Question 1

What is the single biggest suggestion you would give to someone wanting to get into this career?

Andres de la Torre · Accepted Answer

“A Re-recording Mixer is a very technical position but it also requires a lot of creativity. The best stories don’t always have the most money so choosing what kinds of films rising Re-recording Sound Mixers want to do is important.
“There is no right answer. It’s a question of personal fulfillment and paying the rent. Sometimes taking a big commercial film will enable the Re-recording Mixer to give a better rate on an interesting independent project that is a passion project.”

Question 2

What’s the #1 mistake people make when trying to get into this career?

Andres de la Torre · Accepted Answer

“The biggest mistake people make when trying to break into the re-recording mixing field is to abide by certain rules. Things don’t sound different until they sound different and individuals should try to break the mold and push the art form. It’s easy to let the technical aspects of the job supersede the artistry.
“Remember, the audience doesn’t share the same constraints. They don’t know what is deemed ‘right.’ Viewers just hear what they hear and make the decision whether they like it or not. Don’t get sucked into emulating someone else.”

Question 3

What is the question people should ask about this career but rarely do?

Andres de la Torre · Accepted Answer

“What makes you passionate about re-recording mixing?
“The most inspiring thing about sound is its illusory qualities. The soundscape of a film is the most subliminal tool a filmmaker has to affect his or her audience’s brain and control their emotions. They literally feel the effects of it on their bodies and change their opinion on what is being seen.
“That can be very intriguing because it becomes a sort of dance with the subconscious. To witness the power of sound, watch a horror film with an upbeat soundtrack and suddenly it becomes a comedy.”

Question 4

What is one thing I should have asked which I didn’t?

Andres de la Torre · Accepted Answer

“What could a student do to train at home to become a Re-recording Mixer?
“The best sort of self-training for an aspiring Re-recording Mixer would be to slowly build a home studio. Through the process of acquiring gear and researching how to set it up, they’ll learn a lot about acoustics. Listening to sounds in space will teach them how air is pushed at different frequencies. When it’s time to work on a larger project, they can take that knowledge into a professional theater space.
“Additionally, creating a home studio will give them the capacity to take on independent films that have a budget which won’t pay for a large space and [this will help them] gain more practical experience earlier in their career. The more an aspiring Re-recording Mixer practices and understands the theory of what they’re doing, the better they’ll become.”

Question 5

If you could describe in one word what makes you successful, what would it be?

Andres de la Torre · Accepted Answer

“Reliability.”

Question 6

What does a Re-recording Mixer do?

Anna Keizer · Accepted Answer

A Re-recording Mixer is a post-production professional who takes all the many different audio tracks for a film, including the dialogue, score, and sound effects, and balances them to create a coherent and sonically pleasing audio track for the final film.

Question 7

How much does a Re-recording Mixer make?

Anna Keizer · Accepted Answer

The salary of a Re-recording Mixer can vary according to multiple factors, including their experience, union status, number of gigs they get in a given year, and the overall budgets of the projects they take on. A veteran Re-recording Mixer who has union membership can make upwards of $150,000 in a given year. For someone relatively new to the profession, they might make closer to $30,000 in a year even with regular work.

Question 8

Why is it called Re-recording Mixer?

Anna Keizer · Accepted Answer

A person is called a Re-recording Mixer because they are taking tracks that have already been recording either on set or in a post-production facility and merging them together in a new recording that balances all their many audio components to create a sonically pleasing soundtrack to the film.

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Re-recording Mixer