Sweetening, Mixing, and Composing ?

[Danstin Studios]

I'm not necessarily interested in getting into these fields, but I don't have a dedicated sound person, so I'm looking to learn how to do these. I've downloaded a ton of different freeware, as I don't really have a lot of money(does anyone out there?). I have Audacity, Mixxx(for ADR), Acid Express Pro 5.0(There's a free version), WavePad, and several other programs. I have basic experience doing live mixing for theatre events, and I just recently volunteered to mix for my church, we have a monthly concert event, hoping to gain on the job experience . I have been looking for places with information about sweetening, or live mixing, or how to compose sound effects or even soundtracks using loop-based programs. Filmsound seems to have mainly articles on specific movies, and everything I have seen is way to technical for me to understand. Is there anything out there? I appreciate your help

 

[Bob Kessler]

For live sound you can check out the live sound forum at recording.org:

http://www.recording.org/forum-32.html

They also cover using some of the softwares you listed for recording.

 

[Danstin Studios]

Thanks Uncle Bob. I guess I've been spoiled by how many online resources there are out there for filmmaking. So far everywhere I've looked there are only purely technical information.

 

[Bob Kessler]

Re-recording (postproduction sound mix) is a true artform. It requires great ears, great speakers and a great room. The most difficult part is translation - it has to sound good in 5.1, stereo and mono and has to sound good in the theatre, at home (with an infinite combination of speakers, rooms, etc.) portable DVD players and even PCs.

Of course, if you have bad sound to begin with no amount of "fixing in the mix" is going to make the soundtrack sound great.

Indie films live and die on the sound, something most indie directors/producers don't think about until it is much too late.