Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1543098
26 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Spring 2026 Pro Tools & Scorpio Integration: The Percussion Section of Our Pit The rhythmic backbone, the timing grid, the mechanical precision that drove the entire workflow We built a playback system that behaved like a hybrid between a recording studio and a concert tour, but that also fed directly into my thirty-two-track production recorder in a way that picture editorial could use from day one. The heart of the music side was a custom playback and Pro Tools rig that Josh and I designed together. It lived on the same style production sound 'euro' cart that I use, so the carts are light enough for a single person to wheel around sets and are a two-person lift for staircases. Josh's playback cart was built around: • Pro Tools as the main timeline and engine for Greg Wells's backing tracks • A Prodigy MC and RME MADIface Pro for high-quality conversion and routing • MADI and Dante paths between playback and my Sound Devices Scorpio • Dedicated outputs for: – Cast IEM's – 30kw of JBL on-set speakers where appropriate – "Thumper" tracks for choreography-only takes – Stems feeding back into my recorder That rig was incredibly powerful. It had to behave like a studio in the morning, a concert rig in the afternoon, and a surgical editing tool in the middle of a scene, or even during a take if Jon decided to change the shape of a moment. From Josh's Pro Tools system, I took seven discrete stems back into my Scorpio ISO tracks: 1. Mono music 2. Music left 3. Music right 4. Vocal only 5. Mono timecode from music, so picture and sound could remain locked 6. Sound effects only (embedded in the music where relevant) 7. Ben's live keyboard I think of that live keyboard stem as the secret weapon. When Cynthia or Ari wanted to drive the tempo themselves rather than be driven by a backing track, Ben could give them exactly the kind of musical support they are used to in a rehearsal room or on stage, and we could still fold that into a fully timecoded, trackable, repeatable film workflow. All seven of those stems landed as ISO tracks on my Scorpio, alongside the booms and radio mics. My production sound dailies contained the entire musical context of a scene, not just the vocals. I built two key mix tracks on the Scorpio: • Mix Track 1 was my vocal and dialog mix. This was exactly what I would want to hear as a Production Sound Mixer: the spoken lines and the sung lines presented as one continuous performance, with no music baked in. • Mix Track 2 was a mono music mix derived from the Pro Tools stems at a gain that I felt sat correctly under the vocal for dailies and for Jon's headphones. For the Picture Editor, Myron Kerstein, this was essential. On most films, early Avid assemblies are built from production sound alone, and music has to be laboriously synced or mocked up later. On Wicked: For Good, Myron and Lara (1st AE) can cut a scene using my two mix tracks, and they immediately have: • A clean, a cappella version of the vocal on one fader. • A controllable music bed on another fader, already in sync and already at a unique dedicated level appropriate for vocal and dialog. If they want to make a quick stereo version, they can reach up to the music left and right stems that are also in my recorder. If they want to elevate the cut for a studio screening, they can timecode lock to Josh's full Pro Tools sessions later and build a 5.1 music layout. At no stage are they forced to become Dialog Editors, having to reverse-engineer my work before they can even decide if a scene plays. 1st Assistant Sound Arthur Fenn booming Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba)