G’day again,

After a leisurely easter break with the family I jumped back into the demo production project. I met up with with Rick, Charles and Alex in the Audient studio to pull together the final mix. We used a good combination of outboard dynamics, reverbs, desk EQ and the occasional plug-in to place all the instruments in the mix. It was good fun to work with the Audient and make use of its subgroups and mix-bussing – it is somehow more musically involving than mousing in pro tools. We did end up in a bit of a rush with the end of our booked session time, so the last few decisions were made fairly abruptly. This was actually a good thing as it kept things fresh and moving, but it is a noticeable contrast to working at home with no real time pressure. Later on I had a go at mastering the stereo mix at home, and we ended up submitting that version. I think the guys were all quite happy with the result and it was great to hear it with everyone in the lecture theatre.

On Friday I joined the feature shoot crew for my second day on location sound. I felt a lot more confident this time having seen the protocols and gained a better understanding of what to do. There can be a lot of small-scale problem solving that has to be on the spot, and I became less shy about getting involved with the DP and director during the blocking stages. This allowed me to be more prepared for each shot and be in position when the camera rolls.

Thanks for reading! More next week.