Sound Mixer Sharon Frye Keep it Real Relies on Sound Devices 664, CL-6 In The Field

Field Mixer Sharon Frye spends the bulk of her time working on such reality television projects as MTV’s The Real World and, most recently, Oxygen’s Bad Girls Club. To get the job done, Frye relies on a Sound Devices 664 Field Production Mixer.

Bad Girls Club follows the antics of seven girls living together under one roof, day and night, which requires a round-the-clock shooting schedule. Frye works in one of six camera teams, each of which includes a producer, camera person with a PA, along with an AC and audio mixer. Since the show tapes 24/7, each camera team typically works a 10-hour shift, with overlapping periods where one crew is setting up and the other is closing down. This ensures the complete capture of all footage.

The Sound Devices 664, offering both mixing and recording capabilities, was the only recorder Frye used during filming, which is a unique scenario in sound production. “With certain reality television shows, you’re going to record through the mixer, but you’re also going to record to a bigger system,” she says. “That wasn’t the case with Bad Girls Club. Due to the show’s filming environment, having the 664 act as a mixer and recorder in my rig really came in handy on set.”