Sound Equipment

....gross stuff, along with other embarrasing efforts at producing commercials and industrials, but thankfully for cable TV and other viewers, this didn't last long.

A lifelong fascination with radio and electronics led him to quit cable tv and get hired as an air talent on FM music radio in Dallas, back when they still played vinyl records and CD's (digital!) and he attended loads of rock concerts and other local events for free, the air staff even had a (terrible) band and played gigs in psuedo-celebrity style. He is still curiously obsessed with all things radio... About the same time, Sally contributed part of a small inheritance to buy a tiny 2 VHF wireless/boom mic/3 channel mixer package (thanks, Sally).

And so Pete was able to chisel-out some freelance sound work on 2-person video crews- shooting tabloid tv, network news features, tragedies, hurricanes, gossip column ambushes, gawker pieces and miles and miles of video interviews of no significance, where he struggled to stay awake and seriously questioned his career choices. The pay was about $250/day with gear and some overtime after 10 hours. The work was pretty scarce, as he was an unkown freelance soundie and the 4 or 6 "established" mixers in Dallas did not cotton to his desire to participate among them.

Then through his old cable tv boss (RIP Jeff), Pete was randomly introduced to the strange, circus-like world of feature film production when hired as an technical assistant to his old boss on the first Robocop movie, shot in Dallas in 1986. Pete helped perform a technical trick virtually unknown outside of Hollywood and now mostly obsolete. The setup simply prevented a tv set or computer from "flickering" when either device appeared in a filmed movie scene shot at 24 frames per second. You see, a TV screen "runs" at 29.97 fps and...oh, never mind. Pete was almost as fascinated with the technicality and circus-like crew existence of movie production as he was the mysteries of radio. He worked the "24-frame video" service, video assist for film, and even some sound recording on over 40 major feature films that shot in Texas over those years- this was the "Gov. Ann Richards era" and beyond. At the same time, Pete absorbed some valuable savvy in location sound work for big-budget, high profile narrative studio films. Hollywood sent top production mixers to Texas for the films, and a lucky few endured Pete's constant brain-picking and hours spent meddling in the sound crew's affairs. Pete dd get to hang around some truly masterful New York and Hollywood production sound legends, and they were mostly pretty forthcoming with their secrets. And some were assholes. At times.

He even got a full, dress-down scolding from (then) big time director Oliver Stone, in front of the whole shooting crew of JFK (1991), including actors Kevin Costner and Sissy Spacek, as they ate the melting prop ice cream and waited for Oliver's tirade and the reset from AD Joe Reidy, another veteran New York crewperson, now a big producer, The giants were everywhere. Pete's video equipment suddenly lost AC power and the TV playing in the scene went dark. More wasted film on the floor. It was only fair, as Oliver was in a flu-and-medication-induced furor, a sweaty bandanna twisted around his head. Later Stone stood next to Pete at the honeywagon urinals and made some nice small talk, like it never happened..but it felt like a rite of passage...oh wait,sorry, distracted.....

So when back in Dallas, Pete advanced slightly to mixing higher budget corporate/industrial shoots, infomercials and documentaries and the like, eventually paying the $10000 "barrier for entry" to record sound on 16 and 35mm film jobs, purchasing the required stereo time code Nagra recorder and time code slate- used, but still around $10k in 1992. Along with really good wireless from this new player called Lectrosonics. The TC Nagra was the "ticket" he needed, showing the other mixers that he was serious enough for occassional referrals on some local commercials, corporate films (Mary Kay shot tons), music videos, and also 2nd unit and splinter unit day playing on episodics. Eventually he mixed on some Texas-shot features, all of them forgettable. But fun and interesting work. One could bet if he moved to LA, he would have gone big-time, but a wife and kids ruled that out. CBS offered to send him on the road for 60 minutes, for six figures in 1993, on the road all year. Nope.

Something about shooting on film is really engaging. If a take's no good, its a waste of expensive film and production money straight to the trash. Production bought only so much film, so it was a daily gamble that the work would get finished using the budgeted film stock. Shooting on film raised the stakes, shooting on videotape was boring by comparison. Eventually the technology developed as such that Pete stopped noticing, it was all worth his best effort. But film is still fun. The slate clap really matters and all that. Anyway, career wise, it took many years of Pete banging on the door for admission inside the small circle of "established" Dallas sound mixers doing high-end agency commercials and other bigger things on film. Pete made a decent living on the other mixer's "leavings," getting hired only when 3 or 4 other heavy-hitters were unavailable. To be fair, then and now, there's lots "at stake" on large commercial shoots, where entire agencies have been fired over a divisive comment overheard on the comteks. Production managers are very leary of hiring anyone who's not firmly established at the top of the pile. Nobody wants to be fingered for hiring a worker who makes some kind of error on the job. Personality and popularity is equally important as experience. Regardless enough work came in to help to pay the bills for Pete's then-new family.

Strangely around the same time, He fell into lots of early reality tv production that needed lots of wireless mics and agility with a bag rig. The established mixers frowned upon reality work- on your feet all day, for days, hauling a heavy rig and a boom pole, and no call sheets or Starbuck runs or craft service. What they didn't know was all the reality rental income paid great, and there was no stress of "no-error" feature and commercial film work. Reality shows shoot for 10 hours to capture 10 interesting enough minutes. So Pete made (and saved) a lot of income mixing reality shows- cooking, cage fighting, endurance games, childbirths (I witnessed about 25 childbirths- who can say that?), hunting, law enforcement, ambushes, races/competitions, teenagers, babies, parents and teenage parents, cosmetic surgeries, weapons fans and experts, drug addicts and alcoholics, survivalists, risky/unlawful activities, weddings, divorces, funeral homes, morticians, crematoriums, medical examiners, city morgues, hospital emergency floors, various night shift work, homeless/street people, extreme obesity, city and rural poverty.... But eventually, reality sound was commandeered by rental houses, junior staff mixers and quantity shoot day buy-outs. Need sound? Give 'em a call. Somebody's always waiting on the couch and will come over with some audio stuff...

Anyway, Pete has accrued hundreds of credits on national and local commercial campaigns, enough narrative/episodic credits that he cared to do (its blood money), thousands of shoot days rolling sound, and has travelled the world recording people doing unusual things in strange and wonderful places. He has no intention of stopping, voluntarily, anyway. It's really fun to deliver great work.

...Wait,this is supposed to be the equipment page. So, I'll leave some cautionary words to the wise: There is currently a great influx of "pro-sumer" sound equipment being used by many less-experienced mixers-for-hire, as top-level gear is very expensive. It's not obvious untill the gear fails on the job, which may take a while. Brands like Saramonic, Deity, Zoom, Rode, even Sony has entry level wireless microphones meant for consumers, infulencers, wedding videographers, schools, etc. Poorly designed wireless products are imported at a rate that overwhelms FCC regulators trying to police our dwindling available RF spectrum. In addition to unreliability, these wireless toys interfere with our live event and theatrical PA systems, press events, live broadcasts, emergency services, even your production wi-fi.

Don't hire a mixer with anything less than what is built for the rigors of day-in, day-out, high-value productions (like yours). Location sound problems often don't reveal themselves until the audio files reach the editor. Missing data, drifting sync, distortion, rf hits, its all a secret untill it hits editorial. Hire and pay for only the best equipment available. Its simple to ask what's the going purchase price for a channel of the wireless they are bringing to your job. It should be at least about $3500 a channel. Check for wireless brands like Sound Devices (they also make wireless), Zaxcom, Lectrosonics, Wysycom. Recorders should be from Sound Devices, Zaxcom, or Aaton. Brands like Deity, Zoom, Saramonic Rode or DJI do not belong on a pofessional production.....

I better stop here, I have a shoot in the morning.

But I can't resist! Through the magic of the internet, here's a video I made for a Dallas psychiatric hospital, actually five of them, all shot on one Sunday afternoon, for $500 each, including stolen music and Sally.

-by Pete Verrando