Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/713016
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y S U M M E R 2 0 1 6 37 How long was the mix and how did you decide to tackle it as a team? Jon: We had a lot to do in a two-day mix, just like any crew on a one-hour show. I'd do a pass on the dialogue first, then go back and put in the score and songs. Eric would be roughing in effects, Foley, and BGs on headphones in the meantime, and he'd then mix his tracks into the dialogue and music. I'd go back and put in loop group once the BGs and crowd beds were in there. Did the complexity of this genre make it a race to the finish line? How did you manage your time? Was a third music mixer ever con- sidered? I personally think the standard two-day mix for an hour-long TV show is an unfortunate short sell on a vitally important finishing stage of the process. There are so many small things that have to be left by the wayside because of time restrictions, both technical and creative: from dialogue mis- matches between angles or takes to a really masterful sculpt- ing of music and backgrounds around the core dialogue of a scene. The story can really be shaped and accentuated by a mix that has been allowed time to develop. We, too often, have to prioritize damage control for a noisy location or getting through a complex and busy scene enough to make it play well, where a little more time would allow it to play excellently. Adding a third mixer dedicated to music was never dis- cussed. I think if it had come up, I'd have advocated for a third mix day over a third mixer. How soon did you get the music? If everything came through the approval process and made it to mastering in time, we'd get the score and the musical numbers at the start of the first day. We always had the score in time, but the mastered songs would often come in some- time during the morning—not late enough to really cause any major ripples. Did you receive stereo or 5.1 tracks? One of the early discussions was stereo vs. 5.1 and how that affects the prep of the tracks and how they should be split into stems. The composers were initially wary of giving me stems—I think partly to do with wanting to protect their mixes and partly just wanting the songs to play like a music video. The music numbers were mostly parodies of pop music. So, one week we'd have a Billy Joel-style piano ballad, then an R&B bump 'n' grind-style track, then a '90s-style rap battle, then a Huey Lewis & the News-styled piece. Making these specific references play was as much about tonality of instru- mentation as it was about the lyrics and style of songwriting. Adam [Schlesinger] and his guys did a great job with these nods to so many different styles. I think they were initially concerned about maintaining the integrity of their intent, but you really just have to have the separation on the mix stage for placement in the field, before even getting to level concerns and re-balancing the elements for broadcast. With ATSC, most TV is broadcast in Dolby Digital now, which is great. So, we wanted to, at least, have separation of vocals and backing vocals from the backing tracks so we could have the lead vocal more in the center channel, move the backing vocals around depending on where they are com- ing from and what sort of character they had, and then have the band wider in the stereo field to carry all the weight. If we only had stereo mixes on the stage, then you'd either have to have them be panned hard left and right—[where] the center would just drop out of the mix when the song starts—or pan them inward a little to fill out the LCR— which can get muddy with the balance and cause possible phase issues as mono, phantom stereo, and true stereo con- tent would all be occupying the same panning position. I could have used an unmixing plug-in to get some separation, but it was much better to have the actual flexibility. At times, there were SFX embellishments that enhanced the storytelling and broke the music video rule. How was that determined? How much to play the songs like a music video was a con- stant discussion during the mixing process. We sometimes added sound effects to highlight certain jokes or moments in the lyrics or background, but other times, it was best to play them dry, music only. We started off with a Golden Rule: "Don't Add Any Sound Effects." But that only lasted until it felt like we needed a sound effect to underline a joke Jonathon Greasley, dialogue and music re-recording mixer Jonathon Greasley, dialogue and music re-recording mixer