Producing the Next Episode of Mirror Falls

All right. We are getting started. Welcome. If you haven't watched this before, you might be live. You might be with me live. You might be watching a repeat of this. I am recording this on February 19th. So it is not February 19th. You are not watching it live. And as I said, as I mentioned rather, as I mentioned, as I just noticed on TV rather, We are going to overtime in the most exciting hockey game on the planet right now, which is women's gold medal hockey game. So exciting! Anyway, we are— we're gonna get started on recording this episode. So you will be able to see how the sausage is made, how many mistakes I make, which are plentiful. I don't know why I can't see my script document for some reason. That's weird. Weird. Oh, there it is. Um, and yeah, and then we will go. All right, let's see. Uh, let me just make sure that I've got all of the little elements that I need for this together. I think I do. And we'll just make sure that the audio is working properly together. Yep, I think I do. That seems to be working. Alright. I don't know why I'm not seeing any of that. Sorry, this is incredibly boring, I'm sure, part of it, but— okay, there we go. Alright, we're gonna get started voicing it, and I need to take the retainers out of my mouth because otherwise it affects the It affects the letter S, sounds weird. So I'm gonna do that and I'm gonna take the camera and the mic off for just a second. Give me 10 seconds. Alright, we're back. It's uncomfortable doing that. I think my teeth are getting better though. We'll see. All right, welcome. Feel free to chat in the chat room here if you want. Oh, do I have to do this? I have to do this. I have to select that. There we go. And then I can say chat, right? Yeah, something like that. I don't know how any of this works. Put that there. Okay, forget it. Whatever. Whatever. OK. If you're watching live right now, say something in the chat room so I know that it's working. We'll turn off the fan because the fan makes noise. I have the hockey game up and running, so no worries about that. Perfect. Thank you. Rockies. I'm just going to call you Rockies. Thank you. All right, let us get— oh, I need headphones. All right, and hopefully you should be able to— I think you can see my mixing, my DAW, my mixing board. Yeah, you can. Okay. "Funny thing about mirrors," said Pete Tomkinson. "Mirrors can hide something you expect to see or reveal something you never knew existed." He pulled a key out of his pocket and shoved it in his waist— Oh my God. All right, we're gonna start that again. There's gonna be a lot of this. There's gonna be a lot of this. I really wish I could see this screen better. I don't know why it's not letting me. Do I have to do that? Oh, that's why. Okay, there we go. All right, this time with feeling. I think we're just going to voice everything through first, and then we're going to put the mix in place. Sometimes I kind of hopscotch it, but yeah, we'll do it that way. "Funny thing about mirrors," said Pete Tomkinson. "Mirrors can hide something you expect to see or reveal something you never knew existed." He pulled a key out of his pocket and shoved it in his wife's face. "Ta-da! The storage room key. It was behind the mirror at the bar." Pete Tomkinson and his wife Shannon owned the Dockside Pub. It's right on the water, but even in a town of 400, it's hard to keep afloat. Weekends are occasionally loud, but always unreliable. Did I say weekdays or weekends there? Weekends are occasionally— Yeah, okay. Town of 400, it's hard to keep afloat. Weekends are occasionally loud, but always unreliable. Weekdays are a ghost town. Little burp from my mouth. Weekdays are a ghost town. The last karaoke night ended with a man from Ashford Bay crying into a fog machine while singing Hallelujah in a way that suggested unresolved psychological issues. It's why Pete, the pub's owner, had started looking at spreadsheets in the mornings. Leh? In a way that suggested unresolved psychological issues. It's why Pete— I don't have to say the pub's owner. We've already established that Pete is the pub's owner. Why am I doing that? That was dumb. All right. In a way that suggested unresolved psychological issues. It's why Pete had started looking at spreadsheets in the morning. It's also how his— again. In a way that suggested unresolved psychological issues. It's why Pete had started looking at spreadsheets in the mornings. It's also how his staff— and by that I mean Craig— knew that things were serious. Pete didn't want to lose the place. The pub was his second marriage, and like his first, he put everything into it. The building was mortgaged. Craig would sometimes loan Pete money to make ends meet. Sharon, his wife, had suggested more than a few times that they look at what she shared I've already established his wife is called Sharon. Why am I doing that to myself? Sharon, his wife. Craig would sometimes loan Pete money to make ends meet. Sharon had suggested more than a few times that they look at what she charitably called backup plans. All Pete heard was failure. Pete Tomkinson is 56, moved to Mirror Falls in 2007 after his friends Guy and Kim told him all about this tiny forest town they'd just moved to. They'd bought the Chinese restaurant from the son of the original owner, a nice but odd fellow. A month after buying the place, they found dozens of aprons, each with a bad pun about walks printed on them. "Walk this way," "Walk and roll," and the one Guy started wearing, "Underpay over walk." Pete grew up in Ladner, a small commuter village south of Vancouver. It was a little bit of everything in the '70s. Historic charm, leafy streets, the sort of community that ran on routine. Paper routes before class, dinner at the same time every night. Back then Ladner was farmland, fishing, and the Fraser. Still felt separate from the big city. Close enough to Vancouver to feel its pulse, far enough to keep its own rhythm. But like a lot of small BC towns in that era, it was changing before it even— blip. Hello, NP from NB, welcome. I'm glad you like it, thank you. But like a lot of small BC towns in that era, it was changing without even realizing it. The commuters came first, looking for cheaper houses and the slower pace. I scrolled, I scrolled the script and then I lost where my eyeball was supposed to be. Oh, there it is. Looking for cheaper houses and a slower pace. With them came more traffic, louder construction, and higher prices. Pete stayed in the area and worked construction. He married Shannon in 2003. They had 2 kids. They tried to build something they could both be proud of. Work was managed You know what, I don't like the way I voiced that. Pete stayed— louder construction and higher prices. Pete stayed in the area and worked construction. He married Sharon in 2003. They had 2 kids, and they tried to build something they could both be proud of. Life was manageable, routine even. Work, the kids' soccer practice, paying bills. But eventually they both wished they could start over. Maybe in a town like how Ladner used to be. Pete learned two important things in his first week after buying the Dockside Pub. The first was that there were regulars. Are regulars? The first was that there were important things in his first week after buying the Dockside Pub. The first is that there are regulars. Again. Important things in his first week after buying the Dockside Pub. The first is that there are regulars. The second is that the regulars have habits that do not bend. The choice of music, the brand of ketchup. Hell, they even have their own parking spots. Not that they're labeled or anything. Everyone just knows. The pub is right on the water, so The occasional cool— The pub is right on the water, so the occasional cool breeze drifts in. Pete once raised the room temperature 2 degrees to account for this, and a man in a hoodie stood up, announced, "Well, it's gone soft," and 6 people walked out on principle. They only came back when Pete promised to never touch the temperature again. Honestly, he told Sharon one night, It's like trying to appease a room full of 8-year-olds. Jokes aside, he's tried everything to make it work, and now the bank wants to have a call about this month. If he can't make the numbers work, well, he needs to make the numbers work. About a year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. By then Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years, long enough. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Where was this? Long enough. Oh, long. OK. Oh, thank you, Mellojean. I should say that properly. Mellojean. Mellojean. Thank you. Yes, you shouldn't— I mean, you're going to hear this, the episode that comes out on Saturday, but Yeah, I don't think you'll reveal much about— we're just at the beginning part. We're just doing the voicing right now. And then I'm going to be doing the music and the theme song and the sound effects and the sound design a bit later. So yeah. All right, where are we? Years. It's about 4 years. Is that level the same as my mic level for you guys? I don't know if it is or not. Whoops. Oh, come on. Let's see. Check 1, 2, 3. Ben Marcello, baby. Oh, it's louder. Oh, I'm sorry. Why can't I— what is— why is this not letting me— oh, I have to hit save. Okay. There we go. Yeah, sorry, it's louder. Um, let me just scroll this back. I can increase the level of my mic and decrease the level of this. So check 1, 2, 3. It's still a little loud, isn't it? All right, check 1, 2, 3. By then Marcel had been in the other falls. It should be— they should be about even now, roughly, roughly even. I hope. You are gonna get a little bit of reverb on the playback, and I'm sorry, there's not much I can do about it. It's just the— there's an echo. Let me hear how bad it is. Yeah, that is a fault of the Mac that I'm unable to fix, but let me hear what it sounds like. By then Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years. Alt of the Mac that I'm unable to— Hang on a second, I'm just listening. Let me hear what it sounds like. Yeah, okay. So, you're right, you're hearing it. That will not be in the final mix. It's just a weird thing of how the Mac sound card works, or the Mac whatchamacallit works. So, yes, I am aware, but it is not something that I can fix. But it will not sound like that in the actual episode, of course. At least the two are balanced now a little bit. And don't worry, I will tell you what the score is of the women's gold hockey game. I have it right in front of me. Bien sûr. Okay, where were we? By then, Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years. I'm just going to start from there. A year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. Again, I have— the problem is I have too many windows open and I'm trying to like do all of them at the same time and it is a mistake. Okay. About a year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. By then Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years, long enough to be part— By then Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years, long enough to become part of the fabric of a town with a few frayed edges. People had a pattern with Marcel: get gas, say hello, receive a few gentle words that felt like forgiveness, and leave lighter than they arrived. Marcel was good at that. He listened in a way that made people keep talking. He remembered things, sometimes even wrote them down. Folks told him things they hadn't said out loud before, and afterwards Couldn't quite explain why. That morning though, something seemed off when Marcel walked in and plunked himself down at the bar. Pete dragged over a chair. Such a great little town, Marcel said. I loved it here. No, I'm gonna do that a little bit more emotionally. Probably creepy to have all of you staring at you while you work. I can't see you all, so it's fine. I'm used to radio, remember? I spent Many years at the CBC underground in a dark studio where I knew I was speaking to thousands of people, but I couldn't see them, so I didn't care. Oh, the game's back on. All right. Uh, where are we? A chair. Pete dragged over a chair. Such a great little town. Marcel said. I loved it here. Loved? Pete said. You getting transferred to a different parish? No, no, no, no, no, stammered. No, it's very distracting having the game on too at the same time. You're getting transferred to a different parish? "No, no, no," stammered Marcel. "I just mean, you've got something good here. You all do. You should know that." "You all right, Father?" Pete asked. He reached for a bottle. "I could pour you one." Marcel shook his head. "I can't. On duty, you know." Father Marcel went missing the next week. Pete would replay that conversation for years. The past tense. The pause. The way Marcel looked past him, as if only seeing the town's reflection in a mirror. Craig Elton is the assistant manager at the Dockside. He once took a semester of marketing at VIU before switching to hospitality for the tips, so he pitched a solution for the low revenues A fancy night. The kind where people dress up and order dishes that come with a reduction. We could do it on Valentine's Day. Invite couples. Get the menus printed on thicker paper. Maybe hang a painting on the wall. Craig's husband was in a jazz trio, so the music was taken care of. They had candles from Christmas still. Pete agreed reluctantly. Trying new things was not his comfort zone, but it was more comfortable than foreclosure. Craig wrote the promo copy himself. An evening for couples— that was over— overperformed. Craig wrote the promo copy himself. An evening for couples seeking something a little different, read the headline. An intimate atmosphere Carefully curated pairings. Come discover something unexpected together. It sounded classy. Mysterious, even. Mayor Hans was all on board. More tourist dollars? Hell yeah! The town even paid for half the ad. It's a nice town, Mirror Falls, their half of it read. Sits on the north end of Vancouver Island. About 400 people live here. It has what you expect: a coffee shop called Dark Side of the Moon, a gas station called The Gas 'n' God, and a faulty electrical system. Hans was convinced using that same copy everywhere would help somehow. The power outages? That's just small-town charm. The first couple to arrive, Rob and Shannon, were dressed to the nines, which was shocking for a town that usually peaks around the threes. Another couple followed. Then another. Almost all from out of town. Some Down Island. A few even from the mainland. One couple and their friends pulled up to the dock in a sailboat named the Upside Down Pineapple. By 7:30, the pub was full. The biggest crowd ever. The jazz trio leaned into something slow and smooth, and the room settled— Ahem. Ahem. The jazz trio leaned into something slow and smooth, and the room settled into a low hum of voices and oddly sustained eye contact. Pete watched from behind the bar, equal parts proud and nervous, thinking about Sharon. Mm, I don't like that read either. Let's start over here. Yes, I will not be able to see the faces that you make. Sustained eye contact. Pete watched from behind the bar, equal parts proud and nervous. You know what, I'm gonna go nervous and proud because we talk about Sharon next, so I want that to end on nervous and proud. All right, whoops. Okay, small change to the script there. Pete watched oddly. Oh, that was a close contact. Brrr. Oddly sustained eye contact. Pete watched from behind the bar, equal parts nervous and proud, thinking about Sharon. About how he could tell her it actually worked. Maybe things will be okay. Maybe they should do this every weekend. Maybe he's not a failure. Maybe I'm not a failure. But how you tell that? Maybe things will be okay. Maybe we should do this every weekend. Maybe I'm not a failure. Maybe he's not a failure. No, maybe he's not a failure. It's fine. Yeah, that's okay. The first sign things were amiss came when Pete started to The first sign things were amiss came when Pete started to do his "Is everything okay? Thanks for coming" rounds. "It's really great to see this kind of event in a small town," said one fellow wearing a— wearing? Wearing a dinner jacket over a t-shirt so tight you could see— I'm going to just do that whole line again. Is everything okay? Thanks for coming, rounds. It's really great to see this kind of event in a small town, said one fellow wearing a dinner jacket over a t-shirt so tight you could see the temperature in the room. He pointed at the candles. So how do we signal? Green candle? Red candle? Like, I'm assuming there's some kind of system here. For refills? Asked Pete. The man laughed. "I mean, sure, if that's what you folks call it up here." Across the room, another couple waved him over and asked if there would be a structured introduction period or if they should just mingle. Someone asked if the blue napkins meant— Oh no, they won! No! The Americans won! No! Sorry if that's a spoiler. Oh, in overtime. We had the lead for most of the game. We were up 1-0 for almost the whole game. Yeah, this is going exactly where you think it's going. Ugh! Someone asked if the blue— That sucks. —introduction period, or if they should just mingle. Someone asked if the blue napkins meant curious or committed. Now we should see if that affects the story. It might affect my performance. I'm trying to listen to my last— I got to turn this off. That's just going to piss me off, watching that. No. What a horrible way to lose. Overtime, goddamn. I'm gonna start over here. Across the room, another couple waved— Yeah, we'll start over here. Where is that in the script? There it is. I mean, sure, if that's what you folks call it up here. Across the room, another couple waved him over and asked if there would be a structured introduction period or if they should just mingle. Someone asked if the blue napkins meant curious or committed. Another couple asked whether sitting at the bar was a statement. Pete said, "No, it's just seating." And the man replied, "Interesting," like Pete had revealed a loophole. Another asked if there was a private area upstairs. Pete explained that the upstairs was just some old padlocks and road chains for the snow. The woman giggled. Oh, that kind of party. By the time a third guest had asked what time the exchange portion of the evening would begin, Pete realized that he might have accidentally advertised something far more interactive than the basil-encrusted ratatouille. Fuck, and now I gotta watch CNN gloat about it. Basil or basil? Basil, right? Basil encrusted. Than the— than the currently advertised something far more interactive than the basil encrusted ratatouille. That, by the way, is a nod to Fawlty Towers. Just a little homage. Than the basil encrusted ratatouille. He was about to start asking questions when the power went out again. The room's only light were the candles and the tiny power lights on the security cameras. Should I make that more clear? The security cameras never go off in this scene. That never go off, that never turn off, that never power down, that never go off. Yeah, I'm gonna do it that way. There's a reason the security cameras— the cameras— there's a reason the security cameras, um, the tiny don't ever turn off. You just— I have not revealed that part of the town's secret yet. I started asking questions when the power went out again. Where was my brain? I started asking questions when the power went out again. The room's only light were the candles and the tiny power lights on the security cameras that never go off. Maureen walked over to say she'd heard a semi-truck took out one of the power lines down the highway. The truck had flipped on its side smack dab in the middle of the road. It'd be morning before BC Hydro or the big tow truck shows up, and that meant nobody was leaving. The highway was blocked, and BC Hydro's recorded voice had a tone that suggested they had given up emotionally. Pete remembered the plot from Come From Away, which the high schoolers had recently staged. A musical about how the small community of Gander, Newfoundland housed thousands of people on 9/11 when their flights were ordered to the ground. If the Newfies can do it, Pete thought, well, so can we. We're all islanders. Maureen was dispatched to— but this is what happens when I add a line that's not in the script. So can we. We're all islanders. We're all— well, so can we. If the newfies can do it, young and I'm not people on 9/11 when their flights were ordered to the ground. If the newfies can do it, Pete thought, well, so can we. Maureen was dispatched to get volunteer billeters. Pete stood on a chair and announced, if you're from out of town, we will make sure that you are paired off properly. Comfortable beds, attentive hosts. We will not let anyone spend the night alone. The crowd murmured enthusiastically. "Wait," Pete said. "I mean, we will put you up and you can sleep overnight here. Sleep and then leave, please." Within minutes, visiting couples were being assigned to hosts like mismatched socks. Like mismatched socks. Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who describe themselves online as ethically adventurous, ended up in the home of Norman Bev Calkins. Norman Bev have been married— ended up in the home of Norman Bev Calkins. Norman Bev have been married 42 years and have separate recliners labeled with masking tape. "You two can squeeze in over there if you like," said Bev, pointing at the couch. "Would you mind if we watched a little tonight?" Dale and Trish squeezed each other's hands in anticipation. Norm turned on Jeopardy. "We usually watch before dinner, if that's okay." The couples who'd arrived by sailboat were sent to stay with Marlene and Rick Dupont, who own 2 standard poodles and a hot tub that hasn't been chemically balanced since 2017. The blue-haired woman and her husband and their wife were sent to stay with Trevor and Doug— The blue-haired woman and her husband and their wife were sent to stay with Trevor and Denise McKenzie, who have a chicken named Bob and a rooster named Doug. Brad and Simone were billeted with Harold Bixby. Harold is prickly at best and caustic at worst. He's fond of early bedtimes and quiet. He once filed a noise complaint against Maureen for her loud keyboard typing. Maureen lives 2 blocks away. He made up the sofa bed in the living room at 9:00 PM and said good night. Brad and Simone quickly set up a ring light, a video camera, and clip-on microphones. What they didn't know was that Harold's hearing aids are Bluetooth-enabled and automatically connected to Simone's microphone. He was jolted awake by a softly spoken tutorial about activating your partner's core. Brad and Simone, it turns out, are fitness influencers. They run a popular YouTube channel, a perfectly harmless one, but you won't convince Harold of that. Not now. Suffice to say, it was an entertaining and bewildering evening in Mirror Falls. By morning, the highway reopened and Mirror Falls' most memorable guests ever began to drift out of town. There were quiet goodbyes and awkward hugs. By 9, Mirror Falls was mercifully back to normal. Do I say— do I say 9 AM? George Orwell's primary reference to the cameras is the telecrime 24-hour security. Uh, yeah, there is 24-hour— it's not security, but it is 24-hour something. Reminds me of when I met our first swinger couple at the community theater— community musical theater cast party. Mercifully back to normal. Pete unlocked the pub and counted the till, then counted it again. Wait, you don't count the till, do you? Count the money in the till. Counted the money in the till. I'll do it that way. Mercifully back to normal. Pete unlocked the pub and counted the money in the till, then counted it again. Just to be sure. He smiled. For the first time in years, the numbers didn't argue back. He would have that call with the bank, a short call which for once would end in well wishes. Craig was already busy coming up with other theme— theme— theme— For once would end in well wishes. Craig was already busy coming up with other theme night ideas. Why am I having so much trouble on that one? For some reason. We ended well wishes. Craig was already busy coming up with other theme night ideas. The plan was a new theme every Friday night. It was already busy coming up with other theme night ideas. I got distracted because CTV is showing the reaction of a pub when they lost. Ugh. Oh, it's so bad. I was already busy coming up with other theme night ideas. This— sorry. I was already busy coming up with other theme night ideas. I don't know, I cannot find the place on the script. Where am I? There it is. Okay. I was already busy coming up with other theme night ideas. The plan was a new theme every Friday night. Board game night, local history tellings, Screenings of bad B-movies, speed dating— actually, maybe scratch that one. Shannon showed up with two coffees and leaned against the railing beside Pete as they watched the last taillights fade into the fog. "Think they come—" The last taillights fade into the fog. "Think they'll come back?" she asked. Pete shook his head. Doubt it. But we will. Okay. That is the voicing part of— so there is the voicing. There's it right there. Time to put my teeth back in. Well, my retainers. Ow. Do a quick save. Now we get to do the fun part, which is the mixing. So it looks like it is about 15 minutes or so right now, and I get to turn the fan back on because it's hot as hell in here. I don't know why, but I always have like, I always have my office at like 26 degrees. Literally 26. Hang on, I have to text message my wife, then we talk about the cabinets under the window when I get home. Yeah, for sure. Okay. All right. Let us now find the beginning of this, which I think is right here. Maybe. Funny thing about mirrors. Yeah, that's it. So we can get rid of that and put a tiny little fade on this so that there's no zero crossing. And then we get the theme. Which is Air Falls theme song. Right there. Make sure there's no effects on that track. There are effects on my voice track. There's a lot actually. There's noise reduction, which takes some of the echo away from this room. There is a mouth declicker. You know your mouth is— You know when you talk, you just have those little— the kind of sounds? It— that prevents those. I don't know how to get rid of this thing. Close window. There's a DeReverb, which helps more with the reverb. There's an equalizer, which gives my voice a little bit more bass. And there's a compressor that kind of evens out the volume. So I'll show you what it sounds like without all of that. So this is if I were to just do it, and I know that there's an echo on this, sorry. But this is what it sounds like without any of the effects. Whoops. Oh great, it just literally just crashed. That's cool. Reopen. What? There we go. All right, we'll turn all these off. Can you guys still see? Did the— did it come back? Yeah, it came back, didn't it? Yeah, it did. Okay, so this is what it sounds like without any effects. About a year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. By then, Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years. Okay, and now this is what it sounds like with all of those things added. About a year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. By then, Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years. So there's more presence, you know, to the voice. There's more oomph, if that's the right word. Oomph. All right, let's go back to the music. I don't know why it crashed on me. Uh, Mirror Falls. Theme song, instrumental, no vocals. Oh, one of the cool things I should show you guys. So one of the really cool things about the music software, the music software, the production music library that I license is that you can get the whole song. OK? So here is the actual full theme song. Okay, but you can also get just the instrumental, or you can get all of the individual elements for it separately. So these are the vocals, this is the bass line, these are the instruments, these are the drums. And so that lets me be able to mix it the way I want. So if I— this is what they all sound like unmixed. So if I don't want any drums— is this— was this drums? No. Was this drums? Yeah. No drums. Or if I just want vocals and drums only, I can do that. No, that's not right. Hang on, it's this one. I don't know why I would want this, but you could. Oh, it sounds like basses. Oh, that's bass and drums only. So I can sneak these in, turn this level up a little. Or I take those out and I want to put the lyrics in. Now let's go to a part where there are lyrics. Now lower. Or just this and the bass. This is a life, just me, myself, and I. So I don't really use it except for the very last episode. The very last episode, it's not this song, but there is a song. Actually, you know what? I'm going to play you a tiny bit. I'm not going to play you any of the actual episode because I don't want to spoil it. Mirror Falls finale. But so here you can— oops. So here you can see that the actual full music is in there. But this— And that is how the evening should have ended. Like, it's just more dramatic with that. And then— oh, I just, I just love it. And then there's a— and then I just pulled everything out and just got, just got drums here. I've worked so hard on this. What is this, 4 minutes? On these 4 minutes. Oh, yeah. Voice actors are in it? Anyway. OK, we'll go back to this episode. There is a season finale. Don't worry. It's just the season ending. Which will be either next week or the week after. I'm hoping the week after, but it depends on if I can write another episode in between. Yeah, so there's a season finale coming, and then it'll be a few months before season 2. This was not— this is another episode. Hang on, that's not the one I wanted. Episode 6 is what we're on. Hello? What's going on here? I was just working on it. There it is. OK. All right. So we get the theme song. Netflix ordered the next season. That would be cool. I don't think that's going to happen. All right, so I'm watching the very bottom of the screen. I don't know if you can see— oh, you can't see it actually. Hang on, let me move this up so you can see it. So I'm watching the very bottom of the screen down here because those are my levels, and I don't want them to go past 9, -9, which is this bar right here. I want it to get right up to that, and then negative 9 dB is low, but in the final— whoops— in the final mastering of it, it automatically will adjust it to a negative 12 LUFS, if you're an audio producer. I use a very aggressive LUFS level. Negative 12 is probably more aggressive than it needs to be, but I would rather be aggressive than not when it comes to Mastering. That probably means nothing to most of you, but that's okay. Okay. Levels need a little bit higher. There it is. Okay. And I want to start the fade right there. Oops, that's not what I wanted to do. Start the fade here, bring this down there, and that is where it starts, is right here. Funny thing about me. Ooh, that needs to be a little bit better on the speed of that. Funny thing about mirrors, said Pete Tomkinson. Mirror. Music's a little too low. This can hide something you expect to see. Or reveal something you never knew existed. And I want it to— music to come out there and to fade starting over here. Mirrors can hide something you expect to see. See what that sounds like. Perfect. Oh, it's a little over -9, so we'll just back it out just a touch, just a hair. Still a hair over, but that's okay. Funny thing about mirrors, said Pete Tomkinson. Mirrors can hide something you expect to see, or reveal something you never knew existed. He pulled a key out of his pocket and shoved it in his wife's face. Tada! The storage room key. It was behind the mirror at the bar. See, I don't have to go and edit the voice now. This is the nice thing about doing the recording where you're correcting as you go. They call those punch-ins, where you pick up sort of exactly on the sentence or the words that you missed. And so you hear it rolls back about 3 seconds, so it plays it for you, and then it just automatically starts recording at that At that cursor. Pete Tomkinson and his wife Shannon own— that's a bit of a long pause, isn't it? Room key. It was behind the mirror at the bar. Yeah, this needs to— Pete Tomkinson and his wife Shannon own the Dockside Pub. It's right on the water, but even in a town of 400— I kind of slurred that. Pete Tomkinson and his wife Ooh. Yeah, we're gonna punch a correction on that. Pete Tomkinson and his wife Shannon own the Dockside Pub. Okay. It was behind the mirror at the bar. Pete Tomkinson and his wife Sha— I slurred it again. It was behind the mirror at the bar. Pete Tomkinson and his wife Shannon own the Dockside Pub. Again. It was behind the mirror at the bar. Nah. Ooh, no, I better leave it because my— the mic is in a different place. He and his wife Shannon own the Dockside Pub. It's right on the water, but even in a town of 400, it's hard to keep afloat. Weekends are occasionally loud but always unreliable. Weekdays are a ghost town. The last karaoke night ended with a man from Ashford Bay crying into a fog machine while singing Hallelujah in a way that suggested unresolved psychological issues. Nice David Sedaris line. Pete had started looking at spreadsheets in the mornings. It's also how his staff, and by that I mean Craig, knew that things were serious. Pete didn't want to lose the place. The pub was his second marriage, and like his first, He put everything into it. The building was mortgaged. Craig would sometimes loan Pete money to make ends meet. The building was mortgaged. Craig— Craig would sometimes— There's a weird pause just between Craig and the next word. Craig would sometimes— Let's take that out. Craig would sometimes— Craig would sometimes— still, it's still there. Do you hear that? It's like a really kind of a weird pause that I took. Craig would sometimes— that's a little better. Craig would sometimes loan Pete money to make ends meet. Sharon had suggested more than a few times that they look at what she charitably called backup plans. All Pete heard was failure. OK, that needs to be a little louder in the mix. All Pete heard was failure. All right. Now the fun part is we go looking for music. I know you can't see my screen, unfortunately, but I'm looking for— I can describe it. I can say folk. Let's try, like, folk and no vocals. And the mood that I want is sentimental. All right, this is what my music library thinks are sentimental— is sentimental music. Hang on, where's— where are my levels? Not sure if you're gonna be able to hear this or not. Let's see. Yeah, you can. I don't want it to be sad. That's not bad. It's over— it's over a talk of a small town. This might be right. Okay, let's see what else we got here. That is not— not right. Nope. I kinda like that. Sort of dreamy, isn't it? Alright, let's take that one and see what it sounds like in the mix. Backup plans. All Pete heard was failure. Right there. And this, I can already tell, is going to need a bit of a volume boost. Pete Tompkinson. Uh, we need to give this some breathing room. Let the music breathe a little first. Pete Tomp— okay, I kind of like that. It's a bit of an aggressive ramp, so we'll fix that. Pete Tomkinson is 56, moved— still a tiny bit aggressive. All Pete heard was failure. Pete Tomkinson is 56, moved to Mirror Falls in 2007 after his friends Guy and Kim told him all about this tiny 4 forest town they'd just moved to. They bought the Chinese restaurant from the son of the original owner, a nice but odd fellow. A month after buying the place, they found dozens of aprons, each with a bad pun about walks printed on them. Walk this way. Walk and roll. I don't know if I like this music anymore. I don't like the turn it took. Let's just lower this volume a little. Each with a bad pun about walks printed on them. Walk This Way, Walk and Roll, and the one he started wearing, Underpay Overwalk. Pete grew up in Ladner, a small commuter village south of Vancouver. There was a little bit of everything in the '70s. Historic charm, leafy streets. It's okay. The sort of community that ran on routine. Paper routes before class, dinner at the same time every night. This has to come down again. Roots before class, dinner at the same time every night. Back then, Ladner was farmland, fishing, and the Fraser. Farmland, fishing, and the Fraser. Still felt separate from the big city, close enough to Vancouver to feel its pulse, far enough to keep its own rhythm. But like a lot of small BC towns in that era, It was changing without even realizing it. The commuters came first, looking for cheaper houses and a slower pace. With them came more traffic, louder construction, and higher prices. Pete stayed in the area and worked construction. He married Sharon in 2003. They had 2 kids, and they tried to build something they could both be proud of. What do you guys think? Life was manageable. Oh, there was a post there, a nice little post. Let's pick that up. Posts are moments where the music moves to a different scene or a different act in the music, like a different kind of a thing. You can kind of bring the level up and let it kind of swell. And if it happens to land in a part of your script which tells a nice story anyway, you kind of have to give it its moment. Build something they could both be proud of. Like that, that we just give it a tiny little bit of breathing room. Tiny, tiniest, tiniest little— be proud of— like, oop, and also we need to let it have that, say that little thing. Be proud of— Life was ma— It's awfully aggressive with these ramps. I'm gonna give it a little more room. Life was— Again. Yeah, we'll do it this way. Life was manageable. Routine, even. Work, the kids' soccer practice, paying bills. But eventually they both wished they could start over. Maybe In a town like Aladdin used to be. Pete learned two important— Okay, so that is the end of that scene. So hopefully we can find a post here. Let's just get rid of this here. Um, Aladdin used to be— So that's the ending there, right on that beat that we can physically see. So let's see what the last— we're just going to solo this track. Let's see what the last bit sounds like. Eh, we can try it. I don't think that's going to sound good though. Don't think it's going to sound good. Oh, actually, it doesn't sound bad. It doesn't sound bad. All right, so we'll do a little trickety trickety, smooth these in here. Hello, Sam, welcome. Oh great, I soloed. Yeah, that's actually not as bad as I thought. Let's give it a little more volume. Okay, more here. Let's do this. That's starting to sound shitty. Okay. In town, like. So we'll bring this up. This level here. All right, but eventually they both wish they could start over, maybe in a town like how Ladner used to be. That sounds okay, that sounds okay, that sounds okay. And then we want this talking to come in here. Okay. Let's see what that sounds like. Be proud of. Life was manageable. Routine even. Work, the kids' soccer practice, paying bills. But eventually they both wished they could start over. Maybe in a town like Aladna used to be. Pete learned two important things in his first week after buying the Dockside Pub. The first is that there are regulars. The second is that the regulars have habits that do not bend. The choice of music— you guys can hear this, right? I know there's a bit of an echo on or anything. Everyone just knows. Thank you. The pub is right on the water, so The occasional cool breeze drifts in. Pete once raised the room temperature 2 degrees to account for this, and a man in a hoodie stood up, announced, "Well, it's gone soft," and 6 people walked out on principle. They only came back when Pete promised to— So that's a moment where I could use a sound effect of someone actually saying that. So the way I get these, and you may have heard this in the previous episode where— was it Leo? Leo the Kid? Where he is in the back of the room and he yells, "Mom, I think I'm going to barf." I actually deliver the line, but you can hear a kid's voice underneath me also giving that line at the same time. So I think I might do the same thing here. So, man in— and how I do this, by the way, is AI, just for the sound effects, for the things that are under. The credits voice, the two voice actors you're going to hear in the season finale are real people, obviously, that I hired. So, man in small pub pushes wooden chair back and announces, "Well, they've gone soft." And six other people get up and leave. No music is heard and no other talking occurs. All right. All right. Let's generate that. See what we come up with. I don't know if it will set off your AI detection. I don't know that people would know. Like, it's not like I stop and then we cut to this audio. I think that would be a bit more obvious. It's not like that at all. It's going to be underneath, so you'll be able to hear it. Hopefully people will be able to see it in their mind's eye, as it were. So we'll just wait for that to render. It's going to take a little while. I'm just reviewing. I put up a video about Coffee Crisp, and so I'm just double-checking to make sure that people liked it. Must please the people. I keep forgetting that Americans don't have Coffee Crisp. People are like, you miss— I pretended to be Prime Minister. Someone is like, you missed the opportunity to be King of Canada. You see, the thing is that there is a King of Canada. Like, it wouldn't— like, it's a funny joke if it were King of the United States because there's not a king, but he's acting like a king. The joke doesn't really work for Canada because we do actually have a king. And now the lighting of some incense. We have to angle this fan. I have an incense problem. Oh, that fan is aggressive. We are 90 seconds into the AI, so we should have it in another minute or two. I'm almost out of incense. I had to order some from my favorite place in Montreal. I think if people see it when I'm on like a conference call with them. King Chucky. Yeah. Then we have our— we have the— we have the AI version of this. All right, let's hear what it sounds like. Well, they've gone soft. Okay, so first of all, put him in a British accent, which I didn't care for, and I'm going to make me make a change to the prompt. Pushes small pub, announces Canadian man in a small pub, announces, well, announces slowly, well, they've gone soft, and 6 other people. The music is hurt. Okay. All right, let's give that a shot. Because if you listen to it, it's too fast and he's British for some reason. Well, they've gone soft. Like, the sound effects are right. It's got the wooden chairs in a pub. It's got the right amount of reverb for what that room would sound like. So, you know, You know, that's okay. But I do want it— I don't want it to be British, and I don't want it to be, you know— oh, thank you so much, Sam! Thank you, I appreciate that. I'm out of coffee, actually. That actually comes at a good time. I appreciate that. You didn't have to do that. And I've just spilled coffee on my keyboard now, like a boss. All right, we now wait for— wait for the AI. But I do like that piece of music. It took a weird turn kind of in the first verse that I thought was like, I don't know if this is gonna work, but it did. It's got a nice little post for the end. Well, I can't tell you. Unlike Aladdin, it used to be. "Pete learned two important things." Yeah. It's nice. I like it. Music is, you know, it's funny because a lot of people were, and this is a massive compliment, were, are, whatever, comparing this to the Vinyl Cafe. And some people were not mad, but disappointed that I used music because I think the purists who loved Vinyl Cafe, I consider myself one of those, there was no music or sound effects. It was just Stuart telling a story or reading from a— like, it— like, there was a difference between the delivery that Garrison Keillor would do for the News from Lake Wobegon, where that felt to me like someone, like someone telling you a story, like someone telling you what happened in his town, versus Stuart's delivery, which felt more like he was reading which he was, of course. Still great delivery, amazing performance. But, you know, this is different. This is different. This has— I like music. I consider music to be, you know, like sauce or seasoning you put on. All right, let's hear what— let's hear what the new version sounds like. Well, they've gone soft. There we go. That'll work. That'll work. Okay. Parking. Hey, thanks, Abdul. Abdul has seen the video. Not that they're labeled or anything. Everyone just— there are regulars. The second is that the regulars have habits that do not bend. The choice of music, the brand of ketchup. Hell, they even have their own parking spots. Not that they're labeled or anything. Everyone just knows. The pub is right on the water, so the occasional cool breeze drifts in. Pete once raised the room temperature 2 degrees to account for this, and a man in a hoodie stood up Announced. All right, so it's right there. It's right there. How many resources are you using that were from or introduced to you by the CBC? Um, well, no actual resources. Like, I'm not using— I don't have access to obviously their production music library or anything like that, so I'm not using like actual resources, but like stuff that I, that I learned, yeah, for sure. Um, you know, more like more like storytelling models, but a lot of it influenced by Americans as well. Here we can see, well, it's gone soft. So we can actually see the waveforms of the well. Let's just solo this one. Well, they've gone soft. Hmm, that's— that is not the way I voiced it. Well, it's gone soft. So I could— let's try voicing this and see what it sounds like. To account for this, and a man in a hoodie stood up, announced, well, it's gone soft. Well, they've gone soft. To account for this, and a man in a hoodie stood up, announced, well, it's gone— well, they've gone soft. To account for this, and a man in a hoodie stood up, announced, well, they've gone soft. All right, let's see what that sounds like. Well, they've gone soft. Maybe I don't need me at all in there. Announced. Well, they've gone soft. Nah, you know what? I don't like it at all. I don't even like it. We go back. We go back to the way we had it. No sound effects. Well, maybe sound effects. Maybe sound effects of people leaving. Let's see what that sounds like. Announced. Well, it's gone soft. And 6 people walk out on principle. They only came back. I don't mind the sound effects. Nick Cage Canadian? I don't think so. Is it? Is he? Hang on. Is Nick Cage Canadian? No, he was born in Long Beach, California. Like the Canadian song you created? I created a song? Soft, and 6 people walked out on principle. They only came back when Pete promised to never touch the temperature again. Honestly, he told Sharon one night, it's like trying to appease a room full of 8-year-olds. Okay, it sounds like there's a scene change coming. Nope, not yet. So a little tighter. To appease a room full of 8-year-olds. Jokes aside, he's tried everything to make it work, and now the bank wants to have a call about this month. If he can't make the numbers work— well, he needs to make the numbers work. So a little louder on that. Well, he needs to make the numbers work. What's here? All right. So we need more music. We need another piece of music here for the scene change, because we are now going back in time. Oh, you're talking about the— that one. Thank you very much. Sorry. Yes, you are absolutely right. Yeah, the model, Everyday— yes, you're right. What was your— what is your question? Oh, you just liked it. Thank you. That was not AI. That was recorded. Actually, you could see in the The very first few seconds of it you can see me in the recording studio. My wife and I went down to Victoria. It's an award-winning recording studio there. The guy was amazing. We did a couple of takes of it. I can't sing. He autotuned me a bit, thank God. And then the chorus singers came in. They were all real people. They sang. We overlaid it. If you liked that video, there is about an hour-long sort of documentary of behind the scenes. And so you can see all of how the singing came together, how it was layered. You can see the Karen who almost ruined a shot. You can see outtakes. There's a lot of really, really cool stuff in it. If you like that video, you really will like— I think it's linked in the YouTube description. Okay, so what do we want here? Do we want peaceful music for— we want sad music. We want sad but not Maudlin sad. Let's see what these sound like. This is the last few days of Father Marcel in town. Too sad. Next. Too sad. Next. No. Why aren't you playing? Uh, maybe sad's not— maybe sad is it? Maybe sentimental is what I want. Hmm. Do I have Sentimental? I do have Sentimental. All right. What do we got here? You know, normally I would reject this because it sounds a little too mysterious. But this scene actually does set up part of the mystery of the town, so maybe this works. Nah, it's too dark. You guys can hear this music I'm previewing, can't you? That's a no. I think this is one we just listened to. Oh, you can't hear the music? Oh, you're right, you can't hear the music. Thank you. I'm sorry, why, why can't you hear the music? Oh, why, why, why, why? Desktop audio capture. Hang on, let's, let's delete this and try this again. Let's remove this and then add it again. I'm sorry, yo, you guys can tell me if that is that, if that's happening. Mac audio capture. We're going to say desktop audio capture. All right. Let's see if this improves it. Oh, I'm so sorry. I saw that that worked and the levels were off the chart. I'm sorry about that. I have fixed that. Let's try this again. Now it's too quiet, of course. There we go. All right. You guys can hear that, right? It's probably got an echo as well, but— and I'm sorry. Gosh. Yeah. Okay. No, I don't like that. I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Thank you, Dragonfly. There. There we go. Okay. I think we got it. I think we got the levels right. Sorry. I was auditioning music and I thought you guys could hear it as well with me. I know. I'm sorry. It's going over— it's going— this is going to be over the Father Marcel scene where he comes in and he lets on that he might know that he's going to be leaving town, and in fact he dies. Or, I mean, we think he dies, but does he? Alright, maybe, maybe. Let's download this and put it in the mix and see what it sounds like. Not convinced that this is the right one, but we can play with it, right? Okay, so it goes in here. God, the name of this song is "I Think I Was Meant to Be Alone." Jesus. Just to make the numbers work. Okay, so the music would come in right about there and we need to establish it. So we're gonna give it a little bit of room to breathe. Make the numbers work. About a year after he bought the place. About a year after he bought the place. Now, can you guys hear that? Father Marcel walked in. Yeah. By then, Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years, long enough to become part of the fabric of a town with a few frayed edges. Yeah, I do not like my voice performance in this. People had a pattern with Marcel: get gas, say hello, receive a few gentle words. You hear what I mean? Like, it's more— this is supposed to be a quieter— all right, let's, let's pull this back and see what it sounds like all together. Together. Sometimes you have to hear the whole space around it, you know. He's tried everything to make it work, and now the bank wants to have a call about this month. If you can't make the numbers work— well, he needs to make the numbers work. About a year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. It's not bad. By then, Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years, long enough to become part of the fabric of a town with a few frayed edges. People had a pattern with Marcel. Get gas, say hello, receive a few gentle words that felt like forgiveness, and leave lighter than they arrived. Marcel was good at that. I, you know, this is one of those pieces of music that's like, I don't hate it. But I feel like it's not, I feel like it's not quite it. Like if, if worse comes to worse or I run out of time, I'm happy with this piece of music going on, but I feel like there's a better one out there. Um, thank you, Sam. You listened in a way that made people— we do appreciate it. He remembered things, sometimes even wrote them down. Folks told him things they hadn't said out loud before, and afterwards Couldn't quite explain why. That morning though, something seemed off when Marcel walked in and plunked himself down at the bar. Pete dragged over a chair. Such a great little town, Marcel said. I loved it. Uh, so maybe we pull the music out here. Things they hadn't said out loud before and afterwards. Couldn't quite explain why. That morning though, something seemed off when Marcel walked in and plunked himself down at the bar. Pete dragged over a chair. Such a great little town, Marcel said. I loved it here. Loved? Pete said. You're getting— Maybe the fact that the section in the past doesn't come across concretely. Transferred to a different parish? No, no, no, no, stammered Marcel. I just I mean, you've got something good here. You all do. You should know that." "You all right, Father?" Pete asked. He reached for a bottle. "I could pour you one." Marcel shook his head. "Can't. On duty, you know." Father Marcel went missing the next week. Pete would replay that conversation for years. The past tense, the pause, the way Marcel looked past him as if only seeing the town's reflection in a mirror. A little bit louder. Craig Elton is the assistant manager at the dockside. So we need a scene closing, an indicator of the scene closing. So I'm going to find— I'm going to drag this music out so we can see what the ending looks ending is like that. Oops, come here. And— Unexpected together. Flowing water and wildlife sounds. Maybe? Vassel looked past him as if only seeing the town's reflection in a mirror. See, if I put wildlife sounds and flowing water, I have to have established that we are near a piece of Flowing Water, and we aren't. And introducing it kind of out of the blue is, I think, sometimes a little jarring. So I'm going to see what bringing the music back in sounds like. And I can already see that there's a little bit right here. There's already a bit of a post. So let's see. It might sound bad. Pete would replay that conversation for years. The past tense, the pause, the way Marcel looked past him as if only seeing the town's reflection in a mirror. Craig Elton is the assistant manager at the Dockside. He wants to— Maybe this is not the right piece of music. Let's go back. Indeed, it feels like— it does feel like it's a past memory. It is a past memory. Yeah. It needed previous episodes to make it come together strongly. Yes, you're right, Jean. And this also sets up a bit of the secret of the town, a bit of that plot. All right. Let's try some other pieces of music because I don't think that one was the one. Nope, that is not the one. Nor that. Mm, actually, let's go back. No, I heard that one before. I didn't like it. How about this one? Oh, oh, do you know what? I like the beginning. I like that. Let's hear what that sounds like underneath it and see if it's at all workable. A shattering mirror? Well, we would have to establish that there was a mirror there, and there's no reason for a mirror to be there. All right, just for shits and giggles, let's hear what this sounds like. Needs to make the numbers work. About a year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. I do like that. It's okay if it sounds creepy. No, it's okay. It's okay if it sounds creepy for purposes of the plot. About a year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. By then, Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years, long enough to become part of the fabric of a town with a few frayed edges. I can already tell that's going to be too loud, so People had a pattern with Marcel. Get gas, say hello, receive a few gentle words that felt like forgiveness, and leave. I like this. They arrived. This is better. Marcel was good at that. He listened in a way that made people keep talking. He remembered things, sometimes even wrote them down. Folks told him things they hadn't said out loud before. And afterwards, couldn't quite explain why. That morning though, something seemed off when Marcel walked in and plunked himself down at the bar. You can see just how it's increasing in levels. Like you can see from the waveform. So I need to sort of ride this a little bit so that it doesn't get too aggressive underneath. Something seemed off when Marcel walked in and plunked himself down at the bar. Pete dragged over a chair. Such a great little town. Marcel said. Okay, so we cut it, we cut it off here. We'll bring this back over here and we'll— I do like, I do like that though. So I like the fact that it's a bit mysterious actually. How are the levels on this? He needs to make the numbers work. Terrible. Louder, louder, louder, louder, louder, louder. Oh, I'm maxed out. Okay, never mind. Numbers work. About a year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. By then Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years, long enough to become part of the fabric of a town with a few frayed edges. People had a pattern with Marcel: get gas, say hello, receive a few gentle words that felt like forgiveness, and leave lighter than they arrived. Marcel was good at that. He listened in a way that made people keep talking. He remembered things. Sometimes even wrote them down. Folks told him things they hadn't said out loud before, and afterwards couldn't quite explain why. That morning though, something seemed off when Marcel walked in and plunked himself down at the bar. Oh, so the fade has to start over here. Something seemed off when Marcel walked in and plunked himself down at the bar. Pete dragged over a chair. That's so much better than the previous piece. It's a great little town, Marcel said. I loved it here. Loved? Pete said. Okay, where's the ending? As if only seeing the town's reflection in a mirror. That's the ending. So let's hear, well, let's solo this track and see what the ending sounds like. A little further out. All right, Abdul, thanks for dropping by. Oh, uh, I thought it was gonna have like a nice cutoff there. Let's see how it ends. Oh, I like— I do like the ending. I do like the ending. Okay, so, so we'll get rid of that. Where is the— oh, I soloed it. I do that every time. I'm like, why can't I hear it? Because I soloed the other track. Seeing the town's reflection in a mirror. Okay, so we want that to come up about here, but obviously we need to give it time to breathe. The way Marcel looked past as if only seeing the town's reflection in a mirror. Yeah, so bring this up and we'll bring it up so that we hit this piano note mirror. Too loud. Good. Uh, let's see. Pete would reply, reflection in a mirror. Yeah, that's beautiful. Okay, where do we start it though? He reached for a bottle. I could pour you one. Marcel shook his head. Maybe like here, on duty, you know. Father Marcel went missing the next week. Pete would replay that conversation. Yeah, right there. You know, Father Marcel went missing the next week. Pete would replay that conversation for years. The past tense, the pause, the way Marcel looked past him as if only seeing the town's reflection in a mirror. Craig Elton is the assistant manager at the Dockside. He once took a semester of marketing at VIU before switching to hospitality for the tips. So he pitched a solution for the low revenues: a fancy night. The kind where people dress up and order dishes that come with a reduction. We could do it on Valentine's Day. Invite couples. Get the menus printed on thicker paper. Maybe hang a painting on the wall. Craig's husband was in a jazz trio, so the music was taken care of. They had candles from Christmas still. Pete agreed, reluctantly. Trying new things was not his comfort zone. But it was more comfortable than foreclosure. Craig wrote the promo copy himself. An evening for couples seeking something a little different. So obviously we need funny music. This— I've got an enormous library of great funny music. I actually don't use the funny category, I use the sneaking category, which I find funnier and more subtle. You have probably heard some of these pieces in the previous episodes, but let's sample a few. Okay, let's try this one. Read the headline. An intimate atmosphere, carefully curated pairings. Come discover something unexpected together. Actually, that piece of music that I just played would actually go really well there because it's got a nice little build up to it, and then we can deliver it. So let's pull that in, let it auto-level itself there, and then we'll bring this back. All right. And obviously we need to give this a little bit of breathing room. All right. Rough cut. Come discover something unexpected together. Kay. It sounded classy. Mysterious, even. Mayor Hans was all on board. More tourist dollars? Hell yeah! The town even paid for half the ad. It's a nice town, Mirror Falls, they're half of it red. Sits on the north end of Vancouver Island. About 400 people live here. It has what you expect, jizz. That's just small town charm. The first couple to arrive, Rob— Do I keep the music underneath it? How long is this scene? I think it's too long for the music to stay dressed to the nines, which was shocking for a town that usually peaks around the threes. Another couple followed, then another. Yeah, I think we keep it up until he starts his— some down island tour. A few even from the mainland. One couple and their friends pulled up to the dock in a sailboat named the Upside Down Pineapple. By 7:30, the pub was full. The biggest crowd ever. The jazz trio leaned into something slow and smooth, and the room settled into a low hum of voices and oddly sustained eye contact. Pete watched from behind the bar, equal parts nervous and proud, thinking about Sharon, about how he could tell her it actually worked. Wait, is her name Sharon or Shannon? Sharon. Okay, good. Maybe things will be okay. Maybe they should do this every weekend. Maybe he's not a failure. The first sign things were amiss came when Peach started to do his 'Is everything okay? Thanks for coming' rounds. It's really great to see this kind of event. So I think there, I think that's where we drop it. So we've introduced it. We're now setting the scene. And then we get to the point where— yeah, I don't know. Maybe we leave it. Hang on. Wearing a dinner jacket over a t-shirt so tight you could see the temperature in the room. He pointed at the candles. So— No. No, no, we cut, we cut, we cut, we cut, we cut, we cut. Pete watched from behind the bar, equal parts nervous and proud, thinking about Sharon, about how he could tell her it actually worked. I don't want to say— I can't stop it. Another couple, their grandpa, because they are in the first couple and the second couple are in the same scene, the same beat, you know, story unit. So I don't want to like break that up. I like using music starts and stops as indicators of beat transitions or scene transitions. Okay. Maybe they should do this every weekend. Maybe he's not a failure. So let's bring it out a little further. Maybe he's not a failure. A little bit further out. Maybe they should do this every weekend. Maybe he's not a failure. The first sign things were amiss came when Pete started to do his "Is everything okay? Thanks for coming" rounds. Oh, good, Sam. It's really great to see this kind of event in a small town, said one fellow wearing a dinner jacket over a t-shirt. Now, do I want sound effects of a bar in here? Like, I don't think so. But let's hear if I— let's see if I can find one. Bar. Let's see what we got. It's not terrible, you know, it is kind of the vibe. So let's put it underneath a lot quieter, obviously. See what that sounds like. No, not that loud. Oh, that's— that was the wrong clip. This is the one I want. I do have— I do have, like, different, different countries. Like, this is, uh, I think it's American. This is an Irish pub right here. Irish pub. Hold on, I don't know why it's not playing. Hello? My internet is slow. There we go. Irish pub. Here's an English pub. Large crowd, early evening. Oh, the site went down. Maybe my internet crashed. Am I still on? English pub, large crowd, early evening. That's too big. That's too big a space. That is not what the inside of the Dockside Pub sounds like, for sure. Medium crowd, young, lively, England. Ambience, restaurant and bar, small, Busy with R&B music. I hate it. All right, let's hear what this sounds like. Hang on. Failure. So let's bring this over here. Sound is drunk. Yeah. Sign things were amiss came when Pete started to do his, is everything okay, thanks for coming rounds. It's really great to see this kind of event in a small town, said one fellow. Wearing a dinner jacket over a t-shirt so tight you could see the temperature in the room. He pointed at the candles. "So how do we signal? Green candle? Red candle? Like, I'm assuming—" I don't think we need sound effects. "Contact." Let's go back. Pete watched from behind the bar, equal parts nervous and proud, thinking about Sharon. About how he could tell her it actually worked. Maybe things will be okay. Maybe they should do this every weekend. Maybe he's not a failure. The first sign things were amiss came when Peach started to do his "Is everything okay?" speech coming around. It's really great to see this kind of event in a small town, said one fellow wearing a dinner jacket over a t-shirt so tight you could see the temperature in the room. He pointed at the candles. So how do we— The man laughed. I mean, sure, if that's what you folks call it up here. Couple asked whether sitting at the bar— Interesting. Like Pete had revealed a loophole. Music comes back. A loophole. Another asked if there was a private area. Oh, not— not there. Stairs. Pete explained that the upstairs was just some old padlocks and road chains for the snow. The woman giggled. Oh, that kind of party. By the time a third guest had asked what time the exchange portion of the evening would begin, Pete realized that he might have accidentally advertised something far more interactive than the basil-encrusted ratatouille. So you can hear the difference in voicing there because I did a number of takes of that and Very subtle. It was all within the same, like, 2 or 3 minutes, but my mic was a little— my mouth was a little closer to the mic, so the volume was higher. So we have to adjust for that. More interactive than the basil-encrusted ratatouille. It still sounds different. Accidentally advertised something far more interactive than the basil-encrusted ratatouille. He was about to start asking questions when the power went out again. The room's only light were the candles. And the tiny power lights on the security cameras that never go off. I think we don't add any more music until we billet the people. Maureen walked over to say she'd heard a semi-truck took out one of the power lines down the highway. The truck had flipped on its side. Smack dab. Blah. Had a tone that suggested Pete remembered the plot from Come From Away. They had given up emotionally. All right, so let's go back to music here. Hey, Lake Superior, thank you so much. I love Minnesota. Minnesota should just be part of Canada. I don't know why you people aren't. You're basically Canadians already. Don't you even have, like, universal healthcare there? All right, Sneaking, let's— let us preview some more music. I did not write a very clear scene change there. That's my fault. Alright, let's try. Nope, don't like it. Next. No, that's not right. Nope, that is actually sneaking, but not what I'm after. I do love this piece of music. All right, let's try, let's try that, let's try that, let's try that. Copays in the past year have all been canceled out. That— and so copays in the past year have canceled out all state assistance. —used to. I don't know what a copay is. That's where you pay half of it or something? That's when you pay half of it, right? All right, let's try this. Emotionally, Pete remembered the plot from Come From Away, which the high schoolers had recently staged. A musical— no, needs a little more breathing time there. Bing. The highway was blocked and BC Hydro's recorded voice had a tone that suggested they had given up emotionally. No, that comes in just a fraction too soon. I need people to enjoy that line. So, and this needs a tiny bump. All right. And BC Hydro's recorded voice had a tone that suggested They'd given up emotionally. Now it might be too long. The high-pitched recorded voice had a tone that suggested they'd given up emotionally. It's fine. Pete remembered the plot from Come From Away, which the high schoolers had recently staged, a musical about how the small community of Gander, Newfoundland housed thousands of— Okay, this has to come down. Housed thousands of people on 9/11 when their flights were ordered to the ground. If the Newfies can do it, Pete thought, so can we. Maureen was dispatched to get volunteer billeters. Pete stood on a chair and announced, if you're from out of town, we will make sure that you are paired off properly. Comfortable beds, attentive hosts. This is perfect music for this. Anyone spend the night alone? The crowd murmured enthusiastically, wait, it does have a lot. Yeah, it's just the echo. Uh, it is, it is just the livestream. It's the way my Mac has a weird thing with the sound card or something. It does not actually sound that in real life. There wasn't a whole lot of sound effects or music at the Vinyl Cafe. I don't think there was any. I think it was just him reading. He said, I mean, oh, see, that, that is a nice— I can just take the music right out at that point. 'Cause it's sort of a funny little moment there. All right, let's try this. The crowd murmured enthusiastically. Touch lower. Let anyone spend the night alone. The crowd murmured enthusiastically. Wait, Pete said. I mean, will— The music, it's a beautiful little pause where the music naturally pauses right when he gets awkward. I love it. The post-gods have smiled upon me today. Wait, he said, I mean, we will put you up and you can sleep overnight here. Sleep and then leave, please. So now I have to find the next Soloviss. Nope. Yeah, that's it right there. A little bit louder. All right, let's hear what this sounds like. Oops, I know I don't want to solo that track. You can sleep overnight here. Sleep and then leave, please. Within minutes, visiting couples were being assigned to hosts. I don't know why these curves are always so freaking aggressive. Within minutes, visiting couples were being assigned to hosts like mismatched socks. Dale and Trish Lambert from The Chosen, who describe themselves online as ethically adventurous Maybe we force that post. Hang on, bear with me. I'm trying something. It may not work. Sucks. Actually, I think it does work. I think it does work. Just a little bit of— "Wait," Pete said. "I mean, we will put you up and you can sleep overnight here. Sleep and then leave, please." Within minutes, visiting— Too loud. Too loud. Too loud. Please. Within minutes, visiting couples were being assigned to hosts like mismatched socks. Gail and Trish Lambert. Yes, it is distorted. You're going to hear it, um, a bit of an echo. Let me just listen to hear what it sounds like, what you folks are hearing, but there might be a a little bit of an echo, and that is because of the way the sound card, unfortunately— Let me have a listen to hear what you folks are hearing just a second. Okay, now I'm going to just play it so I can hear it. Oh, I see what you're saying. You're saying completely distorted. I'm sorry. I thought you guys were just talking about the echo, but it's distorted distorted. Oh, it wasn't a few minutes ago? Okay, all right, okay, okay, okay. Let me try re-adding that then. Uh, hang on. Did Stuart MacLean do this amount of post-production work, or is this what Anton Zabo did? First of all, how do you know Anton? First of all, how do you know Anton? Uh, secondly, um, he mostly read it— read his stories in front of audiences, and I don't think they interjected sound effects or music into them. All right, let's try saying application capture, and the application is Hindenburg. Let's see if that sounds any— is this still going? No. Let's— okay, hang on, I need to— all right, let's hear what this sounds like. Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who describe themselves online. All right, let's see. I think I fixed it, didn't I? I think I fixed it. Hang on, it's hard. I'm, I'm counting on the delay. There's not much of a delay. Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who describe themselves online. All right, let's hear You know what? I think I actually fixed the echo too, but it is a little low, so I'm just going to bump up the volume here. All right. Is this better? Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who describe themselves— is that better? I can even bump up the volume a little bit more. Ethically adventurous. That's probably ended up in the home of Norman Bev Calkins. Norman Bev have been— sorry about that. I can only hear it if I like stop and do what we just did. All right, let's try it again. I think that worked, right? Is that That's better, isn't it? You worked with the crazy avion who used to know Anton was legendary at CBC when I was there. Excellent. Within minutes, visiting couples were being assigned to hosts like mismatched socks. Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who described themselves online as ethically adventurous, ended up in the home of Norm and Bev Calkins. Norm and Bev have been married 42 years and have separate recliners labeled with masking tape. "You two can squeeze in over there if you like," said Bev, pointing at the couch. "Would you mind if we watched a little tonight?" Dale and Trish— "Would you mind if we watched a little tonight?" Oh, maybe we can put— maybe we can take the music out for the line "watched a little," and then that'll actually give me a chance to pull— to start it up again, because I'm gonna need more of it. Do I have all of it? Do I have more of it? I have more of it. Okay, so we're gonna pause it when she says "watch tonight." Again, I think the post Post-God smiled on us. Like, said Bev, pointing at the couch, would you mind if we watched a little tonight? Dale and Trish squeezed each other's hands in anticipation. Norm turned on Jeopardy. We usually watch before dinner, if that's okay. The couples who derive by sale— see, that's the beginning of this song. Oh wait, that's the wrong song entirely. Hang on. We want Pitfall. Before dinner, if that's okay. It does sound so much better. I'm so sorry, folks. That's okay. The couples who'd arrived by sailboat were sent to stay. All right. So I think that's okay. I have to listen to it again. It's a little— Normally I wouldn't cut the music cold in the middle of a scene if the scene is kind of the same. It's basically the same actor scene or beats or whatever. We are in the homes of the Billiters, but it's awfully funny having it stop after the line. I really wish I had just— can I— let me zoom in here. If I just like a fucking touch more room— where's the curve? Right there. There. Okay, let's see. Please. And you can sleep overnight here. Sleep and then leave, please. Within minutes, visiting couples were being assigned to hosts like mismatched socks. It's tricky. Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who describe themselves online as ethically adventurous, ended up in the home of Norm and Bev Calkins. Norm and Bev have been married 42 years and have separate recliners labeled with masking tape. Even that, you know, like, here's what I see is I see that there's a really nice post here, right? This, this little empty spot. Let me solo this track. This little empty spot right here. That's a really nice post, and you can use those comedically. It does, Joan, it does. So, and I can see right here that there's a, there's a scene change or a beat change or an action. There's something I spent more time in between, so I know that there's something there. So my instinct is to do something like this. Is to have— is to establish the music again once we're through whatever that moment is. If this is funny, if this part here is funny, then we can leave a gap. So let's hear what it sounds like. Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who describe themselves online as ethically adventurous, ended up in the home of Norm and Bev Calkins. Norm and Bev have been married 42 years and have separate recliners labeled with masking tape. I like it. And then, pum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Oh, that sounds beautiful. That sounds beautiful. All right. Tiny little thing here. All right, let's try this. Norm and Bev have been married 42 years and have separate recliners labeled with masking tape. You two can squeeze in over there if you like, said Bev, pointing at the couch. Would you mind if we watched a little? Oh, even that, even that needs ju— and if I can just get a little bit more breath. After this post right here, just to kind of— and I might even give it a cheeky little bump. Music pause works, highlights the story. Yeah, exactly. Like, it's just kind of like, it's, it's— I'm trying to keep them, the two things rhythmically the same. Dale and Trish Lambert from A Chosen, who describe themselves online as ethically adventurous, ended up in the home of Norm and Bev Calkins. Norm and Bev have been married 42 years and have separate recliners labeled with masking tape. You two can squeeze in over there if you like, said Bev, pointing at the couch. Would you mind if we watched a little? Oh yeah, it's better. It's better with the beat. I'm even a little bit more of a beat. Hey. Oh yeah, I'm command saving like every, like obsessively. Over there if you like, said Bev, pointing at the couch. In fact, I kind of almost would like it to have just another little cheeky bump here. Recliners. 42 years and have separate recliners labeled with masking tape. You two can squeeze in over there if you like, said Bev, pointing at the couch. Would you mind if we watched a little tonight? Dale and Trish squeezed each other's hands in anticipation. Norm turned on Jeopardy. We usually watch before dinner, if that's okay. The couples who arrived by sail— I like it. I like it. This music comes in a little too aggressively, and it also needs a bit of a beat. A bit of a beat. Yeah, that's the joke, is the watching. The whole thing is this whole town misunderstands. Okay, let's play from here. Please. Within minutes, visiting couples were being assigned to hosts like mismatched socks. Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who described themselves online as ethically adventurous, ended up in the home of Norm and Bev Calkins. Norm and Bev have been married 42 years and have separate recliners labeled with masking tape. I love that. You two can squeeze in over there if you like, said Bev, pointing at the couch. Would you mind if we watched a little tonight? Dale and Trish squeezed each other's hands in anticipation. Norm turned on Jeopardy. We usually watch before dinner, if that's okay. Just— it just needs a little bit more room. It just needs a tiny bit more room. "We usually watch before dinner, if that's okay." That's better. "The couples who'd arrived by sailboat were sent to stay with Marlene and Rick Dupont, who own two standard poodles and a hot tub that hasn't been chemically balanced since 2017." Yeah, again, I can pull that out and just give that a little so that this beat shows up right after that punchline. It's very subtle, but— and we're gonna give this a Bit of a cheeky bump too. That hasn't been chemically balanced since 2017. The blue-haired woman and her husband and their wife were sent to stay with Trevor and Denise McKenzie, who have a chicken named Bob and a rooster named Doug. Brad and Simone were billeted with Harold Bixby. Harold is prickly at best and caustic at worst. He's fond of early bedtimes and quiet. He once filed a noise complaint against Maureen for her loud keyboard typing. Maureen lives two blocks away. He made up the sofa bed in the living room at 9 PM and said good night. Brad and Simone quickly set up a ring light. I don't like this dropping out of the music here though. Two blocks away. He made up the sofa bed in the two blocks away. So maybe what I'll do is— let's solo this. So this pause doesn't work because we're not really— like, it's kind of a joke but not really. So I might try and bring— this is a big— after this beat, there's a pause. So maybe what I want is Bum. Like, maybe I want this to start— let's just rough cut it. Whoops, no, I fucked that up. Okay, so I think that might work. So let's actually— I can see it, it's right there. Yeah, I'll pull this down and now And now the beats should match and the gap will be gone. Let's hear how it sounds. Oh, I did it again. I soloed. Alright, here we go. Yeah. Can this do— is there any Anything here? Oh yeah, there's all this, so I can use all this to my advantage. Yeah, that's better, that's better, that's better. So that awkward gap isn't there anymore, but the beats still match properly. All right, let's go back here from this one. With Harold Bixby. Harold is prickly at best and caustic at worst. He's fond of early bedtimes and quiet. He once filed a noise complaint against Maureen for her loud keyboard typing. "Maureen lives two blocks away." "He made up the sofa bed in the living room at 9 PM and said good night." "Brad and Simone quickly set up a ring light, a video camera, and clip-on microphones." "What they didn't—" Little tiny breath here. "On microphones." light, a video camera, and clip-on microphones. What they didn't know was that Harold's hearing aids are Bluetooth enabled and automatic. A little loud, eh? You need a professional recording so you could do much more with that technology. I would love— give me all the buttons, all the mixing boards. Oh, I would love it, but I don't— do not have a need for it. What they didn't know was that Harold's hearing aids are Bluetooth enabled and automatically connected to Simone's microphone. Oh, this is bare— oh, Superior Guy, this is barely using the MacBook. Like, this is a strong MacBook. This is an M4 Pro Max decked out. Like, it is a $7,000 laptop. But you could be doing this on a Mac Air. This is just 3 tracks of audio. And there's only one, and only one of these tracks has effects on it. My voice track, that's it. So it's, this is not computationally difficult. And automatically connected to Simone's microphone. He was jolted awake by a softly spoken tutorial about— also a little loud there— by a softly spoken tutorial about activating your partner's core Brad and Simone, it turns out, are fitness influencers. They run a popular YouTube channel, a perfectly harmless one, but you won't convince Harold of that. Not now. Suffice to say— No, that is the wrong little bit of music in there, isn't it? We just, we need the same bum bum bum. We need, we still need that. Could you livestream simultaneously? Ah, that's a good point. That's a good point. You may not be able to with a MacBook Air. All right, let's— is this what we need? Yes. 2, 3, 4, 2, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. So we'll cut there, and this is on the downbeat, isn't it? Yes. So we'll cut there. And we'll bring this over here. Actually, we'll drag this out so we can see where the beat would happen. And let's see if this works. Fuck, I did it again. Yep, it works. Okay, so that relieves us of that issue. When I used to use Adobe Audition, also good software, my favorite feature was it had a timeline. You could use it to adjust the volume level at different times. You can do that as well. It's called live tracking. Basically, they're like keyframes, right, where you can kind of ride the levels. I hate riding levels live. The problem when you do that is because you're moving very, very subtly when you're doing it live, you end up like— like, see here? Yeah, let's see here. It's kind of hard to see, but there's two dots. There's a handle here and there's a handle here. The two of them kind of right in that area. See them? Those are simple. There's only two of them. So I can come in here because I manually place them. I could adjust the ramp of this curve the way I want. And in fact, since I'm here, I'm going to do that. But when you're riding it live, it is creating those little handles for you, and because you're kind of doing fine little adjustments, you end up with a million of them. So when you want to come and like just adjust a curve a little bit, you've got a million stupid little knobs to do. So I just don't bother. I would much rather have like— I've got— here's— Here's this ramp down. I've got my fade out here. I could probably add a little one here to make sure there's no zero crossing. So it's more control over it, but you can do it. You can do it. That's mostly done for like when you're like, when you've got like 30 microphones and you're adjusting a symphony live, that's often used. But for this, for, you know, 2 music tracks and a voice track, I'd rather just do that. He was jolted awake by a softly spoken tutorial about Activating your partner's core. Brad and Simone, it turns out, are fitness influencers. They run a popular YouTube channel. A perfectly harmless one, but you won't convince Harold of that. Not now. Suffice to say, it was an entertaining and bewildering evening in Mirror Falls. How does this piece end? As they watched the last of the taillights fade into the fog. I think they'll come. All right, let's see, let's see what this would sound like. Mirror Falls. If this doesn't work, I'm just going to fade it out. We don't— I don't need to force this. Mirror Falls. I'm aware that that's over top. This is— hang on, let me first find the downbeats here. Wildering evening in Mirror Falls. 1, 2, 3, 4, boom. So that's this one right here that we need to find a thing for. Make sure that those line up mostly. I think it's going to be there. Let's hear what this sounds like. Falls. Yeah, okay, so we've got the timing right. Let's see if it sounds right. It may not. It may be the kind of thing where we just fade it out. Evening in Mirror Falls. By morning, the highway reopened. It's like a frame too late. It's a frame too late, and we would like to have this come up a little louder. Again, I'm not convinced this is the right play here. I may end up, um, just fading the music out. Bewildering evening. We're almost done. Mirror Falls. By morning, the highway reopened. Let's hear what it sounds like with— or we just do a fade. In Mirror Falls. No, it's not as good, is it? In Mirror Falls. By morning, the highway reopened. It is a conclusion. That's okay. It's a conclusion to that act, right? We are now in the final act, so I'm okay with that. It's a tiny bit loud. Oh, you're— oh, I'm on a TV. Cool. By morning, the highway reopened and Mirror Falls' most memorable guests ever began. The only piece of music we need after this is the quiet goodbyes and awkward hugs. I will go drag that in. By 9, Mirror Falls was mercifully back to normal. Pete unlocked the pub and counted the money in the till, then counted it again. 'Just to be sure.' He smiled. For the first time in years, 'Yeah, you never even see weirdo.' He would have that call with the bank, a short call which for once would end in well wishes. Craig was already busy coming up with other theme night ideas. The plan was a new theme every Friday night: board game night, local history tellings, screenings of bad B-movies, speed dating— actually, yeah, maybe scratch that one. Shannon showed up with two— Does that sound like a blooper? Does that sound like— like, the point is that maybe the town shouldn't do speed dating, but I worry that it sounds like I made a mistake while voicing and forgot to take it out. The plan was a new theme every Friday night. Board game night. Local history tellings. Screenings of bad B-movies. Speed dating— eh, actually, yeah, maybe scratch that one. Shannon showed up with two coffees and leaned against the railing beside Pete as they watched the last taillights fade into the fog. "Think they'll come back?" she asked. Pete shook his head. "Doubt it." 'But we will.' I am strolling along, just minding my business, humming a song. 'But we will.' I'd like to revoice that line a little bit more hopeful. That sounded sad. Pete shook his head. 'Doubt it, but we will.' I don't like that either. Shook his head. 'Doubt it, but we will.' Oh! You hear how bad that sounds? I got to leave it. It's so fascinating how— okay, let me, let me try and recreate where my mouth was when I voiced that and we'll try this again. I think I was a little further away. I think— let's try it again. Shook his head. Doubt it, but we will. Okay. Pete shook his head. Doubt it. But we will. Oh, that's better. That's better. See, it's like all the difference in the world, eh? All right, let's do a proper voicing. Pete shook his head. Doubt it, but we will. But we will. Pete shook his head. Doubt it, but we will. I am Okay. Are the credits in this? This is the life. Just me, myself, and I. Mirror Falls is produced with— So I always like to bump this a little. For some reason, when I mixed this, it was a little too low. Falls is produced with gratitude on the territory of the— Okay. We are going to do one go through. So the episode is 16 and a half minutes long. Thank you, uh, Joan. Thank you. All right, we're gonna give it a listen with fresh ears. I sometimes close my eyes during this part or turn my screen off. I won't do that because you folks are in chat and, and I wouldn't be able to see you. I usually do that just so I'm not influenced by what the waveforms are, so that I'm not aware of when the posts show up. But let us have a listen and see what this sounds like. And usually this run I don't make any changes. I'm just— unless it's like horribly bad, I will leave it for a day and come back afterwards. Funny thing about mirrors, said Pete Tomkinson, mirrors can hide something you expect to see or reveal something You never knew existed. He pulled the key out of his pocket and shoved it in his wife's face. Okay, Sean, thank you. Thanks for being here. Ta-da! The storage room key. It was behind the mirror at the bar. Pete Tomkinson and his wife Shannon own the Dockside Pub. It's right on the water, but even in a town of 400, it's hard to keep afloat. Weekends are occasionally loud but always unreliable. Weekdays are a ghost town. The last karaoke night ended with a man from Ashford Bay crying into a fog machine while singing Hallelujah in a way that suggested unresolved psychological issues. It's why Pete had started looking at spreadsheets in the mornings. It's also how his staff— and by that I mean Craig— knew that things were serious. Pete didn't want to lose the place. The pub was his second marriage. And like his first, he put everything into it. Hang on, I'm just going to make a change to the text in case anyone comes in. We are going to make this say reviewing final mix of Sunday's episode of Mirror Falls. Here we go. Building was mortgaged. Craig would sometimes loan Pete money to make ends meet. Sharon had suggested more than a few times that they look at what she charitably called backup plans. All Pete heard was failure. Pete Tomkinson is 56, moved to Mirror Falls in 2007 after his friends Guy and Kim told them all about this tiny forest town they'd just moved to. They'd bought the Chinese restaurant from the son of the original owner, a nice but odd fellow. A month after buying the place, they found dozens of aprons, each with a bad pun about— that's the part. That was the part right there that I wasn't convinced of, but the rest of the piece redeemed itself. This right here. I I don't know, it rubbed me the wrong way, but the rest of the piece works. A month after buying the place, they found dozens of aprons, each with a bad pun about walks printed on them. Walk this way, walk and roll, and the one Geese started wearing: underpay, overwalk. Pete grew up in Ladner, a small commuter village south of Vancouver. There's a little bit of everything in the '70s. Historic charm, leafy streets, the sort of community that ran on routine. Paper routes before class, dinner at the same time every night. Back then, I do— farmland, fishing. I've already had 3, I need to stop. Still felt separate from the big city, close enough to Vancouver to feel its pulse, far enough to keep its own rhythm. But like a lot of small BC towns in that era, It was changing without even realizing it. The commuters came first, looking for cheaper houses and the slower pace. With them came more traffic, louder construction, and higher prices. Pete stayed in the area and worked construction. He married Sharon in 2003. They had two kids, and they tried to build something they could both be proud of. Life was manageable. Routine, even. Work, the kids' soccer practice, paying bills. But eventually they both wished they could start over. Closing my eyes because I know that post is coming up. Maybe in a town like how Ladno used to be. It's fine. It's good. Pete learned two important things in his first week after buying the Dockside Pub. The first is that there are regulars. The second is that the regulars have habits that do not bend. The choice of music, the brand of ketchup. Hell, they even have their own parking spots. Not that they're labeled or anything. Everyone just knows. The pub is right on the water, so the occasional cool breeze drifts in. Pete once raised the room temperature 2 degrees to account for this, and a man in a hoodie stood up. Sorry, I should have put my face gate on. Well. 'Well, it's gone soft, and 6 people walked out on principle.' They only came back when— I gotta drop the sound effects. It's the only place that it's there, and it comes out of nowhere. 'And then a hoodie stood up, announced, well, it's gone soft, and 6 people walked out on principle. They only came back when Pete promised to never touch the temperature again.' There we go. 'Honestly,' he told Sharon one night, It's like trying to appease a room full of 8-year-olds. Jokes aside, he's tried everything to make it work, and now the bank wants to have a call about this month. If he can't make the numbers work— well, he needs to make the numbers work. It does. Just about a year after he bought the place, just a tiny, a tiny break. Breath here. Just a tiny breath there because that's kind of an emotional point. I don't want to— Wants to have a call about this month. If he can't make the numbers work, well, he needs to make the numbers work. That's better. About a year after he bought the place, Father Marcel walked in. By then Marcel had been in Mirror Falls about 4 years, long enough to become part of the fabric of a town with a few frayed edges. People had a pattern with Marcel: get gas, say hello, receive a few gentle words that felt like forgiveness, and leave lighter than they arrived. Marcel was good at that. He listened in a way that made people keep talking. He remembered things. Sometimes even wrote them down. Why did he write things down? Folks told him things they hadn't said out loud before. Good question. And afterwards couldn't quite explain why. That morning though, something seemed off when Marcel walked in and plunked himself down at the bar. Pete dragged over a chair. Such a great little town, Marcel said. Transition into the— I loved it here. Into the action. Loved? Pete said. 'You getting transferred to a different parish?' 'No, no, no,' stammered Marcel. 'I just mean you've got something good here. You all do. You should know that.' 'Hi, Ginger.' 'You all right, Father?' Pete asked. He reached for a bottle. 'I could pour you one.' Marcel shook his head. 'I can't. On duty, you know.' Father Marcel went missing the next week. Pete would replay that conversation for years. The past tense, the pause, the way— Slower ramp, slower ramp, slower ramp. Let's try that. On duty, you know. Father Marcel went missing the next week. Pete would replay that conversation for years. The past tense, the pause, the way Marcel looked past him as if only seeing the town's reflection in a mirror. Craig Elton is the assistant manager at the Dockside. He once took a semester of marketing at VIU before switching to hospitality for the tips, so he pitched a solution for the low revenues Hello, Lazy Fish. Ah, no problem. And by the way, I'm going to keep this live up. Usually I delete my lives. I'm going to keep this one up. So you feel free to, when I'm done, which is going to be very soon, probably in about, well, when we're done with this episode. So probably in about 15 minutes, I will stop the stream and you will be able to go back and watch it again. A fancy night. The kind where people dress up and order dishes that come with a reduction. We could do it on Valentine's Day. Invite couples. Get the menus printed on thicker paper. Maybe hang a painting on the wall. Craig's husband was in a jazz trio, so the music was taken care of. They had candles from Christmas still. Pete agreed, reluctantly. Trying new things was not his comfort zone. But it was more comfortable than foreclosure. Craig wrote the promo copy himself. An evening for couples seeking something a little different. See, I— wait a minute, what's this big gap? Unexpected. Oh, there's music missing here. Shit. Action in an unexpected together. We have a mistake. So let's, let's find that piece of music again. I must have dragged it out for some reason, which I sometimes do. If I don't hold it— if I'm trying to duplicate a piece of music or a— what do they call it? Clip? If I'm trying to duplicate something and I— sometimes I screw it up. Okay. Was it Trickster? It was Trickster, I think. Yeah, it was Trickster. Okay. Where is Trickster gone? Do I have it on my desktop? No, screw it. Let's download it again. I have unlimited data. We download again. I don't know how I got rid of that. This is why we listen just to be sure. It's too bad because I had spent some time working on those, but that's okay. All right. And then we have a nice little duck here. For something. And then we're going to give this a Little bit. Come discover something unexpected together. A little faster. Unexpected together. Better. It sounded classy, mysterious even. Mayor Hans was all on board. More tourist dollars? Hell yeah! The town even paid for half the ad. It's a nice town, Mirror Falls, their half of it read. Sits on the north end of Vancouver Island. About 400 people live here. It has what you expect: a coffee shop called Dark Side of the Moon, a gas station called The Gas and God, and a faulty electrical system. Um, oh yeah, I do this, I screw up my tracks all the time. I've never used DaVinci Resolve. Hans was convinced using that same copy everywhere would help somehow. The power outages? That's just small town charm. The first couple to arrive, Robin— Uh, see, I forget what I did here. I think I just dragged— I think I just— What did I do? Darn, did I leave the music up? Shannon were dressed to the nines, which was shocking for a town that usually peaks around the threes. Another couple followed. Then enough. If I did, that does not— is not supposed to be that big. That's just small. Oh no, no, it was there because we had a post, maybe? God, I can't remember what I did. That's just small town charm. The first couple to arrive, Rob and Shannon, were dressed to the nines, which was shocking for a town that usually peaks around the threes. Another couple followed, then another, almost all from out of town. Some down island, a few even from the mainland. One couple and their friends pulled up to the dock in a sailboat named the Upside Down Pineapple. That's a— let's, let's not let that be so fucking aggressive. Here we go. Almost all from out of town, some down island, a few even from the mainland. One couple and their friends pulled up to the dock in a sailboat named the Upside Down Pineapple. By 7:30, the pub was full. The biggest crowd ever. The jazz trio leaned into something slow and smooth, and the room settled into a low hum of voices and oddly sustained eye contact. Pete watched from behind the bar, equal parts nervous and proud, thinking about Sharon, about how he could tell her it actually worked. Maybe things will be okay. Maybe they should do this every weekend. Maybe he's not a failure. The first sign things were amiss came when Pete started to do his weekend. Maybe he's not a failure. The first sign things were amiss came when Pete started to do his, his everything. Up to that odd orchestra explosion. Yeah, I'm with you. It's— I, I, I took it down a little bit. A few even from the mainland. One couple and their friends pulled up to the dock in a sailboat named the Upside Down Pineapple. By 7:30, I've lowered the volume, it's fine. The biggest crowd ever. I wish it weren't there, but the jazz trio leaned into something. This every weekend. Maybe he's not a failure. The first sign things were amiss came when Pete started to do his, is everything okay? I think I need a little bit because we're going from his thoughts back into the scene. So we're just going to give this a tiny bit of breathing room here. To do this every weekend. Maybe he's not a failure. The first sign things were amiss came when Pete started to do his, is everything okay? Thanks for coming rounds. It's really great to see this kind of event in a small town, said one fellow. Here it is again. Over here. Given up emotionally. Pete remembered the plot from Come From Away. Ergh! Power lights on the security cameras that never go off. That kind of party. By the time a third guest had asked what time the exchange portion of the evening would begin, Pete realized that he might have accidentally advertised something far more interactive. Than the basil-encrusted ratatouille. Okay, that's where I'm gonna drag it all out so I know I haven't screwed that up. Okay, we're gonna do that to clear all the handles. Pull this back a little and whoops, drop it. Shit, where was I? For refills, that kind of party here, the ratatouille. Thank you, Lazy Fish. Diesel-encrusted ratatouille. He was about to start asking questions when the power went out again. The room's only light were the candles and the tiny power lights on the security cameras that never go off. Maureen walked over to say she'd heard a semi-truck took out one of the power lines down the highway. The truck had flipped on its side smack dab in the middle of the road. It'd be morning before BC Hydro or the big tow truck shows up. And that meant nobody was leaving. The highway was blocked and BC Hydro's recorded voice had a tone that suggested they had given up emotionally. Pete remembered the plot from Come From Away, which the high schoolers had recently staged, a musical about how the small community of Gander, Newfoundland— we, we, we will put you up and you can sleep overnight here. Sleep. I don't know what happened. And then blocks— leave, please. Within minutes, visiting— oh no, okay, I can already tell that I didn't use— I used this piece of music here because that was not beginning. That was some other— so, yep. So this is the piece of music that we had used. Now I know what happened to them. I had set them up here and I went to copy, and by copying you hold down Option. See, it makes a copy. But if you don't hold down Option, it just moves it, and I moved it and lost it. So I don't know where I put— I don't know where I put it. I'm gonna have to like 'For refills?' asked Pete. 'It wasn't here.' The man laughed. 'I mean, sure, if that's what you folks call it up here.' So where is another scene change? The first sign things were amiss came when Pete started to do his 'Is everything okay? Thanks for coming' rounds. 'It's really great to see this kind of event in a small town,' said one fellow wearing a dinner jacket. Over a t-shirt so tight you could see the temperature in the room. He pointed at the candles. So how do we— Oh, that kind of party. By the time a third guest had asked what time the exchange portion of the crusted ratatouille— It's on the line, Ratatouille, right? It has to be. It has to be. I don't know why I wouldn't have. —then the basil-encrusted ratatouille. Scene change at 11:07. 11:07. Yes. Yeah, there is. And there's a post there for it. —Braktiv—then the basil-encrusted ratatouille. 10:25. Yes, exactly. Ratatouille. And now I remember I had this maxed out in terms of volume. Okay, I think we're back. You repeated at 10:25 and 11:07. Thank you, you went back. Uh, thank you. Oh yeah, I see you can see the post here. Okay, all right, let's hear what that sounds like. We advertised something far more interactive than the basil-encrusted ratatouille. He was about to start asking questions when the power went out again. The room's only light were the candles and the tiny power lights on the security cameras that never go off. Little loud. Tiny power lights on the security cameras that never go off. Maureen walked over to say she'd heard a semi-truck took out one of the power lines down the highway. The truck had flipped on its side smack dab in the middle of the road. It'd be morning before BC Hydro or the big tow truck shows up, and that meant nobody was leaving. The highway was blocked, and BC Hydro's recorded voice had a tone that suggested they had given up emotionally. I did something else here, didn't I? I repeated it. Maybe I— did I just let Pete remember the— oh no, I let this play out a little, I think. I mean, we can do something new with it, but it's just irritating. Not emotionally. They— that's too long to get there. They had given up emotionally. So we can take this, take that out, put this over here. That's the fade. This is the start of the fade. So let's see if this works. Given up emotionally. It's a little— jumps a little too fast. They— let's Let's mute this. Now it's— wait, is there a downbeat here? Yeah, there is. Okay, I think, I think maybe even just a touch. Okay, let's hear what this sounds like. There we go. All right, let's hear it. Let's hear it. Let's hear it. Let's hear it. The highway was blocked and BC Hydro's recorded voice had a tone that suggested they had given up emotionally. That's good. Pete remembered the plot from Come From Away, which is a little loud. The high schoolers had recently staged A musical about how the small community of Gander, Newfoundland housed thousands. So just out of curiosity, let's see what happens. I'm just going to eyeball this. A musical about how the small community of Gander— Yeah, I like that. All right, so we'll, we'll do the same thing. At least this one, it's not out, so I can see the beat. There's the beat right there. And there's our other beat. So is it here? Yeah, okay. Away, which the high schoolers had recently staged, a musical about how the small community of Gander, Newfoundland housed thousands of people on 9/11 when their flights were ordered to the ground. If the Newfies can do it, Pete thought, well, so can we. Maureen was dispatched to get— uh, all right, well, since we're here, we're gonna Let that be a bit of a post. Just a tiny, tiny little— not even consequential. Thought, well, so can we. Maureen was dispatched to get Vulp. Even, even just a touch more. And actually, I kind of like it. Let's— all right. Ground. If the newbies can do it, Pete thought, well, so can we. Morning. Uh, whoops. Well, so can we. Maureen was dispatched to get— Somewhere in between, isn't it? Well, so can we. Maureen was dispatched— Better. To get volunteer billeters. Pete stood on a chair and announced, if you're from out of town, we will make— Oh, whoops. Make sure that you are paired off properly. Properly. Comfortable beds, attentive hosts. We will not let anyone spend the night alone. The crowd murmured enthusiastically. Wait, okay, so this is the comedy bit. So, beds, attentive hosts. We will not let anyone spend the night alone. The crowd murmured. Paired off properly, comfortable beds, attentive host. Eh, eh, I don't like it. I don't like that part. Thank you, Fish. Dun dun dun, boom, right there, there's the beat. Uh, all right, we'll just— actually, we can see this one, so there it is. Okay, it's just a little— it's just a fraction. It doesn't look like it, but it's just a little bit. Still feels just a, just a hair. Imagine someone's audio flickering, only getting that audio. Yeah, maybe. Welcome. Yes, this is live, Caper. And I almost kind of want it to end on this. No, I wish it— I wish that there were echo behind that thing. What is this one like? Okay, I'll let it play out. Let's hear what it sounds like. Maureen was dispatched to get volunteer billeters. Pete stood on a chair and announced, "If you're from out of town, we will make sure that you are paired off properly. Comfortable beds, attentive hosts. We will not let anyone spend the night alone." Okay, I think we're close. I think we're close. Just gonna let this beat have its own little moment. Just a tiny little cheeky bump. Hosts, we will not— no, it needs a little bit softer. Hosts, we will not let anyone spend the night alone. And actually, this can be a little up too. We will not let anyone spend the night alone. The crowd. Okay, so it comes to a natural ending. So I think this is it. I think we got it here. I think we got it here. All right, let's go back to here. Let's go back to the beginning of the piece. No, that's too far back. Okay, let's go here. Suggested they had given up emotionally. Pete remembered the plot from Come From Away, which the high schoolers had recently staged, a musical about how the small community of Gander, Newfoundland housed thousands of people on 9/11 when their flights were ordered to the ground. If the Newfies can do it, Pete thought, so can we. Maureen was dispatched to get volunteer billetters. Pete stood on a chair and announced, "If you're from out of town," We will make sure that you are paired off properly. Comfortable beds, attentive hosts. We will not let anyone spend the night alone. The crowd murmured enthusiastically. Wait, Pete said. I mean, we will put you up and you can sleep overnight here. Sleep and then leave, please. Within minutes, visiting couples were being assigned to hosts like mismatched socks. Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who described themselves online as ethically adventurous, ended up— See, now, now, because now I don't like this music underneath here. Now we're in a very significant scene change. We have now moved from the bar Not only have we moved locations, we've moved time periods. That is a big scene adjustment, and I don't like having the same piece of music tying the two different locations and times together. I know I'm overthinking it, but normally I would have brought it down and either gone no music or introduced another piece of music. But this is going to be one of those calls that I'll have to make tomorrow after I have some distance from it. Dale and Trish Lambert from Machosen, who describe themselves online as ethically adventurous, ended up in the home of Norm and Bev Calkins. Like, it has some really nice posts, like this one. And have separate recliners labeled with masking tape. You two can squeeze in over there if you like, said Bev, pointing at the couch. And this one. Would you mind if we watched a little tonight? Dale and Trish squeezed each other's hands in anticipation. Norm turned on Jeopardy! We usually watch before dinner, if that's okay. The couples who arrived by sailboat were sent to stay with Marlene and Rick Dupont, who own 2 standard poodles and a hot tub that hasn't been chemically balanced since 2017. The blue-haired woman and her husband and their wife were sent to stay with Trevor and Denise McKenzie, who have a chicken named Bob and a rooster named Doug. Brad and Simone were billeted with Harold Bixby Harold is prickly at best and caustic at worst. This particular piece of music— Early bedtimes. This particular piece of music has some really beautiful posts in it. Like, it's built with posts. And I love them. And I don't want to do away with them. Because you can use them comedically to, like, punch a point. And quiet. He once filed a noise complaint against Maureen for her loud keyboard typing. Maureen lives 2 blocks away. He made up the sofa bed in the living room at 9 PM and said good night. Brad and Simone quickly set up a ring light, a video camera, and clip-on microphones. What they didn't know was that Harold's hearing aids are Bluetooth-enabled and automatically connected to Simone's microphone. He was jolted awake by by a softly spoken tutorial about activating your partner's core. Brad and Simone, it turns out, are fitness influencers. They run a popular YouTube channel. Oh, I was wrong about that. That beat comes in just like a fraction too late now. All right, hang on. Let's listen again. I can't tell, honestly. A little. Let's do a tiny bit back. I know it's quiet. Sorry. It's fine. I'm overthinking it now. A perfectly harmless one. But you won't convince Harold of that. Not now. I won't be getting up at 3, but I will be reviewing it again tomorrow. I have to do 2 passes tomorrow. I have to do the pass where it's— where I'm like listening with fresh ears, and then I have to mix it down and listen on a phone and hear what that mix sounds like. And then I want to listen on headphones and see what that mix sounds like as well, because it's different. Like, the music on a— when this plays over a phone, the music and headphones, the music more so on the phone will come up louder. It'll be perceived more loudly using a phone speaker. So I want to do that as well. Suffice to say, it was an entertaining and bewildering evening in Mirror Falls. By morning, the highway reopened and Mirror Falls' most memorable guest said, "Blah, blah, blah." Yeah, maybe scratch that one. Shannon showed up with two coffees. And leaned against the railing beside Pete as they watched the last taillights fade into the fog. "Think they'll come back?" she asked. Pete shook his head. "Doubt it. But we will." Still don't like that voice singing that line. I'll come back to it tomorrow. Gratitude on the territory of the coasts. OK, that'll be enough. That'll be enough. I've got the elements in place. I've got them in the right place. There may be— I need to give it a day or maybe two. I might come back to it on Saturday just to listen through this after I've had a couple of days. Because you hear things different after you've had a couple of days stuff. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Fish. That's great. And then I'll mix it down and I'll listen on headphones, and then I'll listen on the phone, and hopefully we'll be OK. I tried to compensate for the levels on a phone. In my earphones, and these are, like, studio quality, the levels sound a little lower than I would normally mix. I'm usually somewhat aggressive with my music mix, which some people complain about. And those people are always listening on phones, speakers. So we'll see. We'll see what it sounds like. But that is it for me. Thank you so much for joining me. If you came in halfway, all you have to do is pull this to the very beginning of the video and it will replay for you. There were some glitches with the audio, like not the actual real-world mix, but there were some glitches with the whole other stuff, like with the way that you heard the audio. So my apologies for that. But yeah, I think we're getting there. And I think this is the penultimate episode, and then I think next week is the season finale. Oh, Fish, let me play you a tiny bit from the finale since it sounds like you're— I pulled out some stems for some of these things. It just sounds beautiful. And that is how the evening should have ended. Some polite nods, awkward small talk about the rain, everyone drifting home. A normal night. I can't play the actual thing here. Uh, a phone number and 4 words. I love this piece of music so much. Isn't that beautiful? It's a nice town. Mirror Falls sits on the north end of Vancouver Island. And then, and then here I'm not playing any of the words so I don't give it away. Whoops. I'll be sorry. I'm going to do that again. That little done. These words right here— hang on, let me zoom in— these words right here will reveal for you what is going— will get you to this Season 2, hopefully. These two words are the cliffhanger. So I'm not playing it. But that's why you hear this little dun there. Coming up in Season 2 of Mirror Fools. Anyway, that's it. That's all you get. The music is not— the music is a piece of music, but I got the stems for it. So that's why, you know, like the original music is a full piece of music, but these right here, solo this, is just the bass line. So I was able to get just the bass line for it. And And it just works beautifully well. Now, now this is just the drums and the bass. The actual song, of course, has got all sorts of layers, but I've just sort of mixed it out that I want this a little bit louder now. There we go, drums a little bit louder. Isn't that great? I can't— obviously I can't play you the words for this. I'll play this one now. Oh wow, you I didn't have that track soloed. It's just such beautiful, beautiful— the Aryan sirens I added for the plot. Isn't it a beautiful piece of music? Ginger, that is what happens. I wish— I'm dying for you to hear the words, of course, because hopefully at this point you'll be like, What the fuck? And then these two words right here. Actually, I'll let you hear the words. No, I'm not gonna let you hear the words. And then, and then we get the, uh, coming up in season 2. Coming up in season 2 of Mirror Falls. The voice, the voice is talking to this, obviously. Mirror Falls is produced with gratitude. Oh, I love this piece of music so much. I have not worked with Sasha and— no, it's just— yeah, and then, and then like that, that little done is— that little thing comes in right when you have the 'Wait, I think I know what this is about' moment. It's after these two words are delivered. And then it just gets big. Coming up in Season 2 of Mirror Fools. For years, Canadians have known about— That's all I'll give you for that. Yeah. And then The ending. Oops. I put in the film reel. Mirror Falls. And that's because I've got the stems. That's because I got the stems, right? Like, I would not have been able to do any of that without this. I've spent more— how many minutes is this? It's not even 4 minutes. It's 4 minutes. I've spent more time on these 4 minutes of audio, probably more time on a single section of 4 minutes of audio than any other part of my multi-decade career in audio production. I've spent 15 hours, 15, 20 hours on these 4 minutes. Like, as soon as I heard the music. And in fact, it's the only piece of writing where I wrote the ending to the music, because it just has so many moments where— for you to kind of pull out. And like, anyway, I'm not— I'm going to give it away. Forget it. Yeah. I'm thrilled. I cannot wait for you to hear the finale, and I hope that you have a moment of, "Wait, what the fuck is actually going on with this town?" And then maybe you will want to think, maybe you'll want to— my hope, my dream is that you'll think to yourself, "I have got to now go back and listen to all of the episodes again now that I know what I just heard." Having just heard that, "I have to listen to the whole thing again." And if you do that, you will see more of this story. Or maybe not. Or maybe it'll just be a fun little bit at the end. I don't know. But I certainly had fun doing it. OK. Thank you all for being here. Thank you for hanging out with me. This episode drops— the one that we mixed today, this episode drops— oh, you didn't know about it? Yeah. Mirrorfalls.com. Mirrorfalls.com. There are 5 episodes up right now. This is episode 6 that we were working on, and this drops Sunday morning. Episodes always come out Sunday morning at 7 AM Pacific time, so that is when you— they will be in your podcast app. Um, okay, thank you very much. I will see you guys later. Bye. Oh yeah, you have to listen to them in order for sure.