Regional Sound Mixer Profiles: Volume Two!

• Alan Sawyer (Virginia)
• Phil Arnold (Tennessee)
• Greg Linton (Georgia)
• Kevin Van Bakel (Kentucky)

Alan Sawyer

Alan Sawyer has 22 years experience as a sound mixer, and works mostly in the Richmond/Norfolk production market.  He says he likes “working around so many talented and gifted people on both sides of the camera”.

Recently Alan did a 14-week series for ShowTime called “Lines”, which has the distinction of being the first series shot 3-Camera Super-16 in a four wall set.   Alan says his favorite project also had to do with the subject of 16mm.   Called “Power of Sixteen”, it was the only film Kodak has ever made about film.

Alan’s gear includes a Sonosax Mixer, Sennheiser Mkh60 and Schoeps CMC4/41 mics, and the Fostex PD-4.

As Alan ponders the future of digital recording, he says it is going to be an interesting problem “figuring out how we’re going to store all these ones and zeros”.

Phil Arnold

Phil Arnold has been recording sound for the Nashville film and video production for over thirty years. Like many mixers, Phil does a fair amount of travelling, and says what he likes most is “going places and being involved with unusual circumstances”.

His recorder of choice is the Nagra IV-STC. Phil’s mic collection includes Beyer and Sanken shotguns. He uses a Sony MXP-42 Mixer.

Phil’s favorite project was “Songs of the Civil War”. Recently he worked on “A Dog’s Life” for The Discovery Channel.

Phil is expecting digital television to be the next big thing to influence our business.

On his wish list, Phil is holding out for a Digital 24-bit 96Khz portable recorder as soon as somebody makes one. We have a feeling that Phil will not have to wait long.

Greg Linton

In Greg Linton’s seventeen years as a location sound mixer, he has seen many changes. “It seems to me” Greg says, “that the old adage ‘the more things change, the more things stay the same’ has a familiar ring in our business. As things change rapidly technologically, the basic concept of getting good usable tracks remains the same.”

“I like the challenge” Greg reflects, “of working in the changing technical arena and keeping up with how the procedures work through post, but I feel very good about the fact that my experience is still what I rely on most to get the tracks recorded in the first place.” Greg gives as an example a sync challenge on a recent job where the 16mm camera had to run at a rate to match a computer monitor, causing the frame rate to be 30.160 frames per second. “Also, staying ahead of the game on an organizational level, taking good notes, etcetera, is also a time-tested part of the business that can’t be disregarded based on technological advances.”

Greg works primarily in the Atlanta area.  His recent projects include the Bill Moyers special “Close to Home: Bill Moyers on Addiction,” and an Episcopal Church Evensong service for stereo broadcast on National Public Radio. Greg’s mainstays are Documentaries, Independent Features, TV and Industrial Videos. “I try to avoid ENG”, he says.

Greg’s recorder of choice is the HHB PDR100TC. He uses Sennheiser MKH Series, Schoeps CMC Series and Audio Technica 4000 Series mics. His lavs are Sankens. Greg chooses his SQN-3, PSC M4A+, or Mackie 1402VLZ for mixing. Greg is interested in Sanken’s new CS3 shotgun mic, and is interested in hearing Beyer’s new lavalieres.

When Greg is not out on location working, he is using his workmanship restoring an old house.

“I think that a conversion to a newer recording medium, possibly hard disk, will be the next big change once the post houses commonly convert to it”. Greg finds the DEVA portable hard disk recorder interesting in that respect. “But it’s still most interesting to me to see how stable the basics are!”

Kevin Van Bakel

Louisville, Kentucky is home for sound mixer Kevin Van Bakel.  He records sound for commercials, industrials, ENG, and does quite a bit of sports sound.   He has been recording audio for the past 12 years.

Kevin uses the HHB Portadat, along with either a Sonosax or Yamaha PM4000 mixer.   His mics are the Sennheiser MKH60 and Schoeps w/Mk41.  He uses Trams for lavalier mics.

Recently Kevin was recording commentary while riding on a roller coaster for an NPR story.  “I just had to hold on for my life and hope everything would stay together,” he says.

Working on Basketball games is Kevin’s favorite assignment. “It’s fast, exciting, and over in two hours,” he explains.  “It’s not an office.”

Kevin recently visited Trew Audio and updated his equipment package with Lectrosonics “frequency agile” UCR-200’s and plans to add a new Cooper mixer in the near future.