Sony Oxford Plug-Ins give feature mixer Meyerson the edge.

Alan Meyerson has mixed the film scores of dozens of Hollywood blockbusters, from Pirates of the Caribbean to Pearl Harbour. At the outset of The Last Samurai, another of his string of successful collaborations with award-winning mixer Hans Zimmer, Meyerson found himself puzzled when a Pro Tools mix he'd just completed sounded decidedly "wimpy" when played on Zimmer's "identical" system. Disappointed at the disparity, Meyerson asked what could have made the difference. "Sony's Oxford EQ Plug-In," came Zimmer's response.

From that point on Meyerson became a Sony Plug-In convert. "I've been incredibly busy this past month, working back-to-back on ‘Shrek 2’ and ‘Man on Fire’ starring Denzel Washington, he says. "The scores of those two films couldn't have been more dissimilar.  "Shrek was synth-based, extremely complex and incorporated an incredible number of tracks.  The variety of drum and guitar loops for example, was dizzying. Instead of pumping up the volume, I used the Sony Oxford TransMod to add subtle details and emphasize their peculiarities and presence. The composer had incorporated a wide array of drums, toms, ethnic, etc., there was a tremendous amount of diversity in the mix. Sony's TransMod and Inflator plug-in's enabled me to pop some of those loops thru the tracks without altering the balance, increasing the apparent level or narrowing the scale. The impact and magic of the overall composition was greatly enhanced."

The music for "Man On Fire", was far more orchestral. Favouring a heavily processed approach for this organic score, he relied on the Sony Inflator plug-in. "It was ideal for this project," he explains, "I used the Inflator on the piano and bass to accentuate their veracity without saddling them with a disproportionate volume. There's been a great deal of concern in recent years about unnecessary loudness, and the Inflator enables me to keep the tracks alive without blowing them out of proportion. Sony’s Oxford plug-ins have greatly expanded my ability to bring out the best sound for a score. Their flexibility and range are amazing !"

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