New York, NY (February 13, 2024)―Ken Candelas, a busy professional musician and audio engineer with an extensive resume in broadcast and live sound, has been using Nugen Audio plug-ins to produce his cinematic metal project Homerik’s adaptation of Dante’s Inferno.
Formerly on the audio team for Good Morning America, Candelas has worked on live and broadcast performances with Wyclef Jean, Lady Gaga, Jason Mraz, Rascal Flatts and Cardi B. He is the co-founder of Metal Mastermind, a course-based educational resource for metal musicians, as well as an adjunct professor of audio engineering and music production at LaGuardia Community College, The City College of New York and SAE Institute.
The new album, available in Dolby Atmos, will be released in September 2024 with an audio novel due for release October 2024, along with visual aspects, such as a narrative film-style music video.
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“Halo Upmix is especially helpful when taking stereo analog recordings and putting them into Atmos-capable, immersive sound,” Candelas says. “I especially like the plug-in for ambient sounding reverbs and delays. Halo Upmix provides me with complete control and the ability to dictate how much reverb I want in the heights. Also, the differential in-phase that I can appropriate between heights, forwards, backwards and sides is so valuable. I feel that Upmix particularly enhances my workflow. I love my analog gear, so it’s nice to be able to not have to forego that when working in Atmos. I can use my stems and work with those.”
Candelas adds that “VisLM has been integral to keeping myself on track, and ISL helps me maximize and get as close to a target level as possible. What I really love about the plug-in is that it continuously records loudness measurements over time and you can go back without having to start all the way from the beginning. That has made VisLM a crucial solution for me and is one of the main reasons I use the plug-in.”
In addition to his go-to Halo Upmix and VisLM solutions, Candelas also looks forward to incorporating Nugen’s Paragon plug-in for the forthcoming Dolby Atmos album and audio novel portion of the project. “The Nugen Audio plug-ins will be essential, for sure,” he says. “Whether that’s using Upmix to take certain multi-channel sounds and make them Atmos-capable, to create reverbs, or using VisLM to monitor my levels, Nugen will be there. I also think it would be great to create a faux world for the audio novel by using Paragon, since the sound design will incorporate darker sonic elements such as the essences of demons and/or echoes of damned souls. Paragon can simulate tremendous reverbs for Dolby Atmos, which makes it truly a match made in heaven within my Nugen ecosystem.”
