CAS Quarterly

Chris: Listening. Not losing sight of the fact that you're always, ALWAYS telling a story. That it's not about the mixer—it's not about the sound—it's about the story. David: I have always felt the most difficult part is working as part of a crew and inter- acting with everyone on the set in a productive manner. What is the hardest part of teaching students how to mix? James: Teaching them to listen. Mark: That there is no single answer. Every shot is handmade and requires your full attention and intuition to contribute the right approach. You must take full responsibil- ity under all circumstances, even if it seems impossible. "Never give up, never surrender" (Galaxy Quest). Chris: Reminding students that there are no shortcuts. Tod Maitland CAS Tod: For these students, it would be the technical side. They understand all the concepts. I'm probably the least technical mixer you will meet, even though I put together a huge cart setup for West Side Story. Do you have any former students/mentees that you would like to mention? Chris: Well, of course, Mark Ulano! But many younger ones as well—people who are carving out careers in the sound business for themselves such as Brian Perry, Sven Rethemeier, and Carol Yan Li come to mind. I'm probably leaving out a dozen good people—sorry, blame it on COVID. Mark: Chris Howland in Los Angeles. Mike Markiew in Calgary. Kyra Westman from Colorado, now working in L.A. David's student, Danny Maurer, spent some mentee time with me and is well on his way. Nick Grant in the UK. A new mentee through AMPS, Allison Declercq- Matthas in Glasgow, likewise Wäite Jonny. James: Phillip Ta, one of my best stu- dents, actually took up mixing and was building a career. Then he chose to join the Army, where he is currently doing very well. Mehrnaz Mohabati was a student who has gone on to be a successful post sound mixer. She started as a music pro- ducer. David: I've had surprising success in Denver motivating students in production sound. Danny Maurer, who won the first CAS Student Recognition Award, was the first student of mine to get into produc- tion in Denver. Steve Allmendinger fol- lowed, then David and Jon Griesinger, Tom Hopper, Zach Suter, and Kelly McNamara. At USC, Ramsey Mellette CAS was a student. I'm sure there are more that I am forgetting. Is there anything else you would like to add? Tod: What is very heartening is when they go out to shoot and come back and say, "I used your tip for wiring here," or "I changed the location based on your com- ments." That's one of the best feelings as a teacher. When it works, they learned it, and said they lived through it.

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