Pro Techniques from Philip Loeb

Pro Techniques 10.2003

By Randy Alberts


	Check out Sound Lounge's coolfunky website: www.soundlounge.com

Phillip Loeb is the one of the advertising industry's most talented mixers. As a longtime ProControl user, he is also a very special member of the Digidesign family. "I began using ProControl a few months after it was released," says Loeb, one of a team of award-winning engineers at Sound Lounge in New York, arguably the top mixing facility in the advertising business. "The other day I was upgrading my ProControl's monitor section, and the support person I spoke with was surprised by the serial number of my system. I think it's one of the first hundred or so produced by Digidesign."

The Lounge's Starting Lineup Uses ProControl
Did you see the Cast Away spin-off ad for FedEx, the Danny DeVito spots for Lipton, or the hilarious Budweiser commercial about the horse football game where a cowboy calls the zebra ref a "jackass"? How about that epic spot for Sony about the guy investing his fortune in a ride on a Russian space station, all set to a remake of CSNY's "Carry On"? All were mixed at Sound Lounge. In fact, of all the spots that have appeared on Super Bowl broadcasts over the last ten years, Sound Lounge mixed nearly one in four. Sampling the QuickTime gallery on the company's website is like taking an archival journey through the best in American advertising.

Sound Lounge recently completed a two million dollar upgrade to its facility, adding, among other things, three state-of-the-art mixing suites, giving the company a total of eight. Each new studio is anchored by a Pro Tools|HD system, and each system is set up for both television mixes and radio production. Loeb mans a mixing suite in the company's original thirteenth floor facility featuring a Pro Tools system with a 16-fader ProControl with Edit Pack. His systems are fitted into an integrated Forecast Console work surface. The suite was designed to fit Loeb's personal mixing style, putting him front-and-center in the action.

"This studio design with the ProControl keeps me in close proximity to my clients," says Loeb. "Advertising is a collaborative art, and I want my clients to be a part of that process. It should be easy to talk and exchange ideas."

Sound Lounge has been providing audio post-production services to the ad industry since 1997. One of Philip's fellow mixers, Tom Jucarone, mixed the facility's first Emmy Award-winning spot. Each month, Sound Lounge engineers such as Peter Holcomb, Rob Sayers, Rob DiFondi, Eric Warzecha, and Keith Reynaud mix soundtracks for scores of national television spots, working with the best and biggest advertising agencies in the world. A big part of that work is carried out in direct touch with a ProControl.

"Jog and Shuttling" Audio
" ProControl is invaluable in mixing spots," says Loeb, who took a break from his current session to chat with DigiZine. "My job would be impossible without it. ProControl allows me to accomplish many tasks simultaneously. For example, I can grab six or eight faders at a time without using a mouse. I have also found that ProControl's jog and shuttle wheel works better than the [corresponding] tool in the Edit window."

Pro Technique 1 —
Flipping ProControl Faders to Ride Gain and Create Manual EQ Sweeps
Sound Lounge engineers commonly integrate dozens of dialog, music, and sound design elements for any given television commercial. Because these elements arrive from different sources, input gain levels may vary widely. Loeb finds it easy to work with such disparate elements by operating ProControl in "Flip" mode.

"To engage 'Flip' mode, I select a plug-in and press Flip and Control on the ProControl simultaneously," Loeb explains. "The faders in the main unit then control the various parameters for the selected plug-in. In this mode, I can automate any of the parameters simultaneously, and manually create great EQ sweeps with the ProControl faders. But the parameter that I find most valuable is the input or output gain of the first plug-in on the channel strip. I can adjust the gain to create a pre-mix of the sound elements before I apply EQ or dynamics. Sometimes, this level adjustment alone prevents me from overusing EQ or dynamics."

Pro Technique 2 —
Replacing a Stopwatch with a ProControl and an Edit Pack
Sound Lounge often records voiceovers for commercials, and part of the mixer's role in a recording session is to man the stopwatch. Whether recording a 1.3-second voice punch-in or a 5-second end tag, it's the mixer's job to make sure a take doesn't go too far over for even the best time compression plug-in to fix. The problem with this task is that it requires a free hand to operate the stopwatch — a hand that a mixer, in the midst of a session where time is money, usually can't spare.

"In the past, I would hold the stopwatch in one hand and write with the other while attempting to control the workstation transport between the two," Loeb says. "Thankfully, ProControl has eliminated the need for a stopwatch. I simply use the In and Out buttons on the front of ProControl, and it automatically notes in the Edit Pack the length of the take. When we record multiple takes, I can easily compare their length. It simplifies and speeds the process of recording voiceovers. ProControl saves me a hand."