PROFILE
Edward Almeida
By Manus Hopkins
Edward Almeida was interested in sound before he ever got into music . The Montreal-based sound technician , originally from Mississauga , ON , now works in many areas of sound production , from music to film , but it was movies , TV shows , cartoons , video games , and even toys that first sparked his interest in sound as a child .
“ I remember certain things that I would watch and hear all these creative sounds that felt like ear candy that would trigger my imagination and inspire me ,” he tells Professional Sound . “ But then music came and nailed it for me . It was like being high or something ... It was then I decided that I was going to do something with audio and knew I wanted it to be in all these realms .”
Once Almeida finished school , a teacher of his recommended him for a freelance job with IDHD , editing sound for a TV show called Mordue de la Pêche , which he worked on from his home studio . From there , he built on that experience and set out to acquire more gear for his growing home studio and land more freelance gigs .
“ It didn ’ t pick up that much right away , so I worked part-time as an assistant engineer for Daniel Cinelli at Planet Studios , Brian D ’ Oliviera from La Hacienda Creative , and a few others before I started to get more freelance gigs ,” he says . “ The first one that really set it off for me was doing 54 minutes of dialogue editing and restoration on a documentary film called Dans La preséance d ’ un Maître . From that work , I got recommended for more gigs and it just snowballed from there .”
Almeida is currently spread out between location sound on advertisements and doing post-sound work on a few different projects . One of these projects is an indie feature film , for which he is handling the dialogue editing , sound editing , re-recording , voiceover narration , creating and recording foley , and the overall sound design . Rather than stick to one aspect of sound , Almeida prefers his projects to be varied across the board .
“ I ’ m also doing a few song mixes ,” he adds . “ I kind of bounce around between the different realms because I love them all so much and can ’ t live without them as an entirety .”
As for career highlights , Almeida has a few in particular that he mentions , but emphasizes that being able to make his passion into a career is the biggest highlight of all .
“ Honestly , every day on the job is a highlight !” he says . “ When you have a dream that you work towards and see that dream start to bear the fruits of your labour , that in itself is a highlight . Of course , recording sound for clients like Cirque du Soleil , Ubisoft , and other high-profile ones are highlights [ as well ].”
There are various types of technical challenges all sound techs face in their careers , but for Almeida , the biggest challenges he deals with are on a more personal level .
“ The one that sticks out the most is having to trust in my abilities ,” he explains . “ Whether it ’ s a creative decision or a technical one , being able to rely on my experiences , assessments , or simple intuition — I ’ ve found that being able to be confident in my abilities is a key factor in my progress .”
Working in so many different aspects of the professional sound industry , Almeida finds himself collaborating with lots of other technicians and companies — probably more than most , given the wide variety of his work . While he loves his work , the people he works with are also a big part of what makes it all so enjoyable , and hearing the end result of his labour is always a great feeling .
“ It ’ s gratifying to watch and listen to the work that I get to contribute to with all the other talented people ,” he says .“ Plus , there ’ s this vibe or chemistry that happens , which gives me this high I crave and enjoy so much .”
Almeida ’ s short-term career goal is simply to keep up the pace at which he ’ s working now and pick up as many projects as he can possibly handle . Longer term , he ’ d like to see himself rise to the levels of the masters that still inspire him , as no matter how far into his career he is , he ’ s always working to improve and grow .
The way Almeida sees it , his work and life are essentially intertwined BOB WITH . He HIS ’ s constantly
WIFE KAREN
analyzing audio from things that he watches or music he listens to . While he does enjoy sports , cooking , and traveling as well , his main passions involve sound , but not just music ; Almeida has never lost his love of movies , TV shows , or cartoons from when he was a kid .
“ I enjoy it so much that I find myself recording outside of work and practicing my musical instruments as well as working on my own personal projects ,” he says . “ For me , work doesn ’ t feel like work because I truly love everything about it ! It ’ s pure pleasure .”
Manus Hopkins is the Assistant Editor for Professional Sound .
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