PHOTO : MICHELLE SHIERS
LORD-ALGE ’ S SSL SL4064 SERIES CONSOLE & THREE OCEAN WAY HR4S MONITORS FOR ATMOS LCR
With five Grammy Awards and thousands of records to his credit , not to mention the further ubiquity of his name across the audio plug-in soundscape and droves of educational content , Chris Lord-Alge is one of the undisputed icons of modern music production . Billy Talent , Three Days Grace , Shinedown , James Brown , Green Day , Muse , Carrie Underwood , Keith Urban , P ! nk , Halestorm ... This is only a small grab-bag of the names that Lord-Alge has helped make . You ’ ve heard his work – period . But before we get into our conversation with Lord-Alge , it only makes sense to take a peek into some recent developments at his studio in Tarzana , CA – Mix LA .
As with most mixers , Lord-Alge has recently made a shift towards adding Dolby Atmos , as many major releases are now being mixed for the format – both new and back-catalogs – which has necessitated some changes to his room at the facility , Studio A . While the room has been anchored around an SSL S4064E series console since the desk ’ s installation in 1986 , the coming of Atmos capability has also ushered in new monitoring and networking systems to accommodate it .
For this new system , designer Art Kelm specified a 9.1.4 array from Ocean Way Audio , which joins the existing Ocean Way stereo system already in place . This new array comprises three HR4S units for L-C-R ( each with their own subwoofer under the console ), 10 PRO2A-S boxes for surrounds , and two S12 subs in the back of the control room – that means a lot of routing to do .
Since the Atmos system also needed to be operable from any of three discrete Pro Tools rigs , an expansive Focusrite Red- Net system was also installed in tandem with an Avid Matrix Studio ; with Mix LA now employing Dante to not only control the system from different rigs , but also to send audio from room to room , which Lord-Alge elaborates on later .
If you weren ’ t familiar with him already , this latest push into the future is right on-brand for Lord-Alge , who ’ ll you ’ re about to learn a lot more about . He ’ s a guy that ’ s always been at the forefront of record-making technology , and understands better than most how to make it work in the big picture . Of course , it ’ s that kind of perspective that makes an icon .
Enjoy our conversation .
This interview has been edited for length and clarity .
PS : I read that Green Day ’ s American Idiot is one of the first marquee records you ’ re working on remixing in Atmos . What have been your initial impressions of working in Atmos , and how would you be approaching that record – a three-piece rock band – from an immersive standpoint ?
Lord-Alge : As someone who ’ s done 26,000 stereo mixes , it ’ s tough to jump into Atmos and get the same thing , so there ’ s a learning curve . I have a lot of friends of mine that have helped me that are really good at it , so I ’ m learning what works and what doesn ’ t work – but you know , it ’ s an exciting new world ; we ’ ll see if it sticks …
And with American Idiot , if you think of that record , there are a few layers , and a bit of production . Let ’ s just take “ Boulevard of Broken Dreams ” because that ’ s just off the top of my head . “ Boulevard ” has a tremolo guitar , has an acoustic guitar , has the main power guitars and some helpers – a fourpack – in the chorus . And it also has some lead lines that happen in between , so you have a couple of puzzle pieces . If I go
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