The history of SoundcheckPro begins with “Virtual Analog Studio”, a student project idea originated from the pain point of lacking access to music hardware. During the first years we faced a name change to “Soundcheck2D” so that it would co-exist with our VirtualStudio3D edition. SoundcheckPro is now a product trusted by academic institutions across the globe to deliver signal flow and console training to students.
History of SoundcheckPro
As mentioned, SoundcheckPro was originally called “Virtual Analog Studio”. It was an idea inspired during my time as a student in Full Sail University where I was given access numerous amounts of great gear. However, like everyone, that time spent with the gear is limited, I couldn’t practice at home, nor would I be a student forever and could forget what I’ve been learning! This was unacceptable!
Rather then set out to code a compressor audio-plugin in AAX, which was just coming out at the time, I decided I would make the challenge to reach the master bus compressor following the same signal flow steps from my labs! As I began to prototype the environment, I was realizing more about the hardware than I was in standard lab hours. Now, I was going in to labs already prepared with a goal of what I wanted to experiment with. Sure enough I was performing rather than just learning. It was like seeing the entire signal flow matrix around me. Introducing SoundcheckPro to other students will have the same impact!
AES – From Student Design Competition to Exhibitor to Vendor
Following the initial design phase, I entered and was a winning project in the AES Student Design Competition in Los Angeles. This was the first time I had shared my work in public to receive feedback. From here I was more motivated to launch the product and solve this pain point I had experienced for students around the world. Introducing SoundcheckPro through the AES was one of the best decision I’ve made.
You could read a little bit more about my experience with AES Student Design Competition and Exhibiting on the convention floor to working with my first educational partner:
SoundcheckPro in Education Today
As classes all over the world were faced with social restrictions, we extended our efforts to reach educators and spread awareness of our solution. After meeting hundreds of educators over hundreds of hours in the summer, we incorporated all of the feedback into developing updates for the fall and along the way earned the confidence of educators who weeks before were uncertain how they would move forward.
SoundcheckPro is currently being used by over 20 institutions worldwide as partners. There are even more who are using Soundcheck on an individual basis or in demo mode!
The Future, Data Driven Audio Education
‘Soundcheck Stats’ are where user actions are collected to create datasets of user milestones. Similar to the stats you would find at the end of a video game. All of this data is going to start to present interesting behavioural patterns that can help identify ways to improve on audio education.
Stay tuned for more information on Soundcheck Stats!