An Oscar-winning re-recording mixer and sound effects editor, Mark Taylor’s credits include Hollywood blockbusters No Time To Die, Top Gun: Maverick and The Martian. Based at Shepperton film studios in the UK, it was his work on World War I drama 1917 that saw him awarded an Academy Award for Best Sound, alongside production sound mixer Stuart Wilson.
Having used Dynaudio studio monitors throughout his extensive career, Taylor recently chose to upgrade his postproduction studio with Dynaudio’s flagship Core 59. ‘I currently have a small pre-mix set-up, with a 24-fader Avid S6 and Mac Pro as main playback, and an iMac as picture/recorder rig,’ he says. ‘All of my monitors are Dynaudio.’
Taylor’s experience with Dynaudio goes back to his early days at Shepperton, an experience that influenced the purchasing decision for his latest mix room upgrade. ‘I started in 1987 as a runner, having spent a year at the School of Audio Engineering,’ he recalls. ‘While working at Shepperton, my then boss Brian Saunders commissioned Munro Acoustics to convert a space into a TV mix room. The speakers they installed were Dynaudio as the LCR mains – M3Fs if I’m not mistaken – with smaller Dynaudios as surrounds. I was hooked.
‘Shepperton then built some amazing mix stages for foreign version mixing, with cutting rooms attached, all of which had Dynaudio monitoring.
‘Once I branched out on my own, I chose [Dynaudio] BM6s as my cutting room monitors,’ he continues. ‘They served as my main LCR for many years, before I acquired a set of BM1.5s, powered by some lovely Bryston amps. As they were passive they did sometimes struggle with the many gunshots/explosions I was mixing, so Phil Pyatt from Munro recommended a set of BM15As, which I still love working on to this day.’
Dynaudio’s BM Classic Series of loudspeakers have their fans worldwide and, as such, the company keeps these models available to this day, along with the updated LYD Series, and high-end Core Series.
Feeling it might be time to try something new, Taylor contacted Martin Warr at Synthax Audio UK (Dynaudio Pro UK distributor) for a demo of the Dynaudio Core 59s. Part of Dynaudio’s flagship Core Series, the range includes the two-way Core 7, three-way Core 47 and the Core Sub, and can be found in top recording studios and postproduction facilities around the world.
‘I happened to mention to Phil [Pyatt] that I was after a new set of mains, and he suggested I give the Core 59s a try,’ Taylor says. ‘I spent a week A-Bing them with my BM15s and was sold, and I now have an amazing LCR Core 59 set up. They’re three-ways, which took a while to adjust to, but the clarity in the mid-range, and the solidity in the low end, are outstanding.’
Next up for Mark Taylor is Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
