CAS Quarterly

C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S U M M E R 2 0 2 1 29 they had scratch dialogue, everything else needed to be created. Ren worked early on in the process with Pixar picture editor Kevin Nolting and music editor Justin Pearson, cutting music and sounds to help shape the film. During the early stages of the film, Ren moved to Pixar, working on the film for more than a year. That allowed him to have a close dialogue with the directors (Pete Docter & co-director Kemp Powers) and editors. Pete Docter described the different environments in terms of what he wanted to feel emotionally with sound; one of the environments being New York City, where Joe lives. He wanted this place to have its own grittiness and it would have jazz music. Then in the afterworld, there were different places, like The Great Beyond, which is where souls go when people die. There are also other layers, and finally, there is a place where the new souls are, The Great Before. Each place was to have its own sound. Pete Docter had the idea of a completely organic and synthetic juxtaposition from the beginning. Music The organic side of the music was a jazz score, composed by Jon Batiste, who also performed the piano. David Boucher CAS recorded and mixed the jazz score, with Kevin Harp handling the music editor duties. David and Kevin started playing music together in Atlanta when they were 13. David continued his studies in music, while Kevin started touring at 16 and soon began doing studio work. After getting tired of touring, he joined David in music school at the University of Miami, where they also studied jazz and music recording. After going separate ways for a few years, they reunited in Los Angeles, where they are currently based. David first brought Kevin into the team as a music editor on the Pixar film Toy Story 3. They then worked again on Monsters University and continued collaborating as a team. They got involved in mixing the score for Soul when David received a call to record jazz at Capitol Studios, which was an offer he couldn't refuse. Subsequent sessions took place in New York at Reservoir Studios, and again at Capitol in Hollywood. They even combined takes from sessions as they found differences in the style, performance, and sound between the musicians from the two coasts. There were very few overdubs, mainly for textures like a prepared piano Jon used for certain scenes. In some tracks, independence between sounds would be required. So, they recorded the score with isolation between instruments with sax and drums in booths, and bass divided with gobos close to Jon's piano. For the club performances, the setup was like a gig, with players close together and with little separation between instruments, matching the layout of the scene. Sometimes Jon Batiste would send voice memos with melodies and ideas, or would sing them on the floor. Then jazz orchestrator Dave Giuli, or as Kevin calls him, "ear genius," would write them down and put them in shape for the musicians. Additionally, there was also one track that Jon recorded at his house and David B. mixed it. David and Kevin explain that "it is important that music doesn't just sound correct, but also that it elicits something emotionally when it comes out of the speakers and is something that is truly unique. Sound comes from the performance first and then the Top row (L-R): Vince Caro CAS, Ren Klyce, David Parker. Second row (L-R): Atticus Ross, David Boucher CAS, Bobby Johanson CAS. Bottom row: Scott Curtis

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