Sony Sound Supervisor Mandell Winter; Sony Executive Vice President Post Production Facilities & Services Tom McCarthy;
Sony Re-recording Mixer & Sound Supervisor Steven Ticknor; Sony Re-recording Mixer Steve Pederson; Deluxe Media Director, Audio Services, Chris Reynolds.

Music, effects and dialogue in the newly immersive world of filmed entertainment was the focus of “Mix Presents: The Art of Sound Design,” a daylong exploration of new audio frontiers at Sony Pictures Studios, put together by Mix, the magazine of professional audio & music production. In addition to presentations on Music: Beyond 5.1, Dialogue From Set to Screen, Sound Effects and Immersive Sound for Film and Television, there were demos of new technologies including Dolby Atmos surround audio,   JBL’s 7 Series Master Reference Monitors, DTS, and immersive sound solutions from Meyer and Auro 3D.

“This was all about the sound community coming together, for companies to collaborate, share thoughts and ideas, and have one-on-one time with vendors,” Executive VP Sony Pictures Post Production Services Tom McCarthy said. Representatives from Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. at the event, on Sony’s Culver City lot on Sept. 26, testified to the event’s non-partisan nature. “It’s a bit like the old bake-offs, with a mini-NAB orientation, and a focus on sound,” was how McCarthy described the second annual Mix event, which in addition to members of the pro audio community from Los Angeles and San Francisco drew attendees from as far away as New Zealand, Sweden and Italy.

The keynote by three-time Academy Award-nominated sound designer and re-recording mixer Mark Mangini was a highlight, as was the display of Sony’s new Avid S6 control surface, the largest installed S6 console in the world, situated in the 158-seat Anthony Quinn Theater mixing stage. The 22-foot board accommodates dual operators, with 96 faders, Pro Tools HDX2 players and HDX recorders. “It’s really designed for modern film production. With hundreds of tracks at mixdown, a big challenge is how to manage all that content on the stage,” said Avid’s Rich Nevens, Director of Worldwide Audio Solutions. “This allows you to manage huge track counts across multiple Pro Tools systems, with an amazing amount of visual feedback for the mixers.”

Taking film and television to the next level of audio is what the day was all about. “This is the future,” said Twentieth Century Fox Editorial Engineer Erin Rettig. “It’s important to explore these new immersive technologies as a way to keep people going to the theater. It’s a challenge, in terms of adding complexity, which adds costs, and that’s what we technicians have to figure out.” Asked what impressed him most throughout the day, Rettig said it was “the turnout. It’s great that an event like this exists and can draw this size crowd.”

The cocktail party that concluded the day was hosted by the Formosa Group and Warner Bros. (All photos Paula Parisi for MaxTheTrax.com)

Composer Stephen Gallagher from New Zealand, and music editor Mark Willsher of San Francisco.

Avid’s Rich Nevens demos the S6 board.

Jacob Houchen, Summit Post; Lucien Palmer, Toolshed Audio; Derek Vanderhorst, Summit Post.

Twentieth Century Fox Editorial Engineer Erin Rettig and Wilfried Van Baelen, CEO of Auro Technologies

Formosa Group’s Tracy Grimes, Scott Gershin, Marielle Abaunza and Morris Naish

Mix magazine and Mixonline.com Editoial Director Tom Kenny and Mix Event Producer Karen Dunn

Sound designer Matt Yocum; Michael Malerba of Santisound; Avid’s Tom Graham; Rick Santizo of Santisound

Cocktail party hosted by the Formosa Group and Warner Bros.

Gold Pictures’ Jeff Maynard and Jenny Gold

Publicist Sue Procko and John Lavery

MPSE sound editor Dimitri Miachin and sound designer and mixer Mehdi Hedayati

Stewart Hawkins of Pacific Research

Jake Flack of Unbridled Sound, sound designer Kyle Lammerding and Brittany Ellis of Ellis Sound

Eric Paulsen of Boombox Post, Brian Ortiz of Levels Audio, Brad Meyer of Boombox Post, Matt Wulff of Wildwoods, Geraldo Gutierrez of Deluxe Media

Ed Curley, Satine Phoenix of New Praetorian, Matt Mangini, Jason Seigler of Good Bully Collective

Raphael Doyos, Marlon Orduña and Jose Martin

Keynote speaker Mark Mangini, a three-time Academy Award- nominated sound designer and re-recording mixer, with Mix Editorial Director Tom Kenny

The Formosa Group’s Bob Rosenthal, Kim Waught of Warner Bros. and The Formosa Group’s Scott Hecker

The Formosa Group’s Morris Naish and Matt Dubin

Scott Gershin of the Formosa Group, Matt Mangini, Oscar-nominated sound designer and mixer Mark Mangini, Mix Magazine editor Tom Kenny

Dolby Labs’ Jose Castellan and Carlos Cuevas

Steve Urban, Steve Bucino and Darin Heinis of Westwind Media

DTS’s John Kellogg, Dolby’s Steve Venezia and Dolby’s Byran Aronaa

Dolby Labs’ Bryan Aronaa, Justin Herman and Andy Potvin

Will Files, Fox’s Erin Rettig Will Files and Diego Gat

John Schroeder and Daniele Carli

Media City’s Michael Keeley and Dolby’s Justin Herman

Diego Gat, Ron Lagrlof, Carlos Desig and Andy Potvin

Barco’s Brian Claypool and Auro’s Wilfried Van Baelen

Sony’s Brian Vessa, Michael Karagosian of MKPE Consulting and John Kellogg of DTS