decided to join AES and attend my first convention in New York City, which was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 141st AES convention in LA!

Some of my favorite moments from the AES convention were meeting my greatest inspirations in the audio industry. I had the chance to have conversations with people such as Fab Dupont, Dave Pensado, Andrew Scheps, and many more. One of the greatest outcomes of this convention were the connections I made with people all over the world. From walking around the exhibit hall floor and meeting representatives from many leading companies, to attending the AES student after party and bonding with young audio engineers alike, I was able to make lifelong connections.

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