Armin Steiner (Mix magazine interview; May 1, 2001)

[thx99 1,740]

Armin Steiner

Link: http://www.mixonline.com/news/profiles/armin-steiner/372804

Highlight related to Williams (and Broughton):

These days, the bulk of your work is orchestral recording. How do you prepare for a large scoring date?

The most important thing is to know what it's going to sound like beforehand. You must get a mental picture of that by knowing your composers and their style.

I also try very hard to go over the details before we ever get into the studio. A lot of composers will discuss with me beforehand the kind of texture they're looking for. To me, that's absolutely the most valuable information.

Normally, our actual setups are going to be pretty much the same, unless you want something special. like on the
Witches of Eastwick score, John Williams wanted me to put the tubas next to the French horns, because they all
played together. Now that isn't something that you would normally do, but it worked marvelously well. He was 100
percent right as usual. Those are the kinds of things that create a sound. When I did Silverado with Bruce
Broughton, another magnificent composer, there were times when it was so loud in the room that it was
impossible. We had a very small string section, so I decided to put the strings over to one side of the room and
then let the brass and the winds have all the space. Then we put up three microphones for them and came in a
little closer with the microphones on the strings. And it worked. Really, it's about letting the music be your guide.