Hear No Evil Studios - London
 Award-winning
Engineer/Producer Steve Parr knows a thing or 500 about working
with sound to picture - having countless soundtracks and nearly
that many films to his credit. He owns and operates Hear No Evil
Studios, a top class recording facility in London, which concentrates
on recording and mixing music for film.
He also keeps himself busy about the town, having been Vice Chairman of the Music
Producers Guild. Parr won the SMA award for ‘Best Album Mixed in Surround
Sound’ for ‘Steve Reich in New York' in 2006, a FIPA (French Oscar)
for best original film composition for '100 Days' in 2003, and recently recorded
and mixed three out of the four BAFTA nominations for best original music - winning
for Stephen Poliakoff's 'Capturing Mary'. At the same awards show, he was also
a member of the sound team who won the BAFTA for best sound for 'Cranford'.
But wait, there’s more! You may have also recently heard his mixes for
the soundtrack of HBO’s smash hit 'John Adams' or the title music for 'CSI'.
We caught up with him at his comfortable NHT-equipped studio over on the other
side of the pond, and threw a few questions his way.
NHT: What projects have you been working on?
SP: I am currently mixing an album for Swedish
band 'Rheya', and have just finished mixing John Adams in 5.1,
a remake of the classic 'St Trinians' film, horror movies 'The
Cottage' and 'Hush', a film about blood diamonds for the BBC.
NHT: Tell me about which NHT systems you have?
SP: I have two sets of 6.1 MOOs, one in London
and one in my studio in Texas.
NHT: Overall, what features do you like best about your
NHTs?
SP: They are an accurate small monitor that handles a wide variety of
music genre easily. I like the way they are designed with the multiple input
and parallel options, and the level matching. They are also extremely heavy for
a small unit, which deters people from putting them in their pockets and running
off with them.
NHT: How do they translate to the 'real world'?
SP: I don't live in the real world.
Do you? I'm in the music business after all. But there do seem
to be resemblances to things I've read about in books.
NHT: When mixing surround, how do you handle the sub/LFE
channel?
SP: I tend not to use it. I am old and wise
enough to know that it will get abused by people wanting a cinema
experience in their living room. But I will throw scary stuff in
there occasionally when mixing an action or horror movie. But as
all players have inherent bass management which takes an MA in Japanese
Manual Reading to figure out how to switch off, I prefer to use
that to extend the frequency range - rather than artificially trying
to trick it by adding discrete sub.
NHT: What settings do you run your speakers on?
SP: generally +4 with the auto power switch on. I enjoy seeing the lights
switch from red to green after I've had a tea break.
Steve Parr & partner
Sharon Rose |
NHT: Do you mix through a console?
SP: It varies. I do in London; through
an old Euphonix analogue CS but in Texas I just have a controller
and mix in the box.
NHT: How much do high-end slappers cost in London?
SP: Varies. A little bit more expensive
than Texas but they're used to using their tongues more so
it’s worth it.
NHT: How far are your speakers typically from the mix
position?
SP: They are on my console bridge. I parallel two sets of rears together
when mixing films to create the illusion of a more diffuse feel. I know my room
really well, and I visit cinemas to check my mixes so I'm quite happy breaking
monitoring rules. Who wrote them anyway? Oh, I remember, but I'm not supposed
to talk about that.
NHT: Any other NHT thoughts?
SP: Great company. I’ve had so much
fun with them over the years; long may they come.
Contact/Website: www.hearnoevil.net |
Michael Wagener
Guy Fletcher
David Bishop
Dan Cassin
Cookie Marenco
Hear No Evil Studios - London
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