To say that Jason Vreeman's life has been interesting would be an understatement. He has been involved in audio production since he was 14 years old, starting by hanging out around the construction of a radio station/recording studio in Paraguay, South America. From there, he hooked up with some local musicians and did some sessions, playing guitar on some albums that were cut there. Several years later, he built a small recording studio in Quito, Ecuador. The studio used older analog equipment, which he learned to love, eventually branding him a true "analog hound."

After returning to the United States and completing college, Vreeman realized that although he had considerable recording experience, he needed to ground himself with a solid audio education in order to advance his career. "I entertained quite a few schools when I started looking." Says Vreeman. "Columbia, in Chicago, was the obvious choice if I intended to stay in the area. I also checked out Full Sail and the LA Recording schools, but talking with some of the studio engineers in Chicago I was pointed toward The Conservatory Of Recording Arts and Sciences, in AZ."

Vreeman checked out The CRAS web site and his initial reaction to the school was very positive. But he was most impressed when he called various studios around the country and asked about the CRAS graduates working there. Vreeman: "There was nothing but compliments across the board. It seemed that CRAS graduates tended to perform better than many of the graduates from other schools. Many graduates found work and launched careers because of the education they received at the school."

Once Vreeman got into the program, he appreciated the no-nonsense and comprehensive approach to education. "The tools needed to succeed are taught, but it is ultimately left up to the student to work his/her ass off to make it happen." He says. "As far as curriculum, there isn't any one thing that doesn't excel. Everything from Music Business to Post Production; Tape Alignment to Digital Audio is all extremely valuable and exceeded my expectations."

Upon graduation, he was considering a job back in Chicago as a production engineer with a cable television station, when faculty member Glen O'Hara encouraged him to forward a resume to DTS. The company was a perfect fit for Vreeman's interests. DTS provides 5.1 and 6.1 digital audio for theatrical and DVD releases. The first movie done in DTS was Jurassic Park. DTS is also the creator of CSS, which is a closed captioning concept for theaters. DTS also is a major player in the DVD-A format (DVD-Audio). Through their label, DTS Entertainment, they have released 5.1 recordings for such artists as Queen and Graham Nash. As luck would have it, an opening was available and Vreeman immediately flew out to LA for an interview. After meeting with a large number of the DTS staff, he knew that this was where he wanted to be. A number of weeks later he received a call with a job offer and packed up the family for Los Angeles.

Vreeman's official title is Studio Services Engineer / Transfer Technician. He is responsible for the digital transferring of the 6-track audio and the creation of the DTS disc that is played in the cinemas. His job is quite involved and he likes the challenges. Vreeman: "I am given the 6-track in a variety of mediums (hard drive, 35mm mag, DTRS, or MO) and I perform the encoding transfer through a DTS transfer tower. The encoding process filters the surrounds and folds the sub information into the surround data, which is ultimately extracted and decoded by the DTS player located at the cinema. I must pay special attention to sync issues, so once the disc has been created I head out to the studios (Warner, Disney, Sony, Universal, etc.) and check the audio with the print to ensure proper sync and the lack of any undesired audio anomalies. I also am responsible for ensuring that the players at the studios are working properly."

Vreeman loves his job and sees himself staying there for quite awhile. "If I were to move, I would hope I could move up within the company and maybe even learn the DVD-A mastering side. The technology is amazing and definitely a stepping-stone towards the future of audio. I also have ambitions of ending up on a final dub stage and mixing the stems for the final 6-track. Who knows? The sky is the limit!"