McDSP

Cory Churko has enjoyed a multi-faceted career in music for over 20 years as a producer, engineer, songwriter and musician. His talents as an award winning multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, audio engineer and digital editor are the reason why he is one of the most sought after and valued people in the entertainment industry.  Over the course of his career he has worked with such artists as Shania Twain, Kelly Clarkson, Elton John, Britney Spears, The Backstreet Boys, The Corrs and many others. Churko now owns his own music production company in Los Angeles, California, called C Squared Productions.

Behind the scenes, Churko has worked as a mix engineer and programmer side by side with music production giants like Mutt Lange, Mike Shipley, Ron Fair, Rob Cavallo, Matthew Wilder, John Frields, Mark Endert and Ron Aniello.  Churko began using McDSP plug-ins while he was under the wing of Mike Shipley as his Pro Tools engineer.  “He had Filterbank on his rig and I started using them one day and never stopped.  A friend of mine was mixing a record as well and he had Analog Channel on all the drum tracks as well as the master bus.  He A/B-ed the track with and without Analog Channel and I was blown away how much warmth and analog-ness the plug-in added to the mix.”

Beginning his career as a teenager touring with a band around Canada, he was later asked to play with Shania Twain in 1997.  On Shania’s UP! Album Churko and his crew used FilterBank all over the record.  “It was great when we had to automate EQ’s on problem parts as well as general EQ-ing procedures.”  For Churko, he recommends using FilterBank on vocal tracks, as he did with Shania.  “No vocal track ever requires just one setting as the shape of the throat changes so much especially in the higher and lower registers. I like to go through syllable by syllable and automate the EQ to take out any offending frequencies. I'll loop the syllable, narrow the Q, crank the gain and sweep the frequency ‘til I hit the bad boy and then bring the gain down. It's a lot of work but well worth it.”

Churko uses an HD3 Accel rig.  More recently he has began playing with his Pro Tools setup live.  “My guitar runs through Pro Tools so I can apply all my favorite plugs - FilterBank and Channel G are the only EQ’s I'm using. My keyboards are all soft synths in Pro Tools as well. We play to a click during the show so I get time code fed to me which allows me to automate everything.  All my effects and EQs are completely automated and all my synth and guitar patches change as well.  All I have to do is just play and Pro Tools takes care of the rest. It's great.” Currently, Churko is touring with Kelly Clarkson on her Hazel Eyes tour, playing guitar and keys.

In comparison to other plug-in companies, Churko believes McDSP takes the upper hand. He says McDSP products are “so easy and intuitive right out of the box without compromising sound. McDSP makes quality products that are not only usable but also essential to the recording and mixing products.  I look forward to all the new products coming from them.”