INTERVIEW WITH EDMOND ALLMOND
A
COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGNER FROM THE BEACH CITIES OF LOS ANGELES
========
Conversation
with Edmond Allmond:
By Hallie
Shepherd:
HS: Thanks, Edmond
for talking to us about your experience as a composer and post-production sound
designer!
EA: Thank you. I’m
grateful for the opportunity.
HS: You recently mentioned that you were finishing the sound mix of an
interesting documentary. Can you tell us a bit about that documentary (what it
is about, etc) and what your role was in it?
EA:
Yes. That film provided an interesting
experience. A 30-minute (roughly) short
was developed, as well as an 88-minute version and a 60-minute version. The documentary is called “Boxes” in its
short version or “Store” in its long version. It's about people who use storage units for a myriad of things, what
comes out of storage, and the business of storage. Interesting
subject. I was
originally asked to be the composer for the film. That I did, and enjoyed the
task. There were some issues with
audio quality, however, because of difficult locations, time constraints, etc.,
and since I have good experience mixing and fixing sound, I was asked to take
on those tasks as well.
HS: What software
platforms and hardware solutions do you use when you mix sound and when you
compose scores?
EA: Well, I still like a good pencil for hardware, and a
large sheet of music paper for software... But, seriously, Nuendo (Steinberg)
and Cubase (also Steinberg) are absolutely essential software platforms for
me. When constructing scores, I use
Sibelius because it provides such a flexible and intuitive platform for
mechanical reproduction, either of midi information or music that I’ve actually
written by hand. For doing more pop,
r&b and hip hop, I use Reason a lot. Wave’s Diamond bundle items are for
mastering and mixing, along with Wavelab.
I had a custom PC built by Carillon, and I’m comfortable with that over
a Mac, simply because the cost of a comparable Mac, the cost and limitations of
some of the plugins, and the now changing Mac OS situation. And they don’t make Wavelab for Mac...
Also, I’m able to interface easily, fluidly, with ProTools
systems, so there’s never an issue. I’m
also able to interface easily with Mac-based editing systems. ProTools just does not provide the quality of
sound that Nuendo does. I’ve tested the
results many times on different musical styles and audio palettes. Nuendo just provides better quality, though I
will use ProTools if I have to.
HS: As a composer, are there certain
sounds or instruments or styles that you like to work with or feel are
signature to your own person sound/style?
EA: I have a great love for piano and strings. The guitar, as a melody instrument, also is a
warm and rich instrument to use and write for.
I also like to use those instruments, and others, in non-traditional
ways, avant-garde ways.
HS: I love piano music!
I still kick myself for quitting my lessons when I was only eight years
old! Oh well…What other instruments do you use in composing?
EA: However, I do enjoy using strange and interesting
sounds, and various computer-based platforms, such as Reason, allow me to
experiment with electronic music of all sorts, and play with analog sounds in a
musical context that one would not normally expect.
HS: That’s cool. So you mentioned you
were part of the first class in film scoring and orchestration at UCLA
("Masters Studies in Film Scoring and Orchestration") with Don Ray,
and a founding member of the L.A. Composer's Alliance. What did that
program entail?
EA: That was a great experience. Don Ray, a past music supervisor and composer
at CBS, decided to start a class that focused on scoring and orchestration for
film and television at UCLA. Completion
of your Bachelor’s studies in music was a requirement, as the course was
designated as a Master’s level course. A
number of good composers came from that class:
Ron Harper, David Benoit, Mark Waters, Kendall
Roclord, Peter White, and several others, including myself. I wound up moving from the very first class
to the 2nd class, because of work scheduling. We wrote cues to some old “Hawaii Five-O” episodes (you
remember, ‘book ‘em, Dano...’..too funny...) and we
wrote things that would go with various imaginary bits of film or
television. When we wanted to take the course a little further, a number
of us formed the beginnings of what became the L.A. Composers Alliance, and
hired Professor Ray away from UCLA for about a year or so, as I remember. The orchestras we used during that time were
made up of some of the top up-and-coming musicians in the area: Jerry Watts, Rick Braun...Harry Shirinian,
Barry Gold, my sister Dale Breidenthal... I could go on and on. The quality of musicians was amazing. They just wanted to come and play when they
had the free time and opportunity. Now the program has turned into quite a department for UCLA,
and the L.A. Composers’ Alliance
has become something else, from what I understand...
HS: What made you want to work on film sound and
music?
EA: Hmmm.... you know, I’ve thought about this before, and remember back to
my first experiences with orchestral music.
My mother took me to see ‘Fantasia’
twice. Also, I remember going to see ‘My Fair Lady’ at a very young age, when
it was at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center. Man, what great music! I think these two works made me want to write
music for picture, for scenes—to write music that helped described an activity
or a mood. Then, as I got older, I became acutely aware of how fun all
the cacophony of a big film was. I spent
many hours in the library reading about how all those sounds were made, and
then was fortunate enough to work as a clarinetist in the pit orchestra of a
number of live musicals, where sound effects had to be made by members of the
percussion section of the pit orchestra.
Fascinating stuff. I also got to sit in on a foley session when
I was about 15 years old.
HS: What does your job include as a sound
designer? Do you record foley or use a library of recorded sounds? Do you loop
ADR?
EA: Sound design sort of fell into my lap because I know how
to manipulate samples, and I am very good at working with various hardware and
software samplers, from doing so much music production. I have recorded foley, and I spent a great
deal of time with the foley mixers on the lot at Sony so that I could learn
something of that craft, too. For most
of my work, however, I use pre-recorded effects. I have had occasion, and still do, to record
my own foley, right to picture. Those
are always simple things like keys and cloth and tableware, not any body falls
or splashes or that sort of stuff. I’ve done a fair amount of dialogue editing recently. I was taught about voice recording and ADR by
Don LaFontaine many years ago. I am
very, very fortunate to have had brilliant and attentive mentors. Smaller projects many times can expand the post-production
schedule just enough to allow you to work on another part of the audio. That can be exciting when it works.
HS: Can you tell us about your experience working for Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Saban
International?
EA: When I worked at Westside Studio Services, which was the
on-the-lot sound/music department for Columbia,
Lorimar, and then Sony, I was a staff composer and sound editor, along with
Roger Boyce. I had the great pleasure
and honor of doing new shows and films as well as helping to bring back to life
many old classics. I got to put together
an early “music library” of score bits and pieces, all on 10” reels of ¼” tape. I was allowed the opportunity to help piece
back together brilliant classics and catalogues. Rita Hayworth’s complete body of work,
including ‘Angels Over Broadway’
and
‘Gilda’, ‘Crime
and Punishment’, most of the Bob
Hope “Road” Films from Paramount
pictures. I learned invaluable lessons
about scoring from that experience. I
also did my own audio engineering for that job; in addition, I learned much
about picture editing. I had to learn
how to cut effects to picture, so that I could work on large projects that
required more man power, like ‘Dallas’, ‘Young Riders’, and several films, such as ‘Hero’ and ‘All I Want for Christmas’. My time at Saban was a wonderful gift. I got to edit and mix music stems for ‘Thomas and Hippo’, ‘Journey to the Heart of the World’, and ‘Mad Scientist Toon Club’.
Then I got to do score construction for ‘Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers’.
I had fun while it lasted.
HS: Do you feel like the work flow or
expectations differ when you are working on a studio job vs. working on an
indie filmmaker's project? How is it different?
EA: Studio jobs require commitment to one task. If you are the composer, you do those tasks
that align with that job. Indie films
are often up against budget considerations, and require that you be flexible
and helpful. I enjoy working on indie
films, because the filmmakers seem to be more passionate about the
project. There can be challenges,
however, because some don’t understand fully the process of music or audio. Some film makers think that just because someone owns a
ProTools rig, they must be correct for the job.
Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. Also, some don’t understand the importance of
music and quality audio work for their film.
SILENT films went the way of the horse and buggy long ago, and yet even
University film students aren’t always taught enough. I remember helping to teach several
filmmakers from UCLA, along with Greg Hedgepeth, a wonderful mixer, about music
and audio. Though they were completing
their Masters projects, they had not been taught anything terribly useful about
audio. Canned music can work, but in
limited places. Background audio is
important to building a rich experience.
Dialogue must be recorded or re-recorded correctly.
HS: What are you currently working on? Do you have any specific goals, plans,
or aspirations for the future?
EA: Currently, I’m working on a pastrami sandwich....
HS: Yum….actually, I’m just being polite. I don’t like
pastrami.
EA: No, but really,.....I’m finishing work on a doc titled “Why, Katrina, Why?” about Louisiana and Mississippi post-Katrina and Rita, and
compiling some of my past work, so that I can release an album. Then I’d like to focus on music for varied
visual media and possibly perform those works.
Of course, I’m sure that another audio job will creep in, and I will
enjoy it. But the focus for me now is
music for scores and music production, and the album work that goes along with
that.
HS: Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us!
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