Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/681510
24 S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y What was the instrumentation like? Were there any unusual instruments? We recorded an 85-person orchestra which included, in addi- tion to the normal symphony orchestra of strings, woodwinds, brass, harp, piano and orchestral percussion, also included two guitarists playing acoustic and electric guitars, sitars and man- dolins, an electric bass, a keyboardist playing a Hammond B-3 organ, electric piano and synths, a drum kit, ocarinas, and other primitive wooden flutes. This was all recorded live with every- one playing together. It is wild! Michael loves the musicality of everyone playing together. They are playing music, not just "making a recording," and he and his orchestrator/conductor, Tim Simonec, make sure the music is orchestrated in a way that parts can speak without recording sections separately. What kind of mic'ing are you using for such a large score? I use a lot of mics. In addition to the Decca Tree, I have room and surround mics; section mics for woodwinds, brass, and percussion; and I also have close mics on individual players for solos or for different styles of music. Michael's music can go from symphonic to big band to funky grooves to quirky little tunes sometimes within one cue, and I have to be able to record it all in one go and be able to create these different styles in the mix. Were there a lot of prerecorded elements to score to? Michael typically doesn't use many prerecords but, on this score, there was a particular sound he developed with Pete Docter that included samples of tuned kitchen mixing bowls and a couple synth sounds playing a theme with a childlike feel that could go from playful to wistful to melancholy to joyful. The keyboardist had the synth sounds so he could groove along with the rest of the orchestra, but there were still a handful of prerecords that got mixed in. What kind of stems and mixes did you deliver to the dub stage? I like to record and mix at 96 kHz and I like to print many separate stems to allow flexibility on the dub stage. This time we printed 13 different 5.1 stems. (I use the LFE track very sparingly but, logistically, it's simpler to keep all stems 5.1.) The stems were Orchestra, Orchestral Percussion, Drum Kit, Piano/Harp, Keyboards, Guitars, Bass, four different Synth stems keeping rhythmic sounds separate from pads and melody, a stem for the mixing bowls, and an extra stem for solos and anything else that couldn't fit. I also like to be able to print all the stems in one pass and, considering the number of routing paths and the need to have separate reverbs for each path—even with huge Pro Tools rigs and the beautiful Neve 88R console with 192 channels between the large and small faders—it's a complex puzzle to make hap- pen. It's embarrassing to admit but I actually spend two days planning how I want to record and how it will fit in the room and on the console. Then, how I want to mix, how many stems, how it will work with available routing paths and aux sends and reverb units. I've been working with the incredible Vini Cirilli DENECKE, INC. 25209 Avenue Tibbitts Valencia, CA 91355 Phone (661) 607-0206 Fax (661) 257-2236 www.denecke.com Email: info@denecke.com Denecke, Inc. Home of the Industry Standard for Electronic Time Code Slates