Leading composer Geoff Zanelli adds LCR array of PMC MB2S-A Surround-Sound Reference Monitors

“My new PMC monitors are very full in their response; they produce a very clear audio picture.”

When film composer Geoff Zanelli went shopping for his state-of-the art composing/tracking facility, only the very best would do: a trio of PMC MB2S Reference Monitors in a Left-Center-Right array powered by Bryston Model 7BSST amplifiers. “Zanellitivity Music is the composition suite in which I write, primarily, film music,” Zanelli explains, “with the occasional TV or video game projects.” The facility was designed by studio bau:ton founder Peter Grueneisen of nonzeroarchitecture, and is located within Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions in Santa Monica, CA. “My new PMC MB2S monitors are very full in their response,” the composer offers. “They produce a superbly clear audio picture, with very little ear fatigue when working for long hours.”

Zanelli cites three primary reasons for his purchase of PMC monitors. “Firstly,” he confides, “I wanted to clear up translation issues between my composition process and the final film mix - to have my writing room be a closer representation of the way in which audiences will hear my scores in movie theaters. Secondly, I wanted to be able to handle the size of my studio - approximately 500 square feet - without feeling a lack of power in the back of the room, where the filmmakers sit. And thirdly, I wanted to use the same PMC speakers we use in our final mix studio; I loved the sound in there and wanted it for my writing room! The installation process was very simple and provided immediate results - not to mention immediate inspiration to want to be working in there.”

Part of the compositional process includes production and engineering, the composer continues. “Although I handle some production and engineering work within my project facility, for the most part I employ freelance engineers to do the final mixdown. Since many of the engineers have worked in Hans Zimmer’s mix studios here [at Remote Control Productions] - usually on PMC loudspeakers – for consistency I made the decision to install these MB2S Reference Monitors.” Zanelli has worked with Zimmer since 1994. “My association began in his mix studio,” he recalls. “In 1999, I was offered a composing suite, which I accepted.”

Since final mixdown occurs on PMC systems, the composer’s main criterion in selecting the new Reference Monitors was efficiency. “The idea is that my writing room be as close as it can be to the rooms where the final mix is occurring. I also decided to simplify my monitoring system by doing away with a subwoofer and streamlining the low-end since the PMCs can really get down there for me. While I liked working on my previous monitors – I still retain them as my surrounds - they didn’t quite represent the low-end that I wanted. That deficiency ended up creating translation problems both with my final mix room, and with the Dub Stages for the films in which I was involved. These MB2S-As are far more analytical.”

Zanelli is currently composing the score for Ghost Town, a comedy written and directed by David Koepp, starring Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni. “I have also written several scores that were mixed on PMC units by engineer Jeff Biggers here at Remote Control’s Studio B, including Disturbia, Hitman and Outlander, and I found the results fantastic. There were zero translation issues from the mix rooms where those were done to the final dub stage, which speaks to a very efficient work process.”