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n a t u r a l sound for the orches- tra and chorus. In the Danny E l f m a n s c o r e s , motifs and m u s i c a l lines are r e p e a t e d on different instruments and they all need to be heard equally. He employs a method he calls 'semi-close' mic'ing—using groups of micro- phones in sections, rather than mic'ing every instrument. This allows the play- ers and conductor to maintain their balance. For the strings, he uses the Symphotec © microphone system, which uses routers to mix groups of instruments through a patent micro- phone circuit. A single router can con- trol up to five microphones and gently balances them out. This allows him to concentrate on "mixing music" instead of managing lots and lots of inputs. He is very conscious of mic placement in order to minimize loud instrument bleed, such as brass and percussion bleeding into the woodwind and string mics. Additionally, he tries to make sure the mics are not too visible on television. This particular project called for a big sound in the hall—not loud, but very present. This show's challenges included getting a clean recording in the very live acoustics of Avery Fisher Hall, and not hearing too much of the PA coming back into the microphones. Paul particularly enjoys working with conductor John Mauceri, whom he says in his estimation, is the best in the business at conducting movie scores. Both of these engineers were so gen- erous with their time and knowledge and I cannot thank them enough for sharing their experiences with me. Their love for what they do comes through in their work and I am so glad I was able to spend time with them. Congratulations to you both! • C A S Q U A R T E R L Y S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 39 Production mixer Paul Bevan RECORDERS MIXERS MICROPHONES SMPTE/SLATES WIRELESS Dual Receiver for Camera slot or stand-alone use 76 MHz Wideband Tuning Range Tracking Front-End Filters SmartTune TM for Fast Frequency Searches IR ( IR (Infrared) Interface for Quick Transmitter Setup SRc and SRc5P Dual- Channel Slot Mount ENG Receivers 4549 Powerline Road ● Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309-3836 ● Tel: 954.289.4770 311 West 43rd Street, Suite #200 ● New York, NY 10036 ● Tel: 212.586.1033 8222 Maple Street ● New Orleans, LA 70118 ● Tel: 504.309.7112 Your Production Sound Headquarters 40+ Years of Experience