Words and Photos by Annabella Mireles
It’s easy to take the power of sound for granted.
Whether it’s being able to hear your favorite character’s monologue on the last episode of your current watch or listening to your favorite artist sing a melancholic track on their latest album, sound immerses us into the music and film world that Gabriel Piña Jr. creates in.
Piña has credits including work done for production studios such as A24, Crunchyroll, Beto O’Rourke, and Cimafunk, in which he has served as the Audio Engineer and worked on ADR for film projects such as “Love Lies Bleeding” starring Kristen Stewart and “My Hero Academia: You’re Next”, a Japanese manga series that reached Netflix’s top 10 movie list.
Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) is a post-production process in which actors re-record dialogue in cases of technical issues, poor audio quality, or script changes.
Piña had become interested in the music world and started making beats when he was 17 and was just trying to have fun with his friends. Little did he know this path would eventually lead him to work in the big leagues.
“I bought a really cheap microphone from Amazon and worked on a computer my sister bought me for my 17th birthday,” he said. “We would start recording around 8 p.m. and I would be done mixing it by 6 a.m. Bless my mom because she never got mad at me or anything. She knew what I was trying to do, so she was patient with me.”
Piña says that one shift at a grocery store changed his future for the better and helped him realize what he wanted to do.
“I got in trouble for stacking avocados the wrong way,” Piña laughed. “My supervisor got so mad at me for it and she started gossiping about it with my coworkers. I just kept asking myself, ‘Why am I here?.’ I only had about $120 in my account at that point and I decided that after my shift, I was going to go down to Guitar Center and buy one of those mini pianos. I made a vow that I would do whatever it takes to follow my dream.”
Through trial and error, watching countless YouTube videos, and training his ear to catch every detail, Piña landed an internship with Beacon Hill Recording Studios, a multi-Grammy nominated Diamond, Platinum and Gold RIAA awarded studio in El Paso.
“I did six months of cleaning and coffee/food runs for clients and the engineers,” he said. “During the internship, we did get opportunities to learn, and I realized there were a lot of things I had to unlearn but also got to enhance the knowledge I already had.”
Piña credits his mentors, Head Recording and Mixing Engineer Orlando Gomez and Beacon Hill
Founder Alfredo Gonzalez, who helped guide him and give him the confidence to work on bigger projects as well as his transition from music producing to ADR for film.
“Most people don’t know we do these kinds of projects,” he said. “It’s insane thinking about the value we’re creating by not only helping actors record their lines and have a smooth process, but also knowing these projects are coming out of El Paso. Netflix’s ‘My Hero Academia: You’re Next’ had huge premieres in California and Japan, and it’s cool to know that part of the work that went into those projects happened here in our tiny, little city.”
When getting into the film industry as an audio engineer, Piña realized the process was a little more intense than the music industry. From meeting strict deadlines, having documents ready for signing at the end of every session and even zoom calls with the director and post coordinator, it was a new frontier he soon mastered.
Despite all this pressure, Piña still puts client experience first.
“I’m repping Beacon Hill’s name and El Paso,” he said. “So, if anybody has a bad experience, our name is also tagged with it. I’m always trying to do the best and create the ultimate experience for people that come in, whether that’s music or film, I want them to have a good time.”
In addition to putting El Paso on the map for the film and music industry, Piña and Beacon Hill have also helped locals in this space as well.
From working with El Pasoans like Abe Bueno Jallad from the series “The Chosen” on Amazon Prime and former United States Representative Beto O’Rourke’s audio book, their work together has shown the sense of empowerment members of the community have for each other.
“We’re trying to do something that’s bigger than ourselves,” he said. “We’re trying to amplify what’s already here. If we can inspire people, why not do it?”
Although his work in film has been increasing, Piña’s love for music hasn’t stopped. Just last year, he worked on the track “Dime” from the album “Pa Tu Cuerpa” by Cimafunk which was nominated for a Grammy.
“I had a little bit of a break between sessions when the owner called me asking if I had time to edit some vocals,” he said. “Luckily, I had about three hours open, so I worked on tuning harmonies, ad libs, layers, and sent over my mix. The song ended up coming out before his album and next thing I knew I saw the nomination. I felt like I had truly proven myself.”
From working with Cimafunk to actors for international projects, Piña says nothing beats going to the movies with his mom and seeing his name listed under the credits.
“It’s cool going back to the same theatre you went to as a kid to watch something you’ve worked on,” he said. “When ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ came out, I went with my mom to the earliest showing and watched it together. I was nervous at the end because sometimes when you work on a film, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll be in the credits. When the movie ended, we waited to see the second unit production credits and there it was. My name was listed as a recording engineer. I started bawling like you wouldn’t believe it. My mom and I were just hugging each other, and it was a really special moment for me to share with her. She saw me from the little kid working in my bedroom till the crack of dawn to a credited engineer for a big film.”
