Dallas Location Sound Mixer Pete Verrando

If it matters who shows up to mix your project:

Or..."please allow me to go on about..."

Hiring crew can be a very personalized and individualistic thing. Or not. Personality, presentability, attitude can matter. Just like skill, experience and all that. Maybe you want a certain level of experience, attitude, speed and whatever else. And maybe not! That's fine too. Some jobs it matters. Because these days, here's what often happens. Sound ops are often alt-universe gearheads, along with varying levels of the right stuff.

Say you're not from here, but you've got referrals. Or you google "Dallas+location+sound+mixer" to see who pops up. There's also ProductionHub.com. Maybe you don't have a preference, you just want the "best available" to hold your days.

Some calls are instantly available for all of your days, even if you're not sure what the days are yourself. They have all the gear, the price is right, or very negotiable. What you don't hear is: "I will hold your days," Or, whatever is the person's most honest commitment they can make. If its conditional, fine, but they should say so. Instead, they'll say "We will hold your days!" and then shift to chat mode.

Translation: It's unlikey this person will end up on your job. They don't know who will be available. They have other bookings and holds on your days, but they want to book you now to lock in the gear rental. Or you are now a backup in case other gigs cancel (or visa-versa). Most importantly, they've stopped you from looking any further.

You are being "floated" as your dates approach. They juggle other calls, holds, and firms with their "stable"- staff, freelance, interns for the easy jobs. So maybe that sound person you called first, for that "right" combination of stuff, is spinning many plates, and you are the next plate. Who ends up mixing your job is "who-ever." And very likely they'll be fine, after all, sound can indeed be a "firemans" job. But the mixer you called first, who said "We'll hold", is doing just that- holding. Holding out for the best paying, or highest-profile job, or the best for repeat business.

Or maybe they won't do any of that. Maybe they'll immediately go on-hold for your job. If they have to shift later, they'll bounce you to an associate-friend-staff-intern. They'll do it a couple of days before, when you're too busy to search elsewhere. You're a little put-out, but not much. You trust them to send you an equal, who checks all the boxes. Who ultimately shows up? An unknown quantity in experience and personality? Maybe, maybe not. But hey, it'll be OK because your job is simple and doesn't require much anyway. You just need a mixer with the gear. Like the plumbing company who comes into your house and uncloggs your toilet. Regardless of the impression he makes, he will do the job and be out of there quickly anyway. No harm done.

If that's what you need, awesome. Just realize, maybe you're being, like "triaged," based on their idea of whats important. But maybe that's ok! Every job is different.

I am fortunate to have many regular clients, relationships we have built over years. Call me for me, and that's who shows up. Regardless of how "easy" the shoot may be, sometimes it matters. ...And sometimes its just like airlines over-booking seats. As long as your butt's in a chair, man.

by Pete Verrando

Warning, warning...location sound advice

I meet lots of sound people who ask me lots of questions. If that's you, awesome, call me, I love to engage. But the following is just a preface. If I had to do a (long) elevator pitch about the day-to-day of this job, it'd be:

Don't assume the cam's audio/TC settings are correctly set. Check the menus during setup. When setting up audio sends to cams, plug into the cam HP output (if there is one). Don't just look at the meters, they won't reveal gain issues or hum. If the cam has audio switches and level pots, tape them down so the cam dept doesn't bump or change them. Check during the day that cam dept hasn't pulled your cables/messed with your settings. It will happen. Have multiple TC/audio cables for all the cameras. They're cheap, spend the money. Don't assume or depend on cam dept to have them. Watch out for timecode drift. Regardless of what camera dept did on the shoot, it is you they will be blaming in post. Do a sound report whenever possible. Add some notes. Label your tracks. Let them know a report is with your files. 98% wont care, 2% will find you extraordinary for doing it, and may become your most reliable clients.

You see how committed the Director or DP is? The good ones are 100% committed to the work, all day long, from job start to finish, and over dinner afterwards. Be that way for sound. Don't zone out, death scroll, pay lip service, b.s. or overwhelm. You're hired, they're paying you. So just genuinely commit to the project. Pick your battles, & let most of them go. Forget righteousness, never make anyone "wrong" about anything. If you win and they lose, then you lose too. What counts most towards your long-term value as a sound person, on the job, is every personal interaction you have with everyone else, over tens or 100's or 1000's of shoot days. It counts more than sound wizardry, charm, or an impressive display of gear. All over time. Your value as a crew member only increases (or decreases) over time. Be ready for the long haul.

Speaking of gear, you are being paid well for the gear you provide. New or used, this year's or last, bring only the most proven, reliable, premium-grade, bug-resolved gear built by companies with a massive commitment to supplying gear to this profession. Even then, bring backups of everything. Know every part intimately, instinctively. Your clients are not paying you to be an early adopter, beta tester or youtube reviewer. Gear designed as an afterthough by a far-off company who makes all kinds of unrelated stuff is not worthy of your client's rental budget. Anything "prosumer" that is not battle-tested or universally accepted has no place in a package for which you are taking your client's money.

Pete's big picture stuff: No equipment will ever compensate for a lack of confidence or mastery or ability to personally connect with the other people on every job, every day. Bad shoot days are when you are missing the larger perspective. This will not last forever. So as long as you're stuck there, all these amazing people around you who are like you, maybe pick one, ask what's happening with them. If they talk, listen and make them feel heard. I go for one person a day. You are really lucky to get paid while doing this unusual & creative work. There's a good chance millions of people will hear it, see it, and be affected by it. You can't say that about real estate! And those people are generally intrigued and mystified about your job. You can't say that about I.T.! Isn't that cool? Anyway, just make good use of this short time while you still can. One day will be your last shoot day.

By Pete Verrando

Shooting Sync Sound with mini-plug input devices

Various small format cameras like the DJI Ronin, the DJI Osmo, Sony FX3, GoPros Reds, and others continue to show up on set, and they've shown up in quantity, sometimes with 4 or 5 cameras on the job. I typically send high quality wireless audio reference tracks to several of them at once, often with different mixes going to each. My wireless receivers are compact, lightweight, and can ride on the hot shoe of the camera. However, regardless of the robust audio I can deliver directly to the DLSR, Double System Sound is a must for DSLR audio work.

Why Double System Sound is Essential

As most production companies have discovered, it is essential that DSLR and virtually every other camera format be shot double system sound. That is, the sound should be recorded to a separate, high quality audio recorder, and never to the camera (or device) only. Here's just a few reasons why:

1. The mini audio input jack is prone to developing problems. Dirt ingress and torquing from the mini plug can cause it to fault without warning. The input jack is held in place only by solder junctions on the circuit board. Just a few spots of tin and lead! DSLRs only accept mic level audio, at a very specific level for optimum signal-to-noise ratio. If the inputs are not set exactly right, the resulting audio will be to low-level and noisy, or too hot. Red's on-board audio quality is unpredictable, and many bizarre audio artifacts may be heard in the headphone output along with the desired audio signal, requiring a re-boot to eliminate.
2. Unlike professional video cameras, the sound man cannot check the DSLR for audio confidence during a shot. Only before, or after. If you are missing audio, you'll only know after the action's over!
3. Especially in documentary situations, camera operators are prone to inadvertently pulling the mini-plugs off the DSLR in mid-shot. There's no "click" or screw connection to keep them in.

Using a separate recorder such as my Zaxcom 10-track allows you to isolate all those talent wireless on to their own separate tracks, with superior audio quality. It also allows the use of time code and metadata to identify takes, and create sound reports. The wireless audio links I use add extra power to auto-sync software such as PluralEyes. With this software, audio can be automatically sync'd-up with the picture files. However, a reasonably robust audio track must be sent directly to the DLSR that matches the production audio. The internal camera mic can serve this purpose, but only if it is in "earshot" of the action you're recording.

-By Pete Verrando

So who's asking?

A little more biographical information at the bottom on the gear page.