Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1543098
Spring 2026 – LOCAL695.COM 29 Building a Technical System That Supported Creativity None of this integration mattered if the technical system couldn't handle it. Every part of the chain—from Ben's keyboard, to Josh's Pro Tools rig, to the MADI system, the Scorpio, the booms and lavs had to behave like one instrument. That required: • Zero perceptible latency • Absolute timecode accuracy • Redundant routing paths • Seven discrete music stems feeding dailies • A playback rig that could keep up with rapid camera moves and location shifts • A system stable enough that Josh could edit on the fly while I was capturing live vocals This wasn't a normal musical workflow. It was a hybrid of theatre, live broadcast, studio recording, and feature film production sound. And it only worked because every person in the chain understood not just their own role but how their choices affected everyone else. Capturing the Ensemble: Thumper Tracks and Real Footfalls The crowds of Oz are characters in their own right, and the ensemble numbers needed their own live strategy. The problem with chorus work in musicals is that on set, you are dealing with: Massive choreography and footfall Mixed abilities as singers; some are world-class dancers first A lot of potential set noise We took a hybrid approach. We recorded ensembles live wherever it made sense, knowing that the production would also bring in incredible ensemble singers from the stage show to support and sweeten those vocals in Post. But I was determined that the physical sound of the set would remain real: the stomping, the desk slams, the movement of bodies in the space. That is where the "thumper track" came in. We would take the sub-bass from Greg's backing track, filter out everything above around 38 Hz, and play that back to the dancers. They would feel the rhythm from the low frequency energy that could later be removed completely with EQ and noise reduction. Choreographer Chris Scott would count them in: "This one is just for sound. No voices. One, two, three…" and we would record pristine chorus footfalls, table slams, and body movement in tempo. Monitoring Like a Film Mixer, Listening Like a Dialog Mixer As we shot, almost everyone on the shooting floor wore headphones. Every camera movement and lighting cue was motivated by music. Everyone on the crew needed to hear, and music rarely came out of speakers unless we were shooting huge chorus numbers. What they heard was my dailies mix: live vocal from the booms and lavs, balanced against a mono music track. That way Jon, the Operators and Grips, Choreographers, and Producers could all feel the shape of the scene as it would roughly appear in the cut. What I listened to was slightly different. On the first take of a setup, I would listen in context, with music, and set a relationship between vocal and music track that I hoped to keep consistent for the scene, so that Myron's dailies would have stable levels. Once I was confident that balance was right, I would switch to listening a cappella, with the music often out of my monitoring. There are two reasons for this: 1. Music hides problems. Clothing rustle, a noisy shoe, a generator that has mysteriously appeared behind set, a leaf crunch that looks lovely but sounds like a crisp packet. With music in my ears, those issues can sneak past; with only vocal, they stand out. 2. I treat live singing as dialog from a production point of view. It demands the same forensic care. I want to hear breaths, mouth noise, the real acoustic of the space, and I want to know exactly what is under every syllable. Three booms close micing; Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Grande, and Cynthia Arivo