L-R: James Williamson, Paul Yurt, Dominick Tavella, Joel Spector; NY; 12/ 14/ 10
Attendees at the November meeting of the NY section of the AES had a very rare and amazing opportunity to visit with Sound One's Dominick Tavella and Paul Yurt for a tour of this extraordinary facility. Tavella, a world-class film mixer, discussed his craft and demonstrated the equipment and his techniques. Also sharing his insight was Systems Engineer Paul Yurt, who adeptly juggled answering the attendees' complex questions whilst simultaneously solving a technical snafu in a mix room! These men are at the top of their fields and it is easy to recognize why.
Sound One is an extremely impressive studio with myriad rooms for mixing, ADR, Foley and editing. The first stop on the tour was a visit to the Foley stage, which is a few steps past a vintage Moviola editing machine in the lobby. The Foley stage was a fascinating collection of shoes, clothes, chairs, carriages and knickknacks. The various floor surfaces range from stone and wood to dirt and gravel. One artist works in the room, performing and recording, then delivering the sounds via the studio's servers. The studio also delivers files using FTP and Digidelivery.
The group was then led to Studio A, where Dominick Tavella does much of his work. Currently mixing a multi-part documentary series, Mr. Tavella gave us a glimpse into his working methods. Three ProTools systems - for Dialogue, Music and Effects - as well as an HD picture play out machine, the console and effects devices are all synchronized using an Ion Soundmaster, which serves as a machine controller and synchronizer. The Neve Gemini console allows incredible flexibility. Each of its 48 faders allow for four "layers," and the desk can be configured to allow up to 800 inputs. This allows the use of a console with a smaller footprint that can be controlled by one engineer. The console's memory permits the storage and automation of all console settings for routing and all real time moves including faders and panning as well as dynamics, compression, filters and EQ settings.
Mr. Tavella showed a brief clip, isolating the background effects and the dialogue. He discussed his panning schemes for backgrounds and dialogue and how he deals with various forms of noise, whether broadband or a hum at a specific frequency. For dialogue, he actively rides the EQ, relying upon his ears and craftsmanship, and these automated rides were visible in the console's display as he rolled a clip of his current project. The detail and care he puts into every second of sound is intensive but the resulting improvements speak for themselves.
Many questions were asked about the time frame required for various projects, compression and trying to maintain artistic integrity while meeting dialnorm requirements for broadcast. Mr. Tavella stressed that "every word is important" and added that maintaining clarity is "absolutely paramount." Questions then led the discussion to issues involving folding a 5.1 mix down to stereo, sound on DVD as compared to the sound on the theatrical release, comparison of Dolby, DTS and SDDS formats and mix delivery. A fascinating meeting, this was a rare open window into the world of high-end post production for large-budget theatrical films.
