MatthewFreedAudio

I find 5 channels is the bare minimum. 8 is pretty standard on the shows I work on. But, that's just my experience. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

I currently have a Fusion 12, IFB100, and various Zaxcom wireless for hops and cast. I think this new Maxx is going to be a perfect small mixer to compliment my other rig! So, while some are bemoaning the lack of built in IFB I am thrilled with the feature set. I'll just pull out the IFB100 when needed...and being paid for by the client. I plan on buying the full blown Maxx next year when the need arises. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

Have you and your fellow sound mixers turned down the low paying jobs in an effort to show that the productions need to pay a higher rate to get quality sound mixers? Or are you simply all taking the low paying gigs and then complaining about it? Just curious. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

I see a fantastic opportunity to enlighten a production manager on why sound mixers don't have demo reels. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

A couple days ago I sent an invoice to a rather large production company in Los Angeles for the cumulative L&D from a 6 month reality show I worked on. They were renting my gear for the duration of the shoot and the cast and camera department were pretty rough on the audio gear. I sent in quite a few pieces of gear to the mother ship for repair and it totaled just under $1300. After I submitted the invoice the line producer emails me back and says "boy, I wish we had talked about this before. Because you were the equipment vendor you are responsible for all the repairs, but in good faith we will cover half the repair costs this time. Please email me a corrected invoice and it will be processed quickly." I responded by telling him that the production company is always responsible for L&D, without exception but if it helps I didn't charge them for all the antennas, timecode cables, or audio cables their cast and camera department damaged that I had to repair. I'm still waiting to hear back. Funny thing is, this LP and the production manager both told me on two separate occasions that they plan to cover any damage or repairs as is normal for them. Do these people go to a special school to learn how to be shady, slimy bastards? It just blows my mind.

There are many directors and producers who do care and are knowledgeable enough about sound to let an experienced professional handle it. But, there are a growing number of young hacks who fancy themself a director and they will learn...hopefully. Educating them is a good thing and needed. How do they identify a good sound mixer? What should they be looking for and what questions should they be asking to make sure they are hiring a competent mixer and not just someone who owns a lot of gear? Thinking of it from the producers perspective...they don't know the difference between a 788t a Deva or a Behringer FireWire laptop interface. The director doesn't know why a Lectro SMQV or Zaxcom wireless is better than a Sony UWP wireless. The sound mixer said "I have 6 channels of wireless, a boom, and a recorder." Well...are those wireless good quality? Are they even working? Is the boom a Schoepps or a Sennheiser ME66? Is the mixer an antiquated, barely functioning Radio Shack POS or a modern, professional piece if gear? An inexperienced director doesn't know the difference between good gear and bad gear or a good mixer or bad. They learn over time...and they learn from asking questions and listening to the answers. Just like us, directors and producers learn by doing and the good ones learn from their mistakes. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

Telling the young directors/producers they should hire a professional, experienced sound mixer is useless because they have absolutely no idea what or who a good sound mixer is. They think the guy who just graduated from film school and who worked on a few student films is experienced and professional. They'll pay him or her $75/day and that recent grad will take it for the experience and because it's better than sitting at home. Best thing to do is let them fail time and again. They will eventually learn or they will be sifted out of the working professionals. You can guide a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

The general sentiment behind the original numbers is true but the numbers are pretty far off from reality. Initially the numbers are skewed against the artist but as more people go to their shows and more people purchase their music the musicians begin to get a bigger and bigger piece of the pie. Also, don't forget that it's the label and management companies that are taking the biggest financial risk and they, rightly, should reap the rewards before the musicians. I've also seen NUMEROUS bands, musicians, artists, etc not be able to hold up their end of the deal and they are the ones pulling down the house on themselves. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

Well....cool. I didn't know that before. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

At this point you are helping to finance their company. If they don't have the money to pay their crew out of their operating budget then they shouldn't be taking on clients. What happens when their client delays payment? Your payment is delayed even further. What happens when their client doesn't pay them? You don't get paid. In the U.S. 30 days is plenty of time for them to remit payment. A gentle reminder after 30 days is fine and it is up to you how quickly and how vicious you get with them after 30 days. Patience is a virtue...to an extent. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

Knowing basic business practices should be a prerequisite for anyone looking at a freelance career. I studied business marketing in college and have never regretted it! Go for it. If it's an online class all the better. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

They could have hired a boom op or A2 for less than the cost of the repairs and replacement. Funny how that works. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

Gotcha. From the description on the Zaxcom website it looks like they also added holes for a belt clip and the resin body is different than the ERX1. It also says the ERX 2 can now display scene and take info in addition to timecode. I'm assuming this software upgrade will be available for those of us with ERX1 receivers but I haven't checked their forum yet for a software update. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

This has more to do with your transmitter than the receiver. Are you using the IFB transmitter built in to a Nomad or QRX? The Nomad transmits at 50mw while the IFB100 transmits at 100mw. I use an IFB100 with my Fusion 12 and get excellent range. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

If you started the show with gear in good working order and the gear was not in the same condition at the end of the show it is 100% their responsibility to repair or replace the piece of broken gear. It's that simple. Especially considering their cast/talent or the nature of the show was the cause of the broken gear. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

L&D should be part of their budget. If it's not this time it certainly will be next time because you're going to make them pay for the repairs this time. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

I've had 6 ERX 1 units for quite a while and have never had a broken case. The case is quite good. I put them in a BlackBerry case whenever they are put on a camera or given out to other people. The volume knob and 1/8" jack were the I only places I could see needing improvements. Looks like that's exactly what they did. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials.www.matthewfreed.com

Would you say yes again? Sure you would because you did it this time. She'll expect the same deal next time and you'll give it to her because you won't say no. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

PM Sent

This gig is done now. Thanks!

Rado...channel 3 Zaxcom needs a battery soon. Did you end up getting a MicPlexer that can also boost your transmitter? Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

We are the sound professionals and we do have a responsibility to educate our clients...to an extent. If they don't know the difference between split mono and stereo I wouldn't blame them. I have educated many clients on what to do with lavs left/boom right or why there is only a mono mix. I have never had a client demand a split mix of lavs to one channel and boom to the other and actually want that as their final deliverable knowing that it isn't supposed to be that way. I have also educated many video editors on their listening environment and have helped them improve how they listen to the audio coming out of their systems. Nothing wrong with informing those that really don't know any different. And, it reduces the number of times that a split mono mix becomes the final deliverable. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

In this wonderfully advanced world of technology (for better or for worse) there is no excuse for the AE to not have email at his work station. I feel there are so many advantages to a PDF sound report that it really should be, and generally is, the standard these days. I know the Zaxcom Deva/Fusion recorders can generate PDF sound reports and the 788t can also, and they are stored on the CF card. Wave Agent is a fantastic program for generating reports as well. I have limited experience with MovieSlate but it has received glowing reviews from numerous people for its sound report capabilities. It easily replaces paper copies albeit at a higher cost. Then again the only things you can do with paper reports other than their intended use are paper airplanes and spitballs (toward a slow moving camera dept?). Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

I built all my SMA cables for my RF SMA and purchased all the parts through Allied Electronics. I remember each SMA connector costing around $10 so the cost per cable can be expensive when you include the labor to build it. I checked out Amazon a moment ago and found a lot of listings from Cables To Go but no pricing, no way to dictate cable length, shipping, etc. A few other manufacturers have listings as well and for quite cheap, but I only saw six inch and fifteen foot options. Perhaps you saw a different listing and I'm sure I wasn't thorough. Anyway, I know the cable components are pricey and they have to be soldered by hand. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com

More than likely the iso tracks are in addition to a mix track. Modern technology...what a crazy concept. Production Sound Mixing for Television, Films, and Commercials. www.matthewfreed.com