What the heck is the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, and why should we care?

So, they seem redundant, right? Observe! For there is an important difference...

Sound Editing is the recording of individual ambient sounds, sound effects, or dialog. Ambient sounds can be things like footsteps, jingling house keys, crunching snow, etc... basically any sound that should be heard when something happens on screen. These are often recorded in a sound studio because the chaos on set prevents the microphones from picking up all the little sounds that we expect to hear. Sound effects are mostly sounds that need to be created, like explosions, the roar of a tyrannosaurus rex (combo of baby elephant, tiger, and alligator, FYI), or shifting mechanical gears that turn a car into a giant robot. Dialog too is often recorded post-production, especially for scenes where the characters are in a really noisy area.

Sound Mixing, on the other hand, is taking all those sounds and MIXING (get it?) them together with music, dialog, and each other. In other words, without a sound mixer, the t-rex roar remains a baby elephant/tiger/alligator. Mixing the right sounds together with the right timing adds an extra chill to a creepy movie (without that extra gnashing, gnawing zombie growl, would zombie movies still be as scary?), or makes a funny joke hilarious. (What's a giant foot squishing stuff without the accompanying fart sound?)

In short, proper soundscapes can turn something good into something extraordinary, hence the importance of talented sound editors and mixers. And though the Oscars tend to recognize loud action movies for sound awards (this year's nominations include classics like Salt and Unstoppable...), let's give props to the little sounds too, OK? The high-frequency buzz in The Wrestler before Mickey Rourke turns on his hearing aid, the hiss and pop of Anton Chigurh's cattle gun in No Country For Old Men... The elegant balance of newsroom bustle and anti-communist rhetoric in Good Night and Good Luck! All examples of subtleties essential to the entire experience of the film.

My love of a well-made sound-scape runs deep.

Eli