Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512678
52 W I N T E R 2 0 2 4 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y Some will say mixing outside the dub stage is nothing new. And to be fair, there may not be a great technological or even acoustical difference between a well-thought-out sound design suite and a small mix stage. The affordability of the technology combined with the necessity that came with a global pandemic meant that suddenly, mixing from home wasn't something just a few people were doing. Mixers of all manner of media had to find a way to make it work. And afterward, some chose to retain and integrate parts of that process into their current workflow. I had the opportunity to chat with a few of those people who might otherwise never have left their traditional workflows. Elmo Ponsdomenech CAS and Vicki Lemar are both currently mixing television for Sony. Todd Grace CAS mixes television for Warner Bros. and Paul Zahnley CAS works on a variety of features and documentaries. These four re-recording mixers were generous with their time and willingness to share knowledge about the ups and downs of hybrid mixing with the CAS Quarterly. • • • Elmo Ponsdomenech CAS and Vicki Lemar Elmo has a stunning 14 CAS Award nominations with two wins for Silicon Valley and Barry in addition to his 14 Emmy nominations, including two wins for Barry. He joined me on a phone call with Vicki Lemar, a prolific mixer in her own right, and prior CAS Award nominee for American Horror Story. Hi, Elmo and Vicki, thanks for joining me! I understand the two of you spend a fair amount of time working out of both your home studio and in a traditional dubbing environment, but it wasn't always that way. How was it that you first started working outside a traditional dub stage? Elmo Ponsdomenech CAS: I've had a little personal music studio at home for years, and I upped it to 5.1 as a coincidence about six months before the pandemic. But I've had a music studio at home since I was a teenager. I mean, it's how I started mixing. Now with the pandemic, we saw it coming. The writing was on the wall. I was working with "Frenchie" Jason Gaya, my FX mixer at the time. We b y S t e p h e n F i t z m a u r i c e C A S Elmo Ponsdomenech CAS When and How Some Mixers Chose to Integrate Mixing from Home with Mixing on the Dub Stage Profiles in Hybrid Mixing Vicki Lemar