Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1259912
36 S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y Relative to Dan's involvement in the project, he shares, "I have worked with (composer) Allyson Newman for a dozen years on a bunch of films. We met at USC working on student films and have a really effective working process. And, of course, Midge knew of me and my work from USC." Dan adds, "I want to give the biggest shout out to Midge as she is an amazing advocate for all people in the field of sound, especially for women and minorities. For years, she has been the driving force behind the USC Film Sound program." Dan's favorite places to record are the John Williams and Steven Spielberg Scoring Stage at USC, as well as EastWest Studios. His new personal studio, Blanck Records (www .blanckrecords.com), is located in the Hollywood Hills next to the Hollywood Bowl. Dan designed, calculated, and built acoustical treatment needs for the studio, which has an ISO/ conductor's booth with the main live room being "very sweet for chamber ensembles. Jazz ensembles also sound great as do 12-piece string ensembles. It's set up very well for the hybrid deliveries we see common with pre-lay (sample/synthesis- based sounds) and live orchestra. I incorporated everything I learned in studio, concert halls, and acoustics when building and tuning the room specifically for a lush sound for live ensembles. I also record VO and ADR here." The control room features surround sound and a custom mixing console Dan built with a vintage analog front and a modern digital back end. In addition to being a scoring mixer, Dan often wears many hats; music producer (including hiring musicians, scheduling, finances), sound editor, and even composer. As technology evolves, Dan has seen the blurring of job definitions and finds it best to be versed in the technical, creative, and business side of the industry. He made a parallel to the more common reality that a sound designer or supervising sound editor, for instance, is also frequently the re-recording mixer. This merging of positions became more common as technology (e.g., mixing in the same box you're designing in) allowed it to be. Dan emphasizes that a strong background in music theory and performance, combined with engineering and technology, will be a strong skillset to have in navigating the ever-changing future of the music and film industries. In the wake of COVID-19, Dan had to be really creative with a recent project completion. "As you can imagine, many projects in the post phase are trying to stick with their deadlines. I've held full orchestral remote sessions with musicians from Budapest because (at the time of this interview) full orchestral scoring sessions are still being held there. I've also had to get creative with recording various string and woodwind ensembles by breaking them down into smaller sections, spacing musicians further apart, and layering. This challenges the traditional orchestral recording setup that I've spent my career developing, but I continue to see this hybrid production style increasing in demand." Coming full circle, I asked about his ties to his alma mater. "I still get to interact with some of the people from Making Waves there. I lecture there sometimes. I'm doing dozens of sessions for undergraduates, graduates, and master's thesis projects each year. Working on these student projects has really fostered my ability to experiment with mics and positioning in real time in a studio situation—which isn't a usual luxury on a regimented, high-budget project." Asking if there was anyone he would like to thank, Dan replied, "I want to thank my family, Peter, Wendy, Jason, Albert, Caroline, Elise, Bella, and Harry, for all their support and putting up with years of me banging around in my basement 'studio' to since building a studio in Hollywood. And the love and support of my muse Ana. I would also like to thank the CAS for this opportunity and recognition—and for all the good they do for the audio world!" TOM MYERS CAS: Re-recording Mixer After studying film at Northwestern University, Tom Myers attended the graduate film program at San Francisco State and worked at Monaco Film Labs. There, he started as a film inspector—looking for base scratches, checking color timing, etc., moving up to film printing and threading machines. Then, "George Lucas was opening The Ranch. They were looking for people in the area who had film experience and knew how to handle film and sound. So, I got an entry-level job there as a projectionist and transfer operator." Tom's initial path was toward film editing, but he noticed that with sound "the crews were always bigger [and] it seemed that there were more opportunities and work [because of the crew sizes]." That observation has paid dividends throughout Tom's envious career, though he states, "I fell into this. I lucked into working at this place where there are some of the Mount Rushmore worthy people of sound; Walter Murch, Gary Rydstrom, Randy Thom." With the creativity, he noticed that "There were more ways to influence [projects with sound]. All of the people I was around were so generous and I just sponged up all of the things I could." Tom also learned about other aspects of the craft from these generous mixers. "Randy Thom allowed me to sit in the back and watch the freewheeling process of the mix as he and David Parker worked on David Lynch's Wild at Heart. Everything was just 'put up'—no pre-dubs. Gary Rydstrom, Gary Summers, and Tom Johnson let me watch as they mixed Terminator 2. During those sessions, I learned a lot about dynamics and how sound can affect storytelling. James Cameron was very keen on not having two loud scenes next to each other so that the audience could [give their ears] a rest." Tom's path took him from the transfer department, to assisting Gary Rydstrom, recording Foley, to doing sound design on small commercials and projects. "Then I got the chance to work on a Japanese anime project called Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. I got to edit, design, and mix the project. This was the model that people like Ben Burtt and Gary—and Skywalker as a whole—followed. There wasn't much delineation between sound designers and mixers there." While this is more commonplace today, it was a very forward-thinking approach at the time—especially for the West Coast in the 1990's. When handling all of those parts, "You learn what to focus on as opposed to trying to make the sound you added be put in the forefront." Tom sees mixing as a very collaborative effort, noting, "Everyone is pulling their oars in the same direction." This