Spatial Audio File

With apologies to the late, great Tom Petty, we do know how it feels to be Ryan Ulyate, thanks to the open book approach the acclaimed producer/engineer has taken with the songwriting and subject matter that dominates his very first solo album, Act 3, which has also been nominated for a Best Immersive Audio Album Grammy. During a recent Zoom interview, music editor Mike Mettler and Ulyate discussed how he learned about his Grammy nomination, why the immersive Atmos palette gives him the additional space needed to take more of an orchestral approach with his mixes, and why the cover image for Act 3 is the perfect full-circle choice to best reflect his life’s work. . .

Phil Manzanera likes thinking in 360 degrees. Ever since Steven Wilson turned in a stellar 5.1 mix of his band Roxy Music’s self-titled June 1972 debut album for inclusion in a 45th anniversary 3CD/1BD box set released in February 2018, he’s been hooked. Nowadays, the guitarist/composer is looking forward to hearing what Roxy will sound like in Dolby Atmos—and he just might get that wish granted sooner than later. Recently, Manzanera and music editor Mike Mettler got on Zoom to discuss which early Roxy Music track will be better served in Atmos, how Wilson’s 5.1 mix enhanced the palette of the band’s self-titled debut, and which Roxy release he feels will be the “ultimate” Atmos album.

When The Orb and David Gilmour came together over a decade ago to produce the two-part, 49-minute ambient soundscape dubbed Metallic Spheres, there almost seemed to be a bit of unfinished business attached to what we were hearing—and now we know why. To take its music to the next level, original Metallic Spheres producer Youth has just recast it in Dolby Atmos as a more concise 40-minute edition duly renamed Metallic Spheres in Colour. Recently, Youth and music editor Mike Mettler got on Zoom to discuss how Metallic Spheres morphed into its current full-bodied Atmos Colour and shape, what notable Orb song seems ready-made for an immersive remix, and what else he’d like to mix in Atmos next. . .

It’s no surprise that Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej’s collaborative effort Divine Tides won a Grammy Award in February 2023 for Best Immersive Audio Album for the 360 Reality Audio version of it done by the ace surround-sound mixing team of producer Herbert Waltl and mixer Eric Schilling. Here, Waltl and Schilling discuss how they created that richly expansive 360RA mix, as well as the key differences between stereo mixes and immersive mixes, how to best tap into emotional responses in a spatial audio setting, and how they strive for their mixes to get you to experience hearing certain mix elements both well above and well below your ear height. . .

Rush’s September 1982 album Signals celebrates the release of its 40th anniversary Super Deluxe Edition today, April 28, 2023—and it’s a spatially inclined box set that contains a stunning new Atmos mix of the core album by longtime Rush confidante and noted producer/engineer Richard Chycki on Blu-ray. In a recent Zoom interview, Chycki and music editor Mike Mettler discuss the esteemed producer’s overall Atmos mixing M.O. for Signals, the one specific request from Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson that was honored in “Subdivisions,” and why “Countdown” truly lifts off into the stratosphere in Atmos. Read on to decipher all the fine immersive signals accordingly. . .

Guitar maestro Joe Satriani has been making strange beautiful music for well over four decades and counting. Given his penchant for exploring the very concept of space itself and all of its dimensions, it should come as no surprise that Satch has wholly embraced the concept of having his music mixed in Dolby Atmos. Recently, Satriani and I got on Zoom together to discuss just how cosmically cool his benchmark October 1987 instrumental album Surfing With the Alien sounds in Atmos, which specific track benefits the most from its Atmos mix, and what earlier surround mix from his storied catalog he considers to be “the most beautiful thing ever.” Read on to discover all the Satch-in-Atmos answers that await. . .

Tom Petty always, always knew how to ensure the music he made over the course of his long and storied career would sound the absolute best it could during playback in any format. Petty’s longtime engineer and production partner Ryan Ulyate continues to both carry that torch and up the ante, as evidenced by his stellar mixing of all 18 tracks found on Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ November 1993 Greatest Hits collection in Dolby Atmos. Recently, Ulyate and I got on Zoom together to discuss how he created the stems for these Atmos mixes by accessing the original masters, which songs on Greatest Hits are the most immersive and why, and what Tom himself would have said upon hearing his music in Atmos—perfect topics all for deep-dive coverage in this month’s Spatial Audio File, methinks, so read on. . .