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Creative Group's Audio Mix Maestro Helps VH1 Pay Tribute to Def Jam For 2009 Hip Hop Honors

DMN Newswire--2009-11-16--Creative Group, the industry's premier full-service post production facility, recently delivered the audio mix of the 2009 Hip Hop Honors Awards to VH1, which made the 25th anniversary of pioneering hip hop label Def Jam Records the centerpiece of this year's show.  Creative Group's Emmy award-winning mixer, Sue Pelino, completed the final 5.1 and stereo mixes after receiving the newly edited show.  
 

At this year's awards, Def Jam Records was honored with performances by such groundbreaking artists as Ashanti, DMX, Eminem, Ludacris and Mary J. Blige while comic Tracy Morgan hosted the event.  It was the task of Creative Group to produce an audio mix from the event capable of making viewers at home feel like they had the best seat in the house.

To do this, Sue Pelino, Creative Group's VP of audio post production and senior mixer, worked with the original Pro Tools production elements consisting of all the isolated tracks, and the remixed musical performances mixed by Music Mix Mobile and the event's house band, The Roots.  The event, which was shot in HD, aired on VH1 as well as its HD Channel, Palladia.

Pelino mixed all the elements in Pro Tools, providing a 5.1 mix of the songs that were only mixed in stereo, and did a stereo fold-down of the music remixed only in 5.1.  All of the original production ISOs and music tracks were reconformed as soon as each musical act was locked to time in video.  When the producers needed to make a small revision, the editors would revise the section and upload the OMF to Creative Group's FTP site.

Pelino's assistant, Rebecca Chandler, conformed the music remixes and all of the production audio tracks, which consisted of such elements as the host and guest mics, DJ track, package stems, additional music, and eight audience mics.  After the show was fully conformed, the team removed all the explicit lyrics from the vocal tracks before Pelino performed the final mix.

"Basically, after one day, we had the entire show completely conformed and mixed in 5.1 and stereo," notes Pelino.  "What made this possible was the incredible teamwork between Rebecca and me.  She imported all the OMFs into Pro Tools for me, loaded in the picture and prepped the session.  With this kind of collaboration, we're able to get the show done and expedite things.  And many times, even as I'm mixing, if any revisions are coming through for the second half of the show, she was able to go in another room and work while I was mixing the show."

After just two days, the show was completely conformed, mixed and ready for final playback for VH1 Executive Producers Lee Rolontz and Jac Benson. After their approval, Pelino laid back the show, and it was a wrap: Another year, another great mix for the VH1 Hip Hop Honors Awards.

About Creative Group

Creative Group is a leading, full-service post production facility specializing in nonlinear, linear and HD editing compositing, visual effects, color correction, digital intermediates, DVD duplication and sound design/5.1 audio post mixing for the broadcast, film and DVD markets.  The New York City-based Creative Group first opened its doors in 1993 with an imaginative and award-winning team of artists.  The company has since expanded its industry presence to include Mantra, its Manhattan-based design and visual effects boutique, as well as its Bristol, CT location.  The company has grown internationally, as well, to include a facility overseas in Shanghai.  Working with such high profile clients as The Walt Disney Company, General Electric, Viacom, Time Warner, Paramount, NBC Universal and Momentum, Creative Group prides itself in its mission to offer an all-inclusive hub for value-added creative services.  This affords clients the ability to differentiate themselves in today's cluttered multimedia environment.

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