Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/908245
48 F A L L 2 0 1 7 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y recordings. For example, for "What Are the Rules," we used Glenn's lead vocals, but used the studio recordings for Charlie, Danny, Kaitlin, and Rob's backups. The toughest song to put together was Danny and Kaitlin's song. It was a little windy on that day, they 're under an overpass, they 're walking while they sing, and Danny is really spontaneous on camera. I was comping together bits and pieces from the studio recording into the live production pass so we wouldn't lose Kaitlin and Danny 's actual performance in it. It took just a few words from the studio recordings to make the production sound work. Mike Marchain: This Sunny episode was a much more difficult task to cut on the dialogue/sfx side of things due to the on-set vs. studio recordings of dialogue and musical numbers. We decided early on that it would be best to have all options prepared and mixed seamlessly, whether we went with on-set recordings or prerecords. We were able to utilize a combination of the two based on the subjective tones that Rob, Glenn, and Charlie were looking for. Our mix crew, along with our music editor, Adrian, were able to cut, blend, and mix between the live and on-set recordings very smoothly, as our talent was very consistent with respect to singing in tune and time. We worked hard to ensure that we created the same feel and tonal vibe as what was recorded in the studio. We found that common thread between the two sets of vocals, and were able to swap back-and-forth when necessary to fill out a moment, or to help with vocals tonally with respect to matching key and balance. There was a lot more collaboration between the music, mix, and sound departments than I'd seen in several years on the show, due to the detail and specific direction Rob, Glenn, and Charlie wanted. The episode turned out really great, and RCG were very pleased with the final mix. We've certainly done musical numbers on the show over the years, but this episode was particularly challenging, but also extremely creative and collaborative throughout the process. I was very happy with our mix and glad we were able to capture the vision of RCG along the way. MIX John-Thomas Graves (FX mixer): The opening scene of this episode starts with the gang getting electrocuted by a lightning strike, which was quite fun to mix. There are big thunder rolls, lightning strikes, and the electrical arc that travels throughout the room as it hits the TV/VCR and the electric blanket. Using reverb, I tried to fill up the room with both lightning and thunder. I also employed reFuser's Lowender, my plugin of choice for all sub/LFE source material, to create the big "boom" during that sequence. I panned the electrical arc around the room as it hits the lights and everything electric in the room— which is great to hear in 5.1. Near the end of the episode, Charlie's character gets shot by the police, sadly, not an uncommon thing these days, which plays to the story of the show. Most TV shows and/ or movies would use a "big" gun sound, instead of a "real" gun sound, which often sounds weak or smaller than what most people think it should sound like. I thought I would try to mix in a "big" gun with the editor's choice. But in the end, it didn't sound right and didn't feel proper for the scene or the show and the "real" gun was all that was needed to sell the scene. I think the most difficult part about mixing this episode was concentrating on not laughing too much, especially during the Scott Bakula scene. It was truly a pleasure to mix such a funny show. Given the challenges of shooting on location, it was inevitable there would be some blending between the studio vocals and production sound. In the instances where Cormac used a lead vocal from production and backing vocals from the studio, the blending was easy enough because the difference in quality could be used to affect and differentiate the voices in the space. The slightly more polished-sounding backing vocals could sit back in the space, and the more live-feeling lead vocals could breathe out in front due to the nature of the tracks. It became trickier when we needed to cut between the tracks over the course of a lead vocal. The two hardest scenes were Frank and Dee under the overpass and the grand finale number, which takes place on a main street in Philadelphia proper—outside a TV