We chatted to Jason Cushing at Soundmorph to find out more about their techniques and work-ethic and discover what makes Soundmoprh packs so special.
Tell us how you got into the business of making sample libraries...
Jason: I worked in game audio as a sound designer for Electronic Arts and other large game companies. I loved my job, but was just curious to try starting my own company. I started SoundMorph really just to try and make some cool new sound libraries that I felt weren’t on the marketplace and maybe to make a few extra dollars. We never would of imagined it would grow into what it is now. My business partner and other Co-Founder at SoundMorph,Yan David, and I now work on SoundMorph fulltime, providing original libraries and software that we make from scratch.
Tell us a little about your studio – main components, how it came together…
Jason: I’ve always had a nice home studio, and do all of my work from there. I believe in having a minimal setup with a few really nice pieces of gear. It helps keep me focused, but still provides me with stellar pro-equipment. As far as what equipment we own:
- Neumann 310 stereo monitors with 750 sub
- Neumann TLM 170 microphone
- Stereo 8040 Sennheiser mics
- Cinela XY/ORTF wind blimp
- Sony D-100
- Sound Devices Mix Preii
- U/A Apollo 8
- Kyma
- NI Maschine
- A bunch of fun hardware synths (waldorf, moog, etc)
Tell us a little about your recording techniques and the people you work with...
Jason: I really keep it just X/Y, ORTF, or Mono most of the time with recording. I like having one blimp with really nice mics in it, the handheld Sony D-100 for just easy and quick quality recordings, and then I have my Nuemann TLM 170 mounted on like a radio DJ Desktop boom poll. I never had that until recently, but I really like having the desktop mic rigged like that.
In these Covid times I have been forced to do a ton more video chats, so having the mic like that allows me to chat with a great sounding voice, (which us sound people SHOULD care about!) But I also found it is super handy if I am working in a DAW or designing sounds to have a really nice mic like that mounted right in front of me, out of the way, that I can quickly pull down and record into it, or do vocals or anything really fast. As far as who we work with, it is a group of audio experts that we usually work with on a sub contractor basis. Field recordists / sound designers that have been in the industry for a long time and have a good ear for making great content.
What plug-ins do you use?
Jason: Well other than our own amazing SoundMorph plug-ins haha, I use some great ones from some of the following:
- Glitchmachines
- Sound Guru
- Sugar Bytes
- FabFilter
- Uh-e
- Output
- Soundminer Radium
- Twisted Tools
- Native Instruments
- Reaktor
What is the library you created that you are most proud of?
Jason: I am really proud of our Robotic Lifeforms 2 library. I think it is hands down the best robot library out there that I know of. Granted, I am bias, haha! But I just feel the team that made it really just put every ounce of soul into that release!
Do you have any interesting plans for the future?
Jason: My main goal is to just keep providing killer sound content for the community. I hope it inspires people to be creative, enjoy sound, and enjoy life!
You can view a selection of Soundmorph releases below.