Audio mixing
Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more
Audio mixing is practiced for music, film, television and live sound. The process is generally carried out by a mixing engineer operating a mixing console or digital audio workstation.
Recorded music
Before the introduction of multitrack recording, all the sounds and effects that were to be part of a recording were mixed together at one time during a live performance. If the sound blend was not satisfactory, or if one musician made a mistake, the selection had to be performed over until the desired balance and performance was obtained. However, with the introduction of multitrack recording, the production phase of a modern recording has radically changed into one that generally involves three stages: recording, overdubbing, and mixdown.[1]
Film and television
During production dialogue recording of actors is done by a person variously known as location sound mixer, production sound or some similar designation. That person is a department head with a crew consisting of a boom operator and sometimes a cable person.
Audio mixing for film and television is a process during the
The process takes place on a mixing stage, typically in a
Dialogue intelligibility
Since the 2010s, critics and members of the audience have reported that dialogue in films tends to be increasingly more difficult to understand than in older films, to the point where viewers need to rely on
- Unintelligibility as a stylistic choice by filmmakers, particularly by Christopher Nolan and those influenced by him
- Soft, under one's breath delivery of lines by actors, a practice particularly popular among younger actors, as opposed to the theatrical clarity of delivery previously used
- Low priority of sound recording on set, with priority given to the visual aspects of production
- Increased technological possibilities, including in post-production, no longer compel filmmakers to obtain an optimal recording on set
- The film crew's familiarity with the dialogue can lead them to overestimate its intelligibility
- Theaters play films at a lower than recommended volume to avoid excessive loudness complaints from the audience
- Different standards of compression and volume balance applied by the various streaming platforms
- Inadequate audio remixing for films played in a home theater setting or on mobile devices, where the audio playback capabilities of the various setups strongly differ from each other and from cinema settings
Live sound
References
- ISBN 0-240-80456-2.
- ^ Pearson, Ben (2021-11-30). "Here's Why Movie Dialogue Has Gotten More Difficult To Understand (And Three Ways To Fix It)". SlashFilm.com. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
- ^ "Mixing Principles". Leonard Audio Institute. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
- ^ Tim Crosby (28 April 2008). "How Live Sound Engineering Works". HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
Further reading
- Rose, Jay, ISBN 978-0-415-72207-0
- Davis, G. and Davis, G.D. and Jones, R. and Corporation, Y.I. (1989). The Sound Reinforcement Handbook. Recording and Audio Technology Series. Hal Leonard. ISBN 9780881889000.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Izhaki, R. (2013). Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781136114229.