tel: 818-882-3300      john@command-post.com

How do you produce a superior mix at a lower cost?

Mixing can be as simple or as infinitely complex a process as you want it to be — witness the mixing consoles used by major studios that approach seven figures in their cost. The Untouchables is reputed to be the longest mix on record, with 6 months spent on the mixing stage alone. 

At Command Post, the construction of your soundtrack is an intimate process. Command Post will mix your film with the extremely powerful combination of Protools Mix Plus and the 02R digital mixing console. In addition to moving fader automation and all digital signal paths, this combination features automated mixing in two surround formats;  a variety of programmable processors on upwards of a hundred tracks,  4 band, fully-parametric, automated eq of both the original source tracks as well as each of the surround stems; and powerful outboard processors from legendary companies such as Lexicon and Eventide. 

As always, the most important consideration is the amount of detail you require in your soundtrack versus the dollars you wish to spend. Once the tracks are built and premixed, some people can get the final polish mix they want in an 8 hour day (generally the absolute minimum for acceptable results); for others, the same mix may take 3 or 6 days or much more.

It is important to understand that Command Post's approach to preparing your soundtrack is different from other, larger facilities. John C. Graves will personally conform, edit and mix your entire production. This can have advantages over the "farm out" approach traditionally used in the industry, a process inherited from decades of mag film workmanship, but no longer entirely relevant in this digital age. John takes direct and personal responsibility for all your elements, and nothing is locked in until the last frame of the final mix is complete. You can change or add an effect, music cue, or change dialogue editorially even in the last phase of your mix. 

Furthermore, when you come in for your final mixing session with mix engineer John, he knows implicitly where all the elements are, unlike your average sound house -- the mixers come onto the scene cold, with little if any familiarity with all the track elements, grapple with a number of disparate elements. Consequently, a traditional mix takes much longer to perform. When you come to Command Post for your final mix, you will participate in a polishing session with all the elements and sound effects already at their appropriate levels. The Command Post mix experience is less about coffee and phone calls and more about tweaking and equalizing your story. This is because 95 percent of the hard work of mixing has already occurred in the editorial/premix stage. 

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