Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1314046
20 FA L L 2 0 2 0 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y For this edition of CAS Quarterly, I was asked to write something that would address how the COVID-19 epidemic has changed workows for those attempting to record and mix the scores that so uplift the projects they are married to. A difcult and sometimes high-stress endeavor during normal times can prove to be an impossible one now. Luckily, I'd spent the rst decade- plus of my time in Los Angeles working on these very projects, so I knew where the bodies were buried and whom to reach out to. Doubling my luck, I had watched a recent CAS Summer Event Series webinar called "Scoring Through the Web" which featured scoring mixers, including Dennis Sands CAS and Tommy Vicari CAS and composer Simon Franglen. You can watch that very wide-ranging interview here: https://cinemaaudiosociety.org/ cas-summer-event-series-2020- scoring-through-the-web/ So, for the purposes of time and, well, laziness, I decided I would poach some quotes from this resource. But first, where did this idea come from? Well, it leapt forth from the mind of music mixer Michael Stern CAS. He tells me he came up with it while working on what he believes to be the largest international cellphone compilation video ever made. And, it was big and complicated to be sure. There were 172 musicians and 20 featured singers from 11 nations! They were all participating to raise money for the United Nations' World Health Organization's COVID-19 relief fund. You can see this menagerie of talent performing songwriting legend Diane Warren's "I'm Standing With You" here: https://imstandingwithyou.com Michael shared his thoughts on this: "I've seen dozens of these 'Zoom' style videos now, and I thought that this new emergent art form should be recognized as a significant work of art in its own category. I've approached the CAS about [how this art is] growing and maturing in front of our eyes, courtesy of the pandemic. I myself learned, from the sheer size and scope of the [endeavor], the unique technological demands of combining over 170 un-synchronized musical performance videos [that are] not professionally recorded, with barking dogs, raging thunderstorms, mismatched ambiences … the list goes on and on. The challenge to make all of this sound like it was one performance, all in the same room, was formidable!" This led me back to the webinar where CAS moderator and Dolby Atmos Music guru Ceri Thomas CAS engaged with the other panelists. Ceri Thomas: How much were you guys actually doing [remote session] in a pre- lockdown, pre-pandemic world? Tommy Vicari: I was doing it when we got locked down! I was mixing a Euro Disney show orchestra. I was only two cues in when they said, "OK, we're locking down." And so, I thought I [can't] stop without knowing how long this is going to last! So, Score Mixing in the Time of COVID-19 b y Pa t r i c k S p a i n C A S Moderator and Dolby Atmos Music guru Ceri Thomas CAS Scoring mixer Michael Stern CAS at his studio, The Mix Lab.