I believe Don Davis is a talented composer, but I feel his scores would come across better if he were to ditch Armin Steiner (score recorder) and move out of The Newman Stage (where the music was recorded) and go to either Todd-AO studios or Sony Pictures Scoring Stage. They're much more accoustical recording studios. Listening to Davis' latest scores like "Jurassic Park 3" and "The Matrix Reloaded" is a chore because they sound so harsh, with hissing and annoying popping sounds whenever the french horns get too loud. Anyone else agree with me?

NO ;-)

no, just kidding. Intresting point though

The players in LA are much better than London in my opinion. Players from all over the world come to LA to perform on film scores.

> I believe Don Davis is a talented composer, but I feel his scores would
> come across better if he were to ditch Armin Steiner (score recorder) and
> move out of The Newman Stage (where the music was recorded) and go to
> either Todd-AO studios or Sony Pictures Scoring Stage. They're much more
> accoustical recording studios. Listening to Davis' latest scores like
> "Jurassic Park 3" and "The Matrix Reloaded" is a chore
> because they sound so harsh, with hissing and annoying popping sounds
> whenever the french horns get too loud. Anyone else agree with me?

No I don't agree at all. Armin Steiner (along with Dan Wallin) is my favorite recording engineer working in the industry today. He knows how to get that perfect blend with room mics and close instrument mics. I love being able to hear every instrument play. Who would you suggest? Shawn Murphy? God no. His room mics are placed way too high. While he occasionally will have a stellar recording like Signs, his Williams recordings suck. Minority Report was written as an edgy modern score, but the recording makes everything seem so washy and dull. I big HELL NO for your request.

> No I don't agree at all. Armin Steiner (along with Dan Wallin) is my
> favorite recording engineer working in the industry today. He knows how to
> get that perfect blend with room mics and close instrument mics. I love
> being able to hear every instrument play. Who would you suggest? Shawn
> Murphy? God no. His room mics are placed way too high. While he
> occasionally will have a stellar recording like Signs, his Williams
> recordings suck. Minority Report was written as an edgy modern score, but
> the recording makes everything seem so washy and dull. I big HELL NO for
> your request.

I'm not really Shawn Murphy, and you're telling me "Jurassic Park" sounded bad? It had great accoustics. Just listen to JP3. They're so much hiss, and it just sounds so harsh and sterile. I've heard better from Armin Steiner (mostly his work with Bruce Broughton), but his collaborations with Don Davis have been pretty weak in my opinion. Just to prove I'm not a huge Shawn Murphy fan, I felt Episode II sounded terrible in terms of recording quality.

> I'm not really Shawn Murphy, and you're telling me "Jurassic
> Park" sounded bad? It had great accoustics. Just listen to JP3.
> They're so much hiss, and it just sounds so harsh and sterile. I've heard
> better from Armin Steiner (mostly his work with Bruce Broughton), but his
> collaborations with Don Davis have been pretty weak in my opinion. Just to
> prove I'm not a huge Shawn Murphy fan, I felt Episode II sounded terrible
> in terms of recording quality.

Jurassic Park sounded really good actually, but so did JP3. JP1 had a lot more his though I felt, but I think that was because there are better mastering processes now. There is a disadvantage with Armin's recording style, and that is because there is a lot of emphasis on close mics, stage noise is much easier to hear, but it is a disadvantage I am willing to live with. I love to hear the players playing, the sound of the rosin on the bow, the players furiously digging away. I LOVE that sound, and I love the fact that I can hear layer upon layer upon layer of Davis's music, something I wouldn't be able to do nearly as well with someone like John Kurlander or something. The Williams scores kind of have a "step back" approach where you are farther away and things start to get muddy. I like crispness.

Now you're making a good point. I think the reason I don't like it is because the mics are so close, but I see what you mean. However, I'll never get used to the harsh, scratchy sound of Don Davis' scores.

> Jurassic Park sounded really good actually, but so did JP3. JP1 had a lot
> more his though I felt, but I think that was because there are better
> mastering processes now. There is a disadvantage with Armin's recording
> style, and that is because there is a lot of emphasis on close mics, stage
> noise is much easier to hear, but it is a disadvantage I am willing to
> live with. I love to hear the players playing, the sound of the rosin on
> the bow, the players furiously digging away. I LOVE that sound, and I love
> the fact that I can hear layer upon layer upon layer of Davis's music,
> something I wouldn't be able to do nearly as well with someone like John
> Kurlander or something. The Williams scores kind of have a "step
> back" approach where you are farther away and things start to get
> muddy. I like crispness.

Y'all are whack. Shawn Murphy is the best mixer on the planet. You should hear it WHILE it's being recorded, not on your cheap stereos. Shawn's a good man, too, and doesn't deserve your whining about his work. Don't be rude, boys. And hey, thanks for giving me a chance to say my peace.