Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/713016
good loud on big EAW or JBL, bi- or tri- amped speakers with a Crown or Bryston power amp. But literally no one is going to hear a TV show that way. So, a more appropriate test for how the mix will trans- late was "does it sound good on some five- inch drivers like Tannoys or Auratones?" Was this a difficult show to meet LKFS requirements on, as music-centered sections often sit higher on the meters? Fortunately, for this show, The CW measured LKFS using 1770-1 (Infinite Dialogue), as opposed to the 1770-3 (Infinite All Measurement). Infinite All is a very restrictive and poorly thought out way to measure loudness of program material. With the songs being oftentimes so dense and powerful in the mix, a 1770-3 mea- surement could have meant that the already tight dynamic range of broadcast TV would have to be even further squashed. The Infinite Dialogue measurement allowed us to hit the crescendos a little harder and make the intimate moments play a little softer, while still having a tight mix that plays on both 5.1 home theaters and small- er built-in TV speakers, or even earbuds and laptops, as is increasingly the chosen viewing conditions for content these days. How does one deliver stems for a show that has the depict- ed actors breaking into song? Where does the dialogue stem end and the music stem begin? The vocals for the musical numbers were mixed into the music stem, and any spoken- word stuff that went into, out of, or was contained within the songs was generally mixed into the dialogue stem. We did have to do an instrumental music stem for inter- national deliverables, and we also provided an option stem with the English-spoken word content that could be used along with the domestic music stem, if the market so chose. What an incredible audio journey Crazy Ex-Girlfriend must have been to mix! My gratitude goes out to Jonathan Greasley and Eric Offin and King Soundworks for offering us at the CAS insight and knowledge on mix- ing a one-hour romantic dramedy musical TV show. Fabulous work! •