Mixing the Wonder Woman Film Score - Masterclass with Alan Meyerson

Watch Grammy-winning mix engineer Alan Meyerson (Dunkirk, Pirates of the Caribbean) as he opens up his mix of the original Wonder Woman film score and reveals his personal techniques for mixing scores in hit motion pictures. Watch more Waves masterclasses: www.waves.com/...
This masterclass originally streamed live on June 20, 2018 as part of the Waves #OpenSessions series.
Watch more Waves Open Session masterclasses: www.waves.com/...
Music: "Amazons of Themyscira," composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams
From the album Wonder Woman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Special thanks to Jason Linn and Rupert Gregson-Williams

[@apaivab]

7:16 plays cue 8:54 VCAs 9:58 recording passes 11:45 system usage 12:24 ATMOS mix 14:06 Mic'ing 14:51 Strings EQ 16:15 Strings saturation 18:16 Strings boost 20:04 Strings short 20:52 Strings short distortion 21:49 Strings short pre-records 23:07 Brass 24:19 How will music be mixed with foley & dialogue? 26:01 Reverb 27:04 Percussion reverb 28:48 Percussion plate reverb 30:26 Delay before reverb 31:59 Percussion alignment 33:42 Percussion transients 34:02 How do you keep control of the low end? 36:26 Percussion parallel bus 41:00 Haas effect 44:48 EQ tips 45:36 EQ tips for orchestral samples 46:46 EQ before reverb 47:57 How do you handle that many tracks? 50:37 Reference 53:28 EQ pure orchestral recording 54:09 Samples choir 55:44 Ethnic woodwind 56:59 Various tips 59:21 Transient on Col legno 1:00:30 Do you use distortion in orchestral recordings? 1:04:21 LFE sends for orchestral 1:08:58 What is silky? 1:10:28 About personality 1:11:35 Final message Thanks so much Alan Meyerson & Waves! This is gold.

[@MartinBergnerGuitar]

You are a hero, sir.

[@dpk_on7428]

great..........................

[@zaharishtonov]

Thanks so much for this!

[@HighboostinTV]

Y555 y n h ijibhi hij ih

[@HighboostinTV]

N on

[@blankspace0000]

It's actually better for waves to let him show the real session with all the non waves plugins because then when there actually is a waves plugin it's more believable that he would actually use it on the real mix.

[@whatchrisdoinmusic]

That’s what mix with the masters brings to the table haha

[@skony85]

It's incredible how subtle changes improve overall quality of the mix. The best tips for those who are into symphonic music.

[@boblazo1]

This is one of the very best video/classes I've seen to date-anywhere. And Alan...you were terrific. I love your personality......Please consider another! Waves should be so proud of this content; and you too Alan Meyerson.

[@josephpurdue7583]

I agree! So kind of him to give up his time to do this. I love how subtle he is with EQ, as he doesn't want to loose the natural character of the instruments. A little saturation can go along way. Let's hope they do another!

[@jaikumarsivalingam]

Thank you Alan and Team Waves for your time and sharing the Master Class :)

[@tomoakley809]

This was the best hour of my entire lockdown so far 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Joyous from start to finish. Thank you!

[@peterhath]

This was incredible! Love Alan's heart to impart knowledge.

[@ASJerrell]

Pay attention at 48:15. That back and forth is gold. Always respect the demo. Then after that, the host says something great. “Let the instrument tell you it needs to be there.”

[@whatchrisdoinmusic]

52:00 the A & B clarity is crazy! So much more shiny and clear

[@Susus26rus]

Thanks you Waves for the masterclass and Alan is a great man and is a very nice person. I'd like to see more videos with him in a future.

[@JoelGoffin]

I've never actually seen the movie but have listened to the score many many times. Alan Meyerson is an absolutely amazing mix engineer and anything he puts out I will watch with hungry ears. Thank you Mr. Meyerson.

[@qbertykey6223]

Excellent, eye-opening tutorial. Thank you Mr. Meyerson

[@BenjaminDuplaix]

Thank you for this, Waves Audio. So great to find this kind of content on your channel :)

[@VsevolodPankratov]

The lessons of these people are helping me to prepare the soundtrack to the theatrical premiere, which will take place in one month: Tom Holkenborg, Alan Meyerson, Jake Jackson. Thank you, great geniuses!

[@josephpurdue7583]

I agree, I owe them so much. Learnt so much from all their masterclasses and tutorials. Orchestral mixing is a bloody under-rated skill and they deserve more credit.

[@seanms35]

Swapping from the rough mix to Alan's was heavenly

[@JoelGoffin]

Watching this again tonight. Thank you so much Alan Meyerson for your amazing insight into mixing orchestral music

[@TheFinalGamerRN]

How amazing! Alan just unlocked a new level for me!! Thanks Waves and Alan ^^!

[@MrRickyWow]

That Wonder Woman track, if I listened to it during work... my performance would be EPIC!

[@GenuineHeather]

This was an amazing master class. Thank you so much for your insight. I'll be revisiting this video many times for reference and inspiration.

[@KaruveliRaSaMahendran]

Thank you so much for the masterclasse with Alan Meyerson..

[@maheshkankanige]

Thank you so much, Such great bits and pieces we can all learn from :)

[@xaviduch]

Wow...This "masterclass/tutorial" worth much more than many courses out there, and non at reasonable price...so, I am very greatful to lear a lot of things coming from one of the truly SIR in the world. Thank you so much!

[@GomilaMusic]

Great stuff. Changed my whole perspective. I work with MIDI mockups using EWQL and Logic Pro. Now I will try out rendering my instrument tracks to audio duplicated using different mike set-ps (close, stage and surround). Also rendering different tracks for eg short and long strings, likewise for other sections.

[@armstronglance]

I totally enjoyed hearing where all the speakers are placed in the theater. I have a 10ch system setup for my keyboards. When I’m playing piano & strings (LASS) live, it make a huge difference compared to just a 2ch stereo setup.

[@NikolaNikitaJeremic]

I'd love to see an Alan Meyerson collection by Waves.😊 Something to help composers get better mixes for demos. Processing for individual orchestral sections, percussion, choir and synths.

[@gabrield.cstoica1832]

Es todo un placer ver a Alen como trabaja y como sabes sacar lo mejor de cada sonido siempre...para mi es uno de los mejores hoy día.

[@rogerguerin1036]

Thanks a bunch for this initiative. It's so rare to have the behind the scenes of a music score. Mixing records we have en masse, but a score, a surround sound score, now that's great. Quick question : am I to understand right that he inserts his favourite tape machine delay on the long strings subgroup? Enlighten me if you can.

[@alanmeyerson2]

Yup

[@stevedendera]

If I mentioned 400 odd tracks in the presence of my computer it would explode

[@olajideparis]

😅

[@dinesh66yuvi]

Thank u so much Waves for doing this Video.

[@geme16862]

Thanx Waves for this Masterclass!!! Mr. Meyerson is such a talented mixer and a wonderful personality!!!

[@DarkIltis]

Somehow, watching this man be in control makes me feel very safe.

[@ToreGThomassen]

Great video, so much good tips from a legend. Thanks

[@dacomposer]

What an awesome kind man...love this guy!

[@BraveHeartOriginals]

Great Class😊 Thanks Waves 🎧🔥👍

[@jnaramusic]

Thank you guys for this video, It has been very insightful! I learned a lot. More in-depth videos like this please!

[@kitmateyawa7829]

Probably the biggest session I've ever seen.😲

[@soundsendreturn]

fantastic masterclass, soothing sounding professional and a pleasure to learn from. Nice one Waves for getting this guy, maybe we can have him again for the aggressive stuff he mentioned.

[@muhammadsatriabudiutama1483]

This is pure gems. Just amazing

Thanks a lot Alan and Waves , this is an invaluable video with great knowledge of techniques and experience. As Alan said I love being in this time for audio production since we can share knowledge all over the world. Thanks again for great plug-ins and thus great video. 👋

[@Jaredkfjones]

This was a fantastic class. Thank you.

[@TomGrosset]

Thank you, Alan!

[@kimseniorb]

please more of this kind of stuff. much appreciated

[@Michio25]

thanks for the Great video! unfortunately they didnt talk about a very important part - the routing - I can see all of the subgroups he mentions and that makes a lot of sense. but they all go to a main master? how is that one looking? also got the kramer tape on it? and all the FX returns (reverb track in the back of the session) going directly to the same main master? Because that would mean, if the subgroups were to be printed - they would be DRY? could make sense in some cases, but in most cases probably not. @waves audio is there any information about that?

[@stuthomasmusic]

They print stems for each major food group to deliver to the stage. So any effects applied to the orchestra would go to just the orchestra stem. Those submixes all feed to a master 5.1 and a 2Mix fold down. But the effects are baked into each stem so when you put up all the stems together you get the same mix as the 6Mx.

[@daleturner]

Sliced bread's got nuthin' on this masterclass! SUPREME!!!! Many thanks!!!!

[@brandonpratt9353]

Absolutely loved this guys! Thank you! Alan is an absolute legend! 😊

[@lukaskopernicky3091]

Amazing video. I'm a huge fan of Alan...thank you Waves

[@doctorz5440]

Thank you Alan!

[@straightouttaalderaan6672]

Thank you so much for doing this! Huge masterclass.

[@atgred]

23:22 Oh my! Not waves!!

[@ParlanceOpus]

ha so quick, was like opened a tab with porn on it ;)

[@ScreamoboysAlesana66]

@@ParlanceOpus he used soundtoys too:D

[@JP-zq8yv]

I'm sorry to ask but what is so funny about this Plugin? What is it known for?

[@mobz315]

J P it’s just not a plug-in from waves

[@JP-zq8yv]

@@mobz315 Thanks a lot!

[@drummerjeroensimons]

Thank you Waves for this masterclass!!! Cheers, Jeroen Simons, Independent/ ex- EPICA.

[@charlesdanx8807]

What a great guy. So enjoyable.

[@MrRickyWow]

"We put... We? ... Me..." Nah! Too late! We spotted you. Don't bite anyone's head off. Amazing video

[@PeterSatera]

I'd love to see a follow up with action cues. :) Part 2 Part 2!!!

[@patmull1]

What the actual heck. There is like 500 of tracks. My jaw dropped. Unbelieavable.

[@BlackenedNL]

Alan is a legend, this video was great

[@edmasters4454]

Excellent - really appreciate sharing this information.

[@GreyWind]

23:23 And for this I just used the Fabfilter Pro-Q2 just to trim a bit of the very low end, you hear how it clears things up a bit.

[@filipedias4862]

ahaha nice one, watched twice and did not notice ahaha

[@captainvoluntaryistthestat3207]

fab is king

[@Tyrell_Corp2019]

32:50. THIS is a true master.

[@BluemountScore]

Great guy, great knowledge

[@jakewarrentube]

awesome. great value!!

[@KrystofDreamJourney]

57:50 - PURE ESSENCE !!!

[@शिव_सागर]

Thank You! 🙏🙂🤍👌

[@AnthonySherritt]

this is so excellent

[@brianhavey9203]

Ha, he pulls up Pro-Q2 and closes it super fast! ;)

[@smokeshowtunes1505]

Ha! I saw that too and laughed my ass off

[@MichaelSchmidt_UrbnPxl]

hahahaha

[@JP-zq8yv]

I'm sorry to ask, but what is so funny about this Plugin? What is it known for?

[@HollywoodVirtualAudio]

@@JP-zq8yv Its an outstanding plugin but it's made by Fabfilter not waves. Truth be told, Alan Meyerson is arguably the finest film mixer in the game today. He doesn't use waves very often.

[@JP-zq8yv]

@@HollywoodVirtualAudio Thanks a lot!

[@valentinmagherman1850]

Thank's for sharing your knowledge :)

[@briankatona]

Excellent video!

[@Michael-Brings]

Great Video. Thanks.

[@gabrield.cstoica1832]

Sr Alen it s the best... Bravo Alen!

[@voice-of-oblivion]

Thank you very much.

[@tylerwill7259]

So wonderful! I’ve learned so much from this masterclass and Jake Jackson’s he has out. I wish they would go a little more in depth with how they use reverb though. I’m a composer but a very poorly self taught audio engineer haha. I have no concrete idea on how to properly use reverb to create orchestral depth. I used to have 5 reverb busses with the same reverbs that were set to differing wet/dry ratios from very dry to the front to wet in the back, (with a separate reverb on mastering channel) but I feel this is wrong. I’ve seen others use only two different reverb busses (one for shorter notes, one for longer) which makes sense to me. However, I don’t understand how you create the orchestral depth from this method. Ugh so confused! Wish I would have double majored in composition annnnnd audio engineering haha.

[@lkb3rd]

If you are using reverbs on sends, then the reverb on the send should be set to 100% wet, and you mix it in parallel. The only time you use the wet/dry would be if you put the reverb directly on the track instead of as a send.

[@zachary963]

It sounds like he is using multiple reverb busses, and they have similar sounds on each, ie, one has a short hall and the other has a long hall, and then you just blend elements in that way.

[@kbdreath]

This is great video. I wished they had left the questions to to ned instead of interrupting Alan. Thank you Mr Meyerson and waves :)

[@VsevolodPankratov]

Great Masterclass! Thanks! :)

[@stevegalante]

Great tips as usual... I was wondering are these sessions normally recorded at 96Khz or higher ?

[@acebass123]

This is gold

[@tomwheeler1082]

Awesome video! Thank you so much! Small question, how do you use kramer tape stereo plugin on a surround channel and still affect all the channel? Thanks a lot!

[@MakeMajor]

WOW THANKS FOR THIS GOLD CONTENT I LEARNED SOOOOOOOO MUCH

[@JoelBrandonMedia]

Invaluable!!

[@renecarranza4500]

Awesome stuff

[@RenardeauGuy]

Great lesson

[@falkwnsch]

Does anyone know which choir library he used? Pretty amazing masterclass!

[@josephpurdue7583]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@MarcusVinnie]

Owesome Masterclass!! Thanks a lot!!

[@applicapartnersconsultants867]

Minute 1.39 "I just had a joint this long" (hands widely spread) Minute 3.05 "Actually I had two" LOL

[@nicksaya]

I see Alan using certain plugins on tracks that I have found to not work on all Channels on say a quad or 5.1 buss. Puightech eq only effects stereo Channels for example.

[@skaneverdies]

I spy with my little eye an original Mark Mothersbaugh on the wall! So cool!

[@AJNAL777]

My hero 🤘

[@heelit1434]

24:23 Is there anyone knowing what plugins he uses for imaging or panning? The graphic above the volume knobs

[@HollywoodVirtualAudio]

It's not a plugin. The squares above the faders are panners in Protools. He's using a mix of Surround Mono and Stereo panning.

[@CharlesK441]

Golden

[@shawnb3d]

what headset mics are you using?

[@homeofcreation]

My eyes were immediately drawn to the Coffee Cup. I had an accident once and it haunts me ever since.

[@KozmykJ]

Fascinating.

[@shakirjabo3787]

Can Anyone explain the three aux's ( Wides , Sides , Heights ) next to 5.1 Lng P1 Aux ii where is the signal com's from and going where ?? Pleas .

[@nicksaya]

Do most plugins when inserted on quad or surround buss switch over to that format?

[@kevinrixmusic]

PLEASE DO AN ALAN MEYERSON ARTIST SERIES PLUGIN COLLECTION!!!!!!!!!

[@andrewgoodwincomposer]

Anyone know why he is using the mono version of the Kramer master tape instead of stereo? Or how he is inserting that on a group channel that is stereo . Wouldn’t it just make it mono or is he using 2 of them?

[@alanmeyerson2]

Andrew Goodwin | Composer I want a multi mono instance so the delays are independent

[@andrewgoodwincomposer]

Alan Meyerson thanks! really appreciate the class btw thank you. I just need to figure out how to route this in Cubase Pro

[@autremonde5746]

I love it

[@blancodeplomo]

Epic!

[@cyclingninja6780]

This session needs more tracks. 🧐

[@JustinNathanielAdams]

Cool dude :) Could have watched for a lot longer.

[@SnoMan1818]

How do u write songs like this????? Like how does he tell a story so well with his melodies

[@SnoMan1818]

Not everyone has recorded symphonies... And don't tell me to use kontakt or whatever cus these guys are not. They may use samples and turn them into synths but I call bullshit on the fact that they themselves write those tunes from scratch it would take way too lomg

[@SnoMan1818]

Are there sample packs out there anyone recommends for this stuff

[@tuneboyz5634]

who r u talking to?

[@kimseniorb]

what are you talking about dude? the composer writes music and oversees the production process thats(in remote control productions/hans zimmer's case) typically handled by lots and lots of assistaints who midi massage samples and program synths etc. then the live potion of the score gets recorded in Air Lyndhurst, then mixed, then dubbed with voice/sfx. lots of people involved but the basic writing is mostly done by the main composer. of course the production pipeline is too complex for one person to handle. but lower budget stuff/games are being done just like that with samples

[@skizooboy7145]

Look up Junkie XL's channel.