Session 4

I would definitely classify myself as an innovator. Due to the nature of my professions, I use technology for nearly every project. I have my own production company, which provides the following services: Graphic design, web-design, photography, videography, audio recording/engineering and multimedia production. I also work for the college developing online training, websites and as a technical support coordinator. Needless to say, I must stay on top of the latest technology available to provide my clients with the best possible product in the least amount of time. With all of the services and software functionality available to businesses these days that enable users with limited experience to do things like create their own websites or edit and print their own photos from home, I must stay on the cutting edge of technology to diversify myself from the rest and stay marketable.

I have always been one to research new software, get involved in the testing stages and of course be the first to use the software. I often find myself reading instruction manuals and completing online tutorials to ensure that I am using the software to it’s fullest potential. After all, If I’m going to spend a significant amount of time and money on a program I want to be using it the way it was intended to be used at a professional level. On such instance is when I was looking for a program that could time stretch audio without effecting the pitch or shift the pitch without affecting the timing, I came across an application developed in Germany called Melodyne. The program cost was in excess of $800 American dollars so before I made the purchase I wanted to make sure that it had the functionality I was looking for. I further researched the program online and downloaded to demo version to test its capability. After discovering that the program can analyze complex melodies and separate each sound that makes up the melody so that you can manipulate them individually, I was sold. To this day there is no other program with this ability. Now when I’m working with a potential client in the recording studio, I make it a point to demonstrate this program’s power and more often then not the clients are blown away. This raises my company’s production value and gives me an edge on my competitors. Technology is making it easier and easier for common user’s to create professional grade products, but at the same time, professional grade software is always evolving to enable professionals to step their production up to the next level and stay current and in demand.