With five Primetime Emmy nominations and four CAS awards for sound mixing, Darryl L. Frank is a household name in production sound mixing in New Mexico — a state Breaking Bad elevated as a filming location. In fact, he worked on the blockbuster AMC show. Lately, Frank has been chasing actors on horseback in the acclaimed western series 1883, not to mention miking up Tom Hanks in the sci-fi drama Finch, which explores human-robot relations on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Instead of sixguns or lasers on his hip, Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless keeps the peace by ensuring flawless sound even under harsh production conditions. Frank’s rig includes Venue2 receivers, wideband SMWB transmitters and their dual-battery SMDWB siblings, SMV and SMQV high-output transmitters, and up to 30 R1-series IFB receivers depending on production needs. All frequencies are coordinated using Wireless Designer software.

On 1883, Frank served as second unit mixer along with Richard Bullock Jr. as first unit mixer. The first thing Frank’s cart had to stand up to was the environment. “We were outside most of the time, so working on this show was all about embracing the weather,” Frank comments. “Rain, heat, dust, 50-mile-per-hour winds, you name it. We shot a couple of days in Montana where I don’t think the winds ever dipped below 40 miles per hour. This made holding up booms impossible, and so increased the number of wireless channels we needed. There and in New Mexico, there were a lot of middle-of-nowhere places. At no time did I have an issue with any of the wireless.”