Pro Stories: Ray Palagy
Ray Palagy I started working at a NYC based Post House called Editel in 1987. I trained under Bob Schott and Jonathan Porath and was introduced to my first DAW - the AMS / NEVE Audiofile. I remember being obsessed with it and realizing that this was the future and that I had to learn it. Both of those engineers were excellent and it was a great introduction to TV post audio. A year later I was honored to be editing on the Audiofile at Sync Sound in NY and trained under Ken Hahn, Bill Marino, Pam Bartella and a host of really talented Sound Designers. Being given an opportunity to work at an audio only facility such as Sync was a real gift. I also remember getting to demo Sound Tools, later to become ProTools - and realizing that this would also become the future of audio post. I talked it up and was met with initial skepticism by Bill and Ken but years later there wasn’t a tape machine in sight. My greatest learning came from those 2 co - owners of Sync Sound - Ken and Bill. Bill had the background in sound editing and signal flow and Ken had such great ears and consistently put out great sounding, award winning mixes so it was like being paid to go to school in a sense. It really was a dream job for me. I’m in touch with many of the people I met at Sync Sound and consider them to be the best of the best when it comes to this business. By far the most important factor that I learned from Ken and Bill was their work ethic. I realized that they were there in the morning when I arrived and would stay long after I would leave and that taught me a valuable lesson. The job was of course technical but the attitude and that work ethic were far more important to their success. If I could - I would tell my younger self to stay late and pick up valuable lessons watching these professionals craft the mixes long into the night even when I wasn’t on the schedule or being paid - because it would help me years later when I began to mix. Finally the best career advice I ever got was from another great mentor - Troy Krueger. He was the Lead mixer at Creative Group NY, which would later become Reveal. On my first day there I told him that I had years of Sound Editing experience but not much mixing experience and he stopped what he was doing and turned to me, looked me in the eyes and said sternly, “That’s the last time you ever say that. From now on, you’re a mixer.” From that day forward I was mixing promos for ESPN and within months I was very comfortable mixing in Protools under Troy’s watchful eye. I think about that first day all the time and realize that there was never a more important sentence said to me than that! I spent 8 years at Creative Group, and finally got the opportunity to get hired by ESPN as a staff Sound Designer which is where I am today. Sadly the other 2 facilities have closed but luckily I’ve managed to make a career that has spanned over 3 decades and still keeps food on the table. Bio Ray Palagy is a native New Yorker who has over 3 decades of experience in audio for TV and Film. He is an Emmy Award Winning Audio Post Sound Designer on shows ranging from ESPN’s E:60 to HBO’s “OZ”.Ray has worked on Episodic TV, animation, concerts, features and commercials. He is also a songwriter, drummer and recovering comic book collector. |
