About Me
Hi, My name is Rob Cook.
I’ve served in many roles over the years, most notably as a full-time substitute teacher – the kind that actually teaches: did that for nearly a decade.
But my education and passion are in the arts.
I double-majored in Film and Audio Engineering.
About this Stuff
Because I was in college during the brief period in which burning data CDs en masse was an order of magnitude or two less expensive than getting a single USB thumb drive (not to mention that the whole ordeal of burning said CDs, biking over to a building on the other side of campus, and ripping said CDs to the studio computers still took only about half the time of transferring them via campus ethernet), I don’t have many raw recordings (or finished ones, for that matter) from that time.
Pilgrim
In 2007, I had the honor of assisting friend and colleague Andrew Kibelbeck with his senior project, an adaptation of Paul Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Alongside of Josh Herbolt (whom I would later assist in his own senior project), we formed a core engineering team for a production that I’m told won Andrew a couple of awards over the next year. Many years later, I still look fondly at the months devoted to this production, and the antics involved – including a memorable effects session at the campus lake, in which Josh drew the short straw and subsequently sacrificed a decent pair of sneakers to create Act 2’s bog environment – hold a special place in my heart.
As of developing this page, I don’t have the time to sift through any highlights, so with Andrew’s ongoing permission, I present Pilgrim in its entirety.
The Gambler
For whatever reason, the single folder of raw recordings that I have from college were for the final project of my senior film class. It was a group project, with each of us taking on roles pertaining to our particular skills.
The Gambler, written and directed by Nicholas Mathews, tells the story of a random nobody taking a chance to save a life. We did the bulk of the work outdoors at a national park, which means that a lot of cleanup had to be done on the audio. Still, the outdoor ambience tracks are good, and you can hear some of my vocal direction.
Radio Spots
From June 2007 to July 2009 (minus some time at school), I served as the entire non-sales aspect of an AM talk station in Arbitron market 297 (Oak Hill / Beckley). The official title was Operations Manager, but I did everything from traffic automation to on-air talent and production to scrubbing the toilet.
Much of my work was deemed proprietary, and so I was not allowed to take it with me when I left, but I do have a few samples that I recorded at home for remote work on my days off.
To be honest… they haven’t aged well. But they should give some idea of how well I can fit information within time constraints, which is a skill that somehow remains relevant in much of what I do today.
Random Snippets
In 2014ish, a friend in University of Alabama’s masters program asked me to record a few takes for a theatre production. Literally grabbed my Handy Zoom over a lunch break and read lines on a couch for ten minutes. These are the better of four takes, each in a different tone; and she wound up using the second of these. I don’t remember what the play was, but honestly, these are far better than the actual radio takes.