Seduced by the magic of the sound and ITABO´s opportunities

By Darelia Díaz Borrero / translated by Amauris Betancourt Gómez

Photos by Darelia Díaz Borrero and Amauris Betancourt.

Spending days polishing and mixing voice, effect and music, three ingredients that go alongside for the sake of an informative message, stands not only for his way of life, but also for something that makes him really passionate.

Tenacity, commitment and daily hard work, feature Iván Valdés Vázquez's duty as a sound producer. His first job in this field was in the Technical Service Department of Sindo Garay Music and Show Company in the province of Granma, where he had the possibility to take part producing sounds for shows, galas and rallies as well as in first-level-band concerts.

He admits he always had a thing for means of communication. This brought him in 2015 to the municipal Ciudad Monumento Radio Station, in Bayamo, where he started off his career as a sound producer for a mass media; and then he took over a similar job at the provincial Bayamo Radio Station, places where he still works to this date.

“I always went in for this specialty because it can affect human emotions and feelings. Musicalizing gives me the full possibility to give free reign to my feelings. Sound production, my professional choice, allows me to create, to make a contribution, and to change a given work, whatever it takes, using my knowledge”, states Valdés Vázquez about his passion for this world.

For over a year, besides radio sound productions, Iván has added up his effort and gift to ITABO´s works, what has marked his debut in the audiovisual field.

Did your links to ITABO Producciones come up by chance?

It was so indeed. One evening Katiuska León, ITABO´s president, showed up to record some voice in off, and when the recording was over, she came up with the proposal of preparing the sound track for that work; later, pleased with the final result, she asked me to join the work-team.

This is my first experience in television. I admit I love radiobroadcasting though I always felt interested by the audiovisual world. I just hadn´t had the chance ITABO gives me today.

Does the way ITABO assume productions differ from your work in radio stations?

Yes, each means has a thing. Radio broadcasts images through sounds while sound in ITABO backs up images.

Is sound designing an essential item in ITABO´s works?

As a matter of fact, a sound track design is vital and peculiar to each audiovisual production because it stands up for sonorous codes identifying scenes, characters, places, feelings ... which are turned into creations and, at the same time, that results in a unique proposal.

How do you combine sound´s technique and aesthetics for the sake of ITABO´s audiovisuals?

It means a lot to me: it is top priority. The technical and esthetic quality of sound has to go hand in hand with what ITABO´s graphic demands. Balance between pleasure and appearance should be achieved to favor a good end, paying attention to technical parameters. A defective sound brings about problems in communication, and henceforth the visual discourse is likewise affected.

How is sound measured?  What parameters are taken into account?

There are basic attributes such as tone, ring and intensity. Tone is measured by high and low frequency; ring is sort of a fingerprint, it is unique: for example, a minor La executed with a guitar and that same musical note interpreted with a violin; they do not have the same ring, they sound different and they are still the same note. Intensity is measured by decibels from cero to a 100, this last one is the note of distortion. And they are all controlled and mixed in a sound console.

Sound has or does not have harmony. When there is no harmony then it is noise. To achieve a good sound renders very important besides technical and environmental conditions, full knowledge of the specialty.

Out of the range of products from ITABO, which one do you prefer and feel that allows you developing a more creative and conceptual job as a sound producer?

All of them are very important to me. Each one results in a different and unique experience, and in consequence, a challenge to me. They demand a lot from a personal and professional point of view. The creative process gives me the possibility to dream up, to imagine, to create with total freedom, always in agreement with the conventional codes.

Which has it been for you the hardest professional task for ITABO?

Audiovisuals stand out for a challenge of course, and here more as a professional in a new field. Each material demands specificities, requirements and particularities, what makes it a unique work. That is why TABO´s ones are indeed a challenge in the broadest sense of the word, written in capital letters.

How do you integrate yourself in the postproduction? How difficult is it for you to assume this new role as a sound producer in an audiovisual work?

It is hard taking into account that sound is a vital element within an audiovisual work; the post-production process is complicated in that sense. Sound post-production is the final stage of the audiovisual product´s sound track, that includes musical setting, sound effects, dubbing and audio rendering.

What has it meant for you professionally belonging to ITABO  Producciones?

Teamwork is extremely important and that is precisely ITABO, a team. My joining this project has given me new know-hows and a lot of knowledge. It has provided me with a will for constant personal overcoming and learning as well as abilities, tools and techniques to do a better job with higher quality; and, above all, it has fostered my creativity.

Ambitions ...

The possibility of being in the middle of a constant creative process and of being able to expressed myself with total freedom through sound production. Expectations? I do have many: I wish to keep on exploring and creating in this wonderful horizon of the audiovisual world and I dream of an enormous range of opportunities, where we may show all of ITABO´s creative power. That could help us establish ourself in the audiovisual market, inside and outside the Island.

Iván Valdés Vázquez, who has turned sound making into his reason of being, sees himself full of motivations. Introverted, of few words, and simple, he knows that what he has achieved comes out of hard work, effort and dedication.

He likes listening to music in his free time, reading -mainly contents related to his specialty-, and watching TV programs, preferentially news programs and movies.

Broadcasting images through sounds on radio or on television is an ability this producer keeps on learning. That´s why he declares himself in an endless love with his career and thankful for the professional opportunities he has run into in ITABO.