Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1491103
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 35 The plugins now have gotten a lot better. There are LiquidSonics, Bricasti mimicking plugins. The Lexicon and Exponential plugins are good, too. With the increasing power of the computers, we've been able to go to the plugin reverb. It's nice because if you carry your mix to a different studio or a different location, you don't have to worry about the outboard gear being the same. Are you using 5.1 versions of these, or are you using stereo pairs? Well, for orchestras, I don't care for the 5.1 or 7.1 or Atmos versions very much because they don't localize so well. They tend to blur your front localization to the point where it's not what I really would like to hear. So I am stuck with multiple stereos for the orchestra, including multiple stereos for the Atmos. That means that we often use up to six stereos for one setup for the orchestra, and that helps us keep our localization and depth very solid. I prefer it; it's just me. There's no rule about that or anything like that. Normally, when we did 5.1 mixes, we'd use three pairs, with one side of the stereo panned Front Left and the other side panned Surround Left. Then you assign your reverbs based on the localization in the room. And guess what? Everything stays put in the sound field. What other plugins do you use for EQ, compression, or limiting? We use all of the Universal Audio package. We use Massenburg DesignWorks for equalization a lot. We use the Oxford series a lot. We use the new, Eventide SplitEQ. That allows you to equalize the fundamental and the harmonic separately, which is nice. We use the Brainworx Audio bx_subfilter. None of it is very top secret. It's all kind of normal stuff. Do you use compression at all? Not on orchestras. On produced material? Yes, of course. Sometimes on choirs we [use it] to kind of pack it in a little more solidly. And, certainly on guitars or things that need to kind of sit in the mix and not wave around too much. Actress Rachel Zegler with music producer Jeanine Tesori.