CAS Quarterly

30 S U M M E R 2 0 2 1 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y recording chain is based on that sound and the desired goal. You have to fit both musically and within the technical demands of these projects." David Boucher mixed the score on the John Ford Stage, with only two people in the room due to COVID restrictions, and delivered 5.1 stems. Then they had listening sessions of the full mix in the same studio and gave very few notes to Ren since "Ren and David Parker had really nailed it," noted David. The references for this film were mostly mono, so they had to be subtle and creative with the mix. The fact that Ren was involved in every session helped everyone understand the process and convey the ideas effectively during the final mix. When Joe and 22 are back in New York City and they have switched bodies, the idea was to create the sensation of hearing for the first time, so all sounds were intensified. There is a particular sequence when the two characters leave the hospital and all the sounds are really loud with helicopters, traffic, jackhammer, and voices used to create the contrast. Then those sounds are lowered and Jon Batiste's music blends in. Ren had worked before with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Those experiences were helpful to Pete in shaping the contrast between realms. Atticus Ross is an English composer, musician, engineer, and producer. He moved to the United States in 2000 and became a collaborator with American musician, composer, and producer Trent Reznor, founder of Nine Inch Nails, which Atticus joined in 2016. They have since worked together on numerous records and films, establishing an unique style and expressive sound. As an exercise a few years back, Atticus and Trent had written a list of people they would love to work with, and at the top was Pixar & Pete Docter. Atticus shares, "Pete has a sunny disposition, but he's clearly a man who suffers from a degree of existential angst. He makes sophisticated films that can simultaneously speak to me and my child, though likely in different ways. Whether it's Up or Soul, I find myself utterly transported in the cinema and reflecting on the themes for weeks to come. Surely that's the measure of a good movie?" The first environment that Ren worked on was The Great Beyond to ensure that it had a feeling of curiosity, danger, slightly scary but not too scary, and big but not too intense that it would push children away. It had to convey the idea that dying is a natural phase, a reality, and within the story, that was the place where souls would go when the person dies. This space, however, evolved throughout the story and toward the end felt peaceful with the use of wind sounds and Trent and Atticus's music, which conveyed this idea. Pete also wanted the feeling of The Great Before, the You Seminar, to have the opposite feeling of The Great Beyond. It had to feel tranquil, soft, inviting, safe, blissful, peaceful, and organic. Ren recalls that the first sound he came up with for this environment was like a tonal bed, a happy major chord, with SFX of leaves, grass blowing in the wind, and children's voices. Ultimately, the temp tones were replaced with Trent and Atticus's score. The traditional role of "mix" is somewhat subverted in the way Trent and Atticus work. As Atticus explains, "Our process is radically different to what one imagines as the 'traditional' approach, in the sense that composing, recording, editing, and mixing all happen at the same time. There's never a point where we pull down the faders and say, 'Now it's time to mix.' "We've been building the mix from the first note recorded and our view is that 'the sound' is a crucial part of the experience. The landscape where the notes, the melodies, and the progressions sit is as important for us as the notes themselves." With Soul, as is the case with most of the films they work on, the majority of the score was recorded, mixed, and written all in one room. They were working on the film for nearly two years. "Every project, for better or worse, sits in a unique sonic world we have designed for that story. Our approach and choices toward instrumentation are not accidental; it's a conscious decision based on our interpretation of the most effective way to convey the emotion of the story. We try to trust our instincts and we've become more Re-recording mixer Ren Klyce Re-recording mixer David Parker

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