Malaysians make history, film recording engineers win Oscars
KUALA LUMPUR: Not many people can achieve success in their 30s like Yew Ping Soo, 31.
Ampang-born Yew, better known as Soya, has built his career as an audio producer, score mixer assistant, sound engineer and recording engineer in many Hollywood films and has now achieved success as a recording engineer for the recently Oscar-winning film Dune.
In addition, he was also involved in a concert, Hans Zimmer Live Europe Tour 2022, which featured 130 talented musicians.
Soya said Hans was his source of inspiration and considered the famous German music composer his idol.
“I like working with him and learning from Hans because he not only challenges himself but also challenges us to achieve his vision. He believes there are many ways to achieve something as long as we work hard,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama.
When asked about his reaction upon learning that Hans had won the Oscar for Best Original Music Score for the film Dune at the Academy Awards last March, Soya said he did not think their efforts would be a huge success. He shared how he prepared the score for the film’s early production footage before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States.
The young man described the opportunity to follow the music producer for his concert tour as an exciting experience for him because as an audio engineer, he usually works in a studio.
“In the studio, we can always ‘undo’ and ‘redo’ but for ‘live sound’ we can’t. I know it’s painful and tiring, but the experience means a lot to me,” he said.
Soya, who now works with Hans ’studio production, was also involved with various popular series and movies that aired on platforms such as Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO during the pandemic.
It includes series and movies such as, The Unforgivable, Army of Thieves, The Survivor, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Last Warrior: A Messenger of Darkness, The Gilded Age, Outside the Wire and Love Wedding Repeat.
Soya revealed most of its projects were completed in 2021, between the Delta and Omicron COVID-19 variant wave periods.
“While we didn’t have difficulty working from home, it was easier for us to work face to face especially for the recording and mixing assignments as the composer was able to convey ideas and feedback immediately to us (engineers) and the musicians.
“Despite having a tight schedule, it’s really exciting to be back in the studio and working with everyone,” he said.
He also hopes to bring Hans ‘concerts to Malaysia in the future because he believes there are many music fans who like Hans’ work.
Soya’s work can also be found in many popular Hollywood films such as The Lion King, Ferdinand, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Aquaman and Gears 5.
He also made history as the first Malaysian to be involved in the Star Wars movie franchise through the film Solo: A Star Wars Story.
source – BERNAMA
