Mixing sound is a balancing act, especially for film and TV. With 39 years of industry experience, Emmy Award-winning re-recording mixer Frank Morrone knows this as well as anyone.
Re-recording mixers, also known as sound mixers or soundtrack mixers, are post-production engineers who balance the different elements of film and TV sound. They need to precisely blend dialog, music, background noise, sound effects and more.
Talented re-recording mixers create a seamless audio-visual experience for viewers. Without a quality re-recording mixer, you may be left with issues like inaudible actors and distracting background noise—things that can take the audience out of the moment and ruin the immersive experience of watching a TV show or movie.
Perhaps best known for his work on the long-running hit TV show Lost as well as high-profile films including Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow and Ron Howard’s Ransom, Morrone has hundreds of credits under his belt. He also boasts dozens of award nominations and several wins, including Emmy Awards for his work on Lost and The Kennedys. He’s even served as President of the Motion Picture Sound Editors in addition to holding several other high-ranking roles in the industry.
With that kind of experience, Morrone knows what it takes to get a great mix for film and TV. And to do that, he needs to listen on devices that provide incredible frequency response, detail and dynamics.
Since he can’t always work on a full speaker setup, he says it’s “crucial and critical” for him to have an appropriate alternative. “I’ve always used closed-back headphones,” Morrone told us during a recent visit to his studio. Until he was introduced to UE PREMIER, that is.
“Ultimate Ears PREMIER really delivers,” he tells us. “They make those closed headphones I was using obsolete now. With a frequency response from 5 Hz to 40 kHz, you can hear everything—and it’s accurate. That, to me, is absolutely critical. I couldn’t be happier.”
Precision is the single most important thing for Marrone. Getting it right the first time is essential for a project’s success. “I need a really, really accurate system to reference, and I have to know it’s right,” he explains.
Film and TV projects are always on tight deadlines, so it’s important that whatever he mixes offline will sound equally good on his full speaker setup in his studio. Any unexpected readjustments can put him, and the project as a whole, behind schedule.
Portability and comfort are also important to Marrone. “[UE PREMIER] is much easier to carry. I can work on a plane and feel very comfortable with them,” he relates. That comfort is largely thanks to the handcrafted custom fit of Ultimate Ears Pro in-ear monitors. “The Ultimate Ears team really are craftspeople,” he says.
Morrone also voiced his appreciation for the dedication that Ultimate Ears Pro has for world-class audio experiences. “When you find a product like UE PREMIER, the other important thing is the service and the support you get. The people at UE Pro are passionate about what they do. They want input, they want to make the product better and they’re always open to ideas.” Coming from Morrone, that’s quite the compliment.
Whether he’s mixing hit TV shows and movies or platinum-selling albums, Frank Morrone trusts UE PREMIER to deliver accurate, dynamic and nuanced sound. Ready to explore a new dimension of sound? Try UE PREMIER for yourself.