It remains to be seen whether it ’ ll truly stick , but up to this point , it seems like these new immersive formats are here to stay ; especially as those responsible for the creation of immersive music get more familiar with the technology at their disposal and unlock its full potential . The most compelling argument for spatial audio ’ s potential rise to popularity , however , is once again the fact that it ’ s no longer limited to those who can afford the best of the best in terms of hardware and space . Sure , at the highest echelons there are spaces and rigs such as the L-Acoustics auditorium used by LATROIT , or Florencia ’ s 7.1.4 mix room , but the fact that the same capability can be scaled down as far as being listenable in headphones – and engineers that are catering to consumer-friendly playback systems – is a sterling sign that we ’ re at a tipping point for how we think about recorded music .
VIC FLORENCIA ’ S ATMOS 7.1.4 MIX ROOM . NOTICE THE SPEAKERS EMBEDDED IN THE WALLS AND CEILINGS
Andrew Leyenhorst is a Niagara-based freelance producer , engineer , mixer , and the Assistant Editor of Professional Sound .
ACCLAIMED ENGINEERS ON THE IMMERSIVE AUDIO RESURGENCE For extended conversations with Bottrill , Fraser , and L-Acoustics ’ Jordan Tani , check out the Professional Sound Podcast
PHOTO : NEAL BURSTYN
David Bottrill
Grammy Award-winning producer & mixer ( Tool , Mastodon , Muse , Peter Gabriel )
Mike Fraser
Juno Award-winning producer , engineer & mixer ( AC / DC , Metallica , Zac Brown Band )
Bottrill : I ’ ve really , really enjoyed it . It ’ s been a lot of fun to sort of learn and experiment with it ; I ’ m still fairly new at doing it . I think I ’ m trying to do it where the music is sensible still , and still holds together .
I don ’ t like the whole idea of putting yourself so much in the middle of the stage of the band that you ’ re kind of surrounded by everybody . I have more of the philosophy that it should just come around you a little bit more and envelop you a little bit more rather than having the cowbell coming out the back . The buzzword is “ immersive sound ” – and I think that ’ s a great philosophy , is to be immersed in it , but not to be distracted by the technique . I think you should never make anybody turn around . The music shouldn ’ t be like , “ Hey , what ’ s that back there ?”
Fraser : It would work for a lot of other kinds of music , like symphony or dance , or things where we can use [ immersion ] as an effect , and I say , “ Well , that ’ s really cool !”
But for rock , it doesn ’ t make much sense to me yet . But I will say , I ’ m on the older scale of engineers , and maybe this is a younger guys ’ game . Because when I first started , things were stereo , but a lot of things had been recorded mono . So , when they started using two speakers , you know , like The Beatles with all the drums on one side , and guitars on the other , it was sort of a novelty .
It wasn ’ t until later that people developed the way of , “ Oh , there ’ s the whole picture !” So , maybe this is something that as it gets developed , it ’ ll be , “ Ah , there ’ s how you use this immersive stuff .” You know , some of us old guys are trying to fit our stereo preconceptions into , “ Well , how do I make things work in this new space ?”
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