Pro Tools, Playback, and the Value of Postproduction Sound Labor In Canada

Abstract

The motion picture industry’s transition from magnetic tape–based sound editing to digital, computer-based sound editing occurred from the mid-1990s through the early 2000s. This transition had major consequences on postproduction sound labor in Canada. In this article, I argue that digital audio workstations, such as Digidesign’s Pro Tools, threatened the role of Canadian postproduction sound practitioners. In order to protect their position within the industry, they adopted a rhetoric of self-promotion to change the value of their profession from technician to artisan. In order to make this claim, I analyze the discourse of sound editors and rerecording engineers in Canada’s dominant trade paper, Playback, over an eighteen-year period. This research contributes to ongoing scholarship on the role of digital audio workstations in film soundtrack production, as well as the impact of digital technologies on media industries and production cultures.