Emmy Award-winning sound designer and re-recording mixer Bob Bronow embraces studio-correction software so that his mixes sound great even away from the studio
Brie Clayton June 30, 2022
0 Comments
It's safe to say, anxiety won Bob Bronow an Emmy Award. The Los Angeles-based sound designer and re-recording mixer, who's actually won three Emmys and been nominated for 11 more, characterizes his approach as mixing until it makes me feel something. And when he was tabbed in 2005 to mix the Discovery Channel's new blockbuster reality show Deadliest Catch, what he felt was anxiety.
When I mixed the first episode, I found myself getting very nervous watching those guys doing what they were doing, Bronow explains. Deadliest Catch, now in its 17 th season, follows the dangerous, real-life adventures of crab fishermen working on Alaska's Bering Sea.
I basically created the soundtrack based on what made me feel anxious, says Bronow. I knew if I could convey this to people watching, it would be pretty cool, because it's ridiculous what these guys do on-deck, covered with ice and 30-foot waves all over the place.
To make viewers feel as anxious as he felt watching the show's stars haul heavy crab pots onto rocking boats, Bronow took his cue from the horror movie genre. He created a portentous tone-a rumble sound, he calls it. Coming in around 5 to 10 Hz, barely perceptible, the rumble could be felt with the right speakers.
It just vibrates your energy, he says, and it certainly makes you feel uncomfortable. There were times when things were going smoothly on the boat, but I knew a wave was coming, so I'd let the tone creep in very slowly to create that ominous feeling. If I was successful, viewers would feel uncomfortable, too, and not really know why.
Then boom, the wave hits, chaos ensues, and Bronow is being recognized multiple times for being among the best at what he does.
You Think People Are Going to Watch That?' In addition to his multiple Emmy Awards and nominations, Bob Bronow has won four Cinema Audio Society Awards (14 total nominations) and two Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Golden Reel Awards (and five nominations). He says his road to success was what you'd expect of a kid growing up in L.A., where the entertainment industry was like the automobile industry in Detroit-all around.
Bronow says he'd wanted to be a rock star; found himself in a recording studio at 16 ( I thought I could spend all day and night there ); programmed radio in college; mixed front of house at a club called the Music Machine ( In the 80s, most of that was telling guitarists to turn it down ); and eventually got into radio production with a college friend who'd previously hooked him up with the 11pm to 3am radio slot.
That's when I took my first deep dive into mixing, Bronow says. We did radio spots, primarily for film releases. We produced, wrote, cast, did all the recording-it was great. We were also early adopters of digital technology.
At the time, a little company in Van Nuys, California, called Digidesign had just released Pro Tools software, including ProDeck and ProEdit. Bronow enrolled in what was then called Pro School to learn all he could from the company, then began calling around to studios and offering his unique digital skills as a Pro Tools editor. His first major gig was with now-defunct WoodHolly Productions working on a Lexicon Opus, one of the first non-linear digital audio workstations.
Their Opus operator was leaving, and they asked if I could do the work, he recalls. I took home this really thick manual and plowed through it over the weekend. By the next Tuesday, I had my first client, which was NBC. It was a bit of a trial by fire.
After nine years with WoodHolly, Bronow went into business for himself, quickly coming into the orbit of Thom Beers' Original Productions, which was churning out a new brand of reality programming for Discovery. Bronow mixed shows like Monster Garage and Monster House before Beers popped over to tell him his next assignment would be to mix that crab show.
My wife, who grew up in Alaska, looked at me and said, Really? You think people are going to watch that?'
They did for the 14 years that Bronow mixed Deadliest Catch, and they still watch today.
Taking the Room Out of the Mix Over the years, Bronow developed a wealth of skills, from new techniques in noise reduction to salvaging audio captured in austere conditions. He was an early adopter of iZotope RX audio repair software. I use it every day. There isn't a mix of any kind-reality or scripted-that doesn't require some noise reduction.
In his own studio, Bronow recently discovered Dirac Live, software that minimizes the room's impact on the mixer's desired sound. Dirac's room correction technology improves studio acoustics and enhances sound accuracy through patented impulse response correction and frequency response correction algorithms.
I'd been called to do a Netflix show in 5.1, he says. I've done a lot of stereo work and had some room correction software for that, but I was having a hell of a time finding anything to do 5.1 and tune all my speakers properly.
After reading a review on Pro Tools Expert of a miniDSP processor running Dirac Live, Bronow says he found a solution.
Not being a professional acoustician, I reached out to Dirac for help setting it up and they were amazing, he explains. As I got it working, I realized what I was hearing was definition. I wasn't hearing all this smearing and bouncing around. I was really able to pinpoint where things were in the mix. It was like a window that allowed me to look into the mix as a three-dimensional thing.
In addition, Bronow appreciates that by using Dirac Live, his mixes can sound the same whereve
Most recent headlines
03/01/2026
A still from OBEX by Albert Birney, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance...
02/01/2026
Freezing Florida: NHL's EVP, Entertainment Bob Chesterman on Taking the Wint...
02/01/2026
NHL Winter Classic 2026: TNT Sports Prepares for First NHL Outdoor Game in Sunsh...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Any Given Day: Cork University Hospital premieres Wednesday 7 January on RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
RT will debut a powerful new six-part documentary se...
02/01/2026
Friday 2 January 2026
All episodes of Heated Rivalry will be landing on Sky and...
02/01/2026
Sequins, chat shows, live sporting action, ground-breaking docuseries and brand-new Irish drama to kick off 2026
New Year, New Content Coming Soon across RT
...
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
Your live countdown to 2026 with Inhaler, David Gray, Lyra, Garron Noone, Sharon...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
RT has unveiled an exclusive first look at the new Dancing with the Stars promo...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
Emmy Award-winning sound designer and re-recording mixer Bob Bronow embraces studio-correction software so that his mixes sound great even away from the studio 
