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 75 How did you learn how to mix? Chris Newman CAS: On the job and by the seat of my pants—and making every mistake possible until I ran out of mistakes to make. I was pretty much a self-taught sound man. In November of 1961, I read about Nagra recorders in a magazine called Audio. I ordered a Nagra from Europe in 1961. (They weren't available in the U.S.! At least, not in NYC.) When it arrived, the salesman and I spent the entire day trying to figure out how to use it since they were so new. I learned how to turn it on and off and began to go around NYC telling everyone I was a sound mixer and I was available to do recording jobs [even though] I didn't know a thing! I did a news show for CBS and left two rolls of film in a taxi. I got a job as a one-man sound crew and I forgot to bring a mic. I was not a sound man to inspire confidence Mark Ulano CAS: I had long pre-filmmaking period that, in some ways, trained my ear to listen to the specifics of sound in my environment. I believe this was a precursor to applying this in ways to achieve a particular result when I brought elements together in a mix. My earliest encounters with capturing performance happened pretty early in my life as my father, Sam Ulano, was a prominent figure in the NY percussion and jazz music world. This meant being around a galaxy of related music performance experiences (e.g., live, studio, home recordings, etc.). Until my late teens, I was an avid music/drum student, practicing four and five hours daily and weekly private instruction for five years. In combination with unbelievable good fortune in a series of mentors, and my obsessive passion to learn as much as possible about telling stories with film, this ultimately result- ed in the enduring process of trial and error through growing a repertoire of experiences in an era when the safety net of nonlinear file-based technology was decades in the future. The mix was it and you had to have the vision of its application to succeed. Becoming a student of films past and present was a major source of growth. The desire to understand and interpret directorial intent matters greatly. But most importantly, avoiding an ideology of approach was the key. To keep an open mind and sensibility to the information before you as it occurs rather than have any illu- sion of mastery, as a musician does when they prepare and then perform. What does this character, scene, and shot require to maintain the connection between the characters and the audience in the context of the director's intent? This is my road map to mixing. We must bring all the instruments at our disposal together in wholly formed unity. We must not disrupt the flow of belief in the characters, the journey they are on, and the environ- ment they are in, unless such a disruption is the choice being made by the filmmaker. Serving the project is the highest obligation we have. James Coburn CAS: The first production mixer who taught me anything about pro- duction sound recording was Pat Toma, and the next was Bill Reinhardt. I boomed for them and covered as a mixer when needed. We did a lot of TV series and low-budget movies. John Coffey CAS always encouraged me as well. I boomed for him a couple of times, and later usually put my equipment rentals through Coffey Sound. He was always open to questions and was always a big help. Later, I worked with Cameron Hamza CAS, who really taught me how to operate on a set. He sent me down to Roger Corman's Venice studio to record the Black Scorpion TV show and other projects. Tod Maitland CAS: I'm a second-generation mixer. Started in '77. My father is Dennis Maitland, a CAS Career Achievement Award recipient. My brother, Dennis II, who was a boom operator, passed away. My sister Kim is a recordist in New York. I went to Alfred State College for two years, which had an A/V program. I did only two movies as boom with my father. My first big break as a mixer was recording Talk Radio, the Oliver Stone movie. I went on to work on Born of the Fourth of July and The Doors for him as well. The Doors was an incredibly complicated setup. To record "Light My Fire," we would do playback while also recording everything live in a single 10-minute take. We used two-inch tape. From there, I went to Cape Fear with Scorsese. For a year, I decided to change to mixing commercials. After the year, I wanted to shoot myself, and I went back to film. Chris Newman CAS David Bondelevitch CAS MPSE Tod Maitland CAS

• Cover