Tis the awards season—as evidenced by the front-page stories this week on the Clio and Belding competitions.
So now we have just what the industry needs: another award. But that thinly veiled, oft-warranted sarcasm doesn’t apply in the case of the Association of Music Producers (AMP) West Coast chapter decision to institute an annual honor in recognition of the art and craft of audio mixing.
AMP West Coast chapter members selected two finalists for "Los Angeles Mixer of the Year 2000": Jimmy Hite, chief engineer/mixer at Margarita Mix de Santa Monica; and Jeff Payne, principal/mixer of Santa Monica-based Eleven.
Hite won the honor earlier this month (see story, p. 7). The inaugural award was presented during an informal ceremony right after the AMP chapter’s first annual West Coast Golf Tournament at the Malibu Country Club.
Helping to organize the golf event and the audio mixer award was national AMP board member Elizabeth Myers, a partner/ composer at Trivers/Myers Music, Manhattan Beach, Calif. "We wanted to recognize the audio post mixer, who turns out the end result of our work," explained Myers. "That is a part of the business that’s so integrally important, yet often overlooked."
Myers reasoned that the audio mixer award added an extra-meaningful dimension to the golf tournament, a social event which brought together artisans from the music, sound design and ad agency creative communities. The tongue-partially-in-cheek inscription on Hite’s trophy relates AMP’s "thanks for playing the music loud."
"A mixer has to balance such elements as voiceover, sound effects and music—and there’s the balance of being able to reinforce the power of the music while being sensitive to the direction that the ad agency wants to take," observed Myers. By spotlighting the "Los Angeles Mixer of the Year," she related, "we’re calling attention to the important contributions of that artist and the overall craft."
Hite’s roost, Margarita Mix de Santa Monica, is part of the L.A. Studios Inc. family of audio post houses, which also consists of Margarita Mix de Hollywood; Zona Playa, Santa Monica; and L.A. Studios, Hollywood. Hite is a fitting recipient of the first annual AMP West Coast honor, not only for his longstanding industry track record, but also when one reflects back upon a "Your Shot" authored by L.A. Studios Inc. president Jesse P. Meli two summers ago.
Titled "The Bastard Stepchild Of Post," Meli’s "Your Shot" read: "Audio post mixers are truly the unsung heroes of postproduction. Their highly tuned ears enable them to detect sounds that most people don’t hear, allowing them to optimize the way a spot resonates once it airs. … The effectiveness of an advertisement is just as much due to good audio as it is to good video—and in the case of radio advertising (the redheaded bastard stepchild of the bastard stepchild of postproduction), an effective mix is vital."
In his column, Meli recalled: "When I transitioned from the video post world to work in audio post, my peers asked me why I was downsizing my career. In truth, I gained a tremendous amount of respect for this industry and the incredible talent I am able to work with on a daily basis. Audio mixers not only require a highly trained musical ear, but they must also be technically dexterous to keep up with the pace of the latest and greatest gear."
Noting that audio post is "most often neglected in industry awards," Meli wrote that the talent of audio mixers "should not be undervalued."
