Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Abarca.
Jonathan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Sometimes this story begins all the way back to 4th grade when I picked percussion as my instrument instead of trumpet. My mom told me her and her siblings used to endlessly tease their brother after he chose trumpet. His lips would get swollen and remain swollen for most of the day. I didn’t want that happening to me.
Most other times, I start the story during fall of senior year 2005, after a ska band I played drums in recorded their first EP in a stranger’s basement. That’s what got me hooked. While watching this student of audio engineering record us on his basic model PC, I realized I wanted to give it a try. Hearing him replace my drums with samples; how he worked with our vocalist to get the best take, and even record himself on piano on one of our songs. We liked him so much that we needed to include him on a track.
That experience led me to researching which schools taught audio engineering. Berklee College of Music was the first result. It was the only application I filled out for college. I took a big swing. I felt so confident in that was what I was supposed to do.
After graduating with a B.M. in Music Production & Engineering in 2010, I waited till 2014 to make the big move to LA. During my time in school, I focused on music; the writing process, producing, recording, mixing, and mastering. All of it. That’s what 99% of my peers wanted to focus in too. The big dream was to move to either LA, NY or Nashville to start our careers. But of course, plans change. Toward the end of the curriculum, we had to take a post-production class. (It was the only one at the time, and the curriculum has diversified greatly since I graduated.) It opened me up to the ‘other side of the coin’ that is audio engineering. I’m so thankful that class did.
Before I moved, I made up my mind that I’d be open to doing music OR post-production. I enjoyed a lot of freelance work in my home state of Connecticut before moving. With one artist, his record was nominated for several CT music awards. And I was cutting my teeth on post-production projects ranging from shorts to features. I was ready to leave it behind and start fresh.
I got in touch with an old classmate a couple of weeks after moving. We didn’t know each other super well from school but quickly had a great working rapport. He needed a drummer, and I needed a job. He passed my resume up to his supervisors. Thankfully, they were looking for a freelancer and he made sure I was going to work out. He invited me over and trained me on his own time before I went in for an interview. I’m incredibly grateful and indebted to him because he’s the one who gave me my chance in LA. I’ve worked almost exclusively in localization, an avenue of post-production, ever since.
SDI Media Group (now Iyuno Media Group) eventually hired me full-time as a recording engineer for localized content, aka ‘dubs’ for short. The content was 99% foreign language being recorded into English. He trained me to record and eventually, trained me to dialogue edit as well. In 2017, I would follow him to a new localization company that opened up an LA location, VSI (Voice & Script International).
At this second company, I continued recording and dialogue editing. A year later, I found myself adding mixing to my skillset. This opened up my usefulness outside of my full-time job. I began freelancing in 2019. This included localized content, but I also began working on original features. At VSI, I worked my way up to a supervisor but did leave the company in June 2020 during the pandemic.
Thankfully, freelance work continued and I was kept busy through most of the pandemic. I was very fortunate. Not too long after, I was introduced to Cup of Tea Productions in August 2020. By Feb 2021, I decided to join them full-time as a recording engineer on video games. That’s my current home, all the while still maintaining my freelance contacts.
I’ve worked on a lot of localized content for Netflix as either a recording engineer, dialogue editor, or mixing engineer. Other clients for localization include Amazon, HBO Max, Disney, Funimation/Crunchyroll, Adult Swim and GKids. Through the video game world, I’ve worked for clients such as Nintendo, Sega Atlus, and Bandai Namco.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
At times, it’s been smooth as butter, and other times, it’s been as smooth as gravel.
On my first freelance gig in LA, I would say it took me a longer than average amount of time to learn the workflow. I’ll always maintain I was showed pure kindness and patience from the director as I cut my teeth recording dubs for the first time. There’s so many layers to the day-to-day recording process that only after a few months did I finally feel comfortable. It wasn’t the best feeling early on as I was learning.
Another point in my career, I became a supervisor at VSI (Voice & Script International). A major challenge was trying to balance out my responsibilities with what I really wanted to be doing instead. I did my best to make clear to those above me that I still wanted to mix and be involved with projects. But, I offered to help out with scheduling/reviewing/training freelancers and making myself avail to attend meetings. It took a few months to really figure out how to best utilize my time day to day. It was a very eye-opening life experience to have.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What I started out doing in localization was recording. We’d preview the line (or lines) in the domestic language (Japanese, Spanish, Italian, etc.) and then the actor would be beeped in to come in to record that line (or lines) we previewed in English. When I stop recording, it’s then my job to ‘sync’ the lineup and make sure we’re hitting the lip flaps, then playback for the director to watch down and approve. If we needed to rewrite or hit a different read, we go back into the record until we get the line as needed. Rinse and repeat until we finish a show or movie.
Eight hours of doing that for long stretches of time could feel numbing after a while, so thankfully, I was taught dialogue editing. During this stage, we clean up the audio that’s been recorded. We use processing that removes room noise, mouth clicks/pops, and even time stretching/squeezing to correct any additional issues with sync.
Eight hours of doing that for long stretches of time could feel numbing after a while, so thankfully, I eventually learned mixing! This is the process that’s been my recent love since Christmas 2018. We take the edited dialogue and now start ‘placing’ the audio to sound identical to the original domestic mix. Basically, make our English dub sound like the original show. Ideally, we match it 100%, but sometimes we get to be creative. We will use EQ, compression, and reverb/delays to accomplish this. During this process, we really start making the audio sound like a show/movie.
With the advent other streaming services popping up, I think mixing has been the most fruitful as far as my freelance work is concerned. It has also been the most rewarding hearing my work played back in my living room or in a movie theater. Mixing is awesome.
The work I’m most proud of is being a central part of the Netflix show: Aggretsuko. I was the recording engineer and dialogue editor for all five seasons and a Christmas special. I was also the mix engineer for all of it, aside from mixing season one (my mentor mixed that season). Having worked in localization for as long as I have, it is incredibly rare and special for a team to be kept together like we were on this show. The show began in 2018. I met Director/Adapter Patrick Sietz and Kris Perotti for the first time on day one of recording. We all still got to work together each year until the series wrapped this past Feb 2023.
When we started, I was an employee for VSI, and for the last three seasons, they welcomed me back as a freelancer to continue working on it at Patrick’s request. VSI has a strong team that could have worked on any of those particular stages of the project (recording/dialogue editing/mixing). But, they honored Patrick’s request and also trusted me to handle the entire season each year. I’m thankful for the help VSI provided me along each season as well.
I believe it’s my musical background that allows me to bring a certain perspective to each project. There are a couple of standpoint moments that come to mind where this has been essential in getting a project across the finish line. In both localization and video games, songs need to be recorded! And sometimes the actor isn’t musical in the least. I can help them as a musician by gauging what approach would work best for them. We can break down section by section or let them do runs and I can comp together the best takes afterward.
And then, there comes the point to where the song needs to be mixed. Hey, I went to school for that! That’s always a skill that feels great to use while working in post.
But most of all, I think what sets me apart from others is my attitude while we’re working. I strive to maintain a positive approach and attitude while my director, actor, and I are in the trenches, from the first day to the last on a project. It’s hard, but it’s important. It’s to everyone’s benefit that we problem-solve together as a team each day.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Admittedly, I definitely think I’ve had some luck. But I also believe in fate. When applying to Berklee College of Music, I decided to skip auditioning when I read I could write an essay instead. It was the last semester before auditions were mandatory to applying to the school. If I was forced to audition, I don’t think I would have made it.
At college, I had to apply for my major. It was highly competitive. I didn’t get it in the first time I applied. I had to start thinking of maybe pursuing another major. When I tried a second time, I was declined again. However, a couple of weeks later, I got an email saying somebody else had dropped the major and I was on an alternate list. Everything got back on track. And missing out on that ‘first semester’ of the major my junior year paid me back in the end. I was able to load up on other courses to get credits to graduate. I had a light schedule to spend more time in the studios during my last year of college.
I didn’t move to LA right after I graduated in 2010. There was an opportunity back home. A satellite post-production studio for Dreamworks was supposedly being built one town behind where I grew up. It was going to be perfect. I didn’t have to leave my family and friends to have a career. Within the next four years, a lot of bureaucratic nonsense prevented the facility from being built, so ultimately, it didn’t work out. But in the meantime, I met a musical artist that would lead to freelance work. The freelance work expanded after networking with his peers and bandmates that I eventually left Starbucks and took up a more flexible job. I became a substitute teacher. The job taught me patience above all else. Looking back, it was a life experience I needed at the time.
When I did eventually move, somehow luck was on my side again. I did the typical social media blast of “Hey, I’m new in town….” And an old classmate was the first to get in touch about meeting up. We had one class together. It was a recording ensemble class. After class one time, I remember him telling me he didn’t want to pursue music when he got to LA. He wanted to do post-production. And he did just that during the four years since we graduated. He was in a position to get me hired and show me everything I had to do. The rest is history.
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