Zack Schaetter
Sound Designer, Musician, & Music Arranger
About Me
Hi! I'm Zack. I graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2022 with my BA in Sound Design.
I specialize in Foley, SFX, mixing, and mastering. I enjoy studio recording.
I use ProTools and Reaper.
I play viola, violin, and piano, and have performed for most of my life. I have had the opportunity to conduct a symphony orchestra, of which I arranged music for many times.
In my free time, I love playing video games, taking care of my bonsai, and playing my instruments.
Composition Practice
For this little personal project, I am pretending that a retro style video game exists and I am writing the soundtrack for it.
This project takes heavy inspiration from the original Final Fantasy (1987), as I am simply copying the utilities of the tracks (main theme, battle, overworld, town, etc).
This is the first time I have really had an opportunity dedicated to composing more than one thing at a time, and it is fun to have a theme for it!
I'm uploading videos of my music to YouTube.
COMING SOON!
Short Film: STALKED
My first post-university project!
I joined LaPoche Productions for the short film STALKED.
I am the sole sound engineer of the production. I did about 98% of the Foley needed, cleaned up a lot of dialog, all of the mixing and mastering.
There was some ADR that was recorded for me, and I worked on lip synching as well as matching it to the scene.
I am also the creator of the soundtrack. I used royalty free music for it.
This project has been fantastic to work on. It's still in the works, but I am very much looking forward to the finished product!
Also, I'd love to import a screenshot of the film, but Wix must have recently updated their storage limitations... I might have to wait until it's on YouTube to share..
Short Film: Bad Timing
University project where I worked on a team to produce an animated film. Here's what I did:
- Lead Recording Sessions for:
- Foley, where I collaborated with the artist to sync sound to visual
- Voiceover, where I set up the studio, and directed our talent in line delivery.
- Talent:
- Participated in Foley creation
- Provided voice talent for DumBell 2000, the beloved and bloodthirsty robot.
- Synthesized SFX to create exactly what we were looking for - utilizing my personal SFX library for the alien's laser gun.
- Mix and Master:
- Found Royalty Free music for the house party
- Created the stereo mix
- Automated panning for LR channels, volume, and plugin FX.
Bad Timing
In this project, I learned the importance of clear and direct communication. My team and I worked hardest on the voices, and we had to hold numerous VO sessions to capture the director's visions. Not only did we need crystal clear direction from the director, but we learned the importance of communicating with other departments so that we could portray the characters accurately.
Not only were my communication skills put on the spotlight, but I was also tasked with knowing how to use the recording studio inside and out. The studio was a shared space between all sound students - many of whom were learning how to use the space, and would leave it in less than ideal circumstances. I had to learn how to diagnose the issues that came up and reset it back to the needs of the sound team.
Video Game: Ghost House
GhostHouse
University project where I worked on a team to produce a video game, following a mockup of the industry pipeline. Here's what I did:
- Sound Synthesis
- Recorded SFX and Foley
- Utilized and edited SFX submitted by our 'contractors' in the Audio Lab.
- Implementation
- Utilized GitHub repository
- Added SFX to Unity, and placed them in 3D space
- Changed sounds to the tastes of the directors
- Specific duties
- Create Kitchen and Study ambience
- Collaborated on style guide, influenced the 'voices' of the characters (Used Celeste and Animal Crossing as reference)
- Attended weekly meetings for updates and critique
This project was held over my last online semester before returning to in person. I remember having so much trouble with some of the technology, with never having used neither Unity nor GitHub before. I spent so much time working with the team's GitHub expert to make sure I was pushing my updates properly, as I had plenty of errors. However, I overcame, and feel better about my understanding of pushing to remote repositories.
In addition, I learned that working with outsourced work does not always pan out as it should. Working with the Audio Lab class with our SFX was great, as they helped us create the bulk of our many, many necessary sounds. Although we had to be clear with our direction to them to get what we wanted, some people never responded, and we were responsible for those sounds ourselves. It was disappointing, but we were prepared to make up for it.
Personal Sound Library
For my independent study, I created a sound library with the intent to create sounds that would be "useful for video games." Therefore, I decided that a good mixture of ambient sound and Foley FX would be good to include.
This project involved a lot of self motivation to go explore Dallas with a Zoom recorder. I also played in the rain and chased wind with a shotgun mic. I learned that recording outside is quite a challenge! When in an urban area, there's a lot of unpredictability that can effect recording.
I don't know why I didn't think of this then, but I realize now, too, that recordings with music in the background could be legally sticky. I certainly did not have permission to record that music from the artist, as I just sat down and hit record.
Studio Recording: Jazz Band
This was a personal project where I recorded the 2-4 O'Clock Jazz Band, a band I am apart of. We cover jazzy anime/video game music with the Anime Orchestra Ensemble!
- Setup
- Used XY pair and middle mic to record the group
- Recorded guitar directly into ProTools
- Recorded vocals and string bass separately
- Performance
- Played keyboard!
- Relied on my friend, Alan, to monitor the mix levels
- Mixing & Mastering
- Added reverb to tracks for a stage like feel
- Automated volume of backgrounds for vocal clarity
This project was quite ambitious, and not everything went according to plan. We started late, which forced us to record all together, rather than section by section.
In addition to that struggle, we were fatigued from our two concerts that happened each day before the recording session.
If I could go back, I would have scheduled more time for everything, so I could record section by section. I would have taken a week rather than try to do it all in one day.
Despite the challenges of recording, I learned so much, everyone had a lot of fun, and I would love the opportunity to produce our next album!
Music Arrangement
JENOVA
Lead Arranger
The memory of arranging and conducting this legendary piece will live with me for the rest of my life. It was the last piece I conducted for AOE, and was by far the best performance we had... even if my baton slipped mid song. Luckily it flew behind me, rather than at a performer.
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu.
Nausicaa
Lead Arranger
Written in the summer of 2019, this was my most ambitious piece yet. Much was written entirely by ear, and took me two months to complete.
I had assistance with writing percussion.
Composed by Joe Hisaishi.
Lifelight
Lead Arranger
Lifelight was my first symphonic score. It was an amazing experience where I learned so much more than I thought I would, and recognized that there was still so much more to learn.
Written in Fall 2018, this piece launched my arranging hobby.
I had assistance writing percussion and choir.
Composed by Hideki Sakamoto.
Lead Arranger
Aerith's Theme
Written in the first three weeks of quarantine 2020, this work gave me much comfort and busy work. I spent hours per day writing and perfecting the arrangement.
Final Fantasy VII Remake was on the brink of release, and I was incredibly excited for it. Perhaps that's what made me arrange this so quickly!
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu.
Kyoumen no Nami
Lead Arranger
Joining a new arranger on our team, we arranged the orchestral version of Land of the Lustrous' opening theme. We added a full choir under the vocal solo.
A piece that tugs at my heartstrings. The memory of conducting this piece will stay with me for quite some time.
Composed by Yoshiaki Fujisawa.