Mike Mettler

Spatial Audio File
The Divine Secrets Behind Mixing Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej’s Grammy-Winning Best Immersive Audio Album Divine Tides in 360 Reality Audio
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 30, 2023  |  Published: Jul 31, 2023

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. . .

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Music Reviews
Remaster Class – R.E.M: Out of Time
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 17, 2023
No one could have predicted how a guitar band from Athens, Georgia would turn into the biggest international alt-rock darlings of the 1990s — and yet, that’s exactly what R.E.M. did. The lo-fi genius of their eternally mumbly/jangly first single, “Radio Free Europe” essentially reset the song-arrangement table for what became known as college rock. Year by year, R.E.M. planted more than enough sonic seeds about where the latest crop of DIY U.S. bands was heading on each of their ensuing mid-1980s LP releases on the indie I.R.S. Records label until they jumped to the majors with their November 1988 effort on Warner Bros., Green. Though Green’s expansive sound palette took full advantage of a much-bigger recording budget, R.E.M.’s world domination vision instead came to fruition on their more refined, more stripped-down second Warner Bros. release, the unequivocal worldwide smash hit, March 1991’s Out of Time.
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Music and Soundtrack Features
High Fidelity First Class
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 05, 2023
Fifty years on, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon remains one of the most important recordings of the rock era. Here’s why it will continue to endure, long after we’ve all gone on to join the great gig in the sky.
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Spatial Audio File
Giles Martin on Mixing The Beach Boys’ Seminal Pet Sounds in Atmos
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 30, 2023

After scoring big last year with his stellar Atmos mix of The Beatles’ seminal August 1966 album Revolver, producer Giles Martin was more recently tasked with giving the Atmos treatment to The Beach Boys’ benchmark May 1966 release, Pet Sounds. Martin got on Zoom with music editor Mike Mettler from across the Pond to discuss how he made sure his Pet Sounds Atmos mix stayed true to the music’s “real” intent, what his approach to dealing with all those infamous Beach Boys vocal stacks entailed, and how he made sure “God Only Knows” comes across as being nothing short of heavenly in its Atmos incarnation. Read on to glean all the immersive details accordingly. . .

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Music Reviews
Intrique — Steven Wilson Presents: Progressive Sounds in UK Alternative Music 1979-89
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 09, 2023
Performances
Sound
Steven Wilson has long been a man with a mission to push musical boundaries and stretch the limits of our listening expectations with his own music. He also has a passion for championing releases from other artists who have been underexposed or overlooked entirely, so is it really any wonder Wilson is behind a new and quite, well, intriguing import-only box set compilation Intrigue — Steven Wilson Presents: Progressive Sounds in UK Alternative Music 1979-89? All told, Intrigue presents 58 tracks spread across 5-plus listening hours on a 4CD set from Edsel Records.
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Music Reviews
Remaster Class – The Doobie Brothers: The Captain and Me
Mike Mettler  |  May 15, 2023
The Doobie Brothers are the consummate 1970s band. Their Northern California-bred sound consists of a harmonious amalgamation of rock, R&B, soul, and blues — a veritable melting-pot musical blend that continues to galvanize audiences the world over five-plus decades later, especially given The Doobies are currently on the road all summer long in continuation of their pandemically delayed 50th anniversary tour.
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Spatial Audio File
New World Man: Richard Chycki on Mixing Rush’s Signals in Atmos
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 28, 2023

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. . .

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Music Reviews
Bob Dylan: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions Deluxe Edition Box Set
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 04, 2023  |  Published: Apr 05, 2023
Performances
Sound
Bob Dylan hit a bit of a rough patch as the freewheelin’ 1980s gave way to the dour 1990s. Dylan ended the MTV decade on a high note with September 1989’s Oh Mercy—a visceral, smoky triumph produced by Daniel Lanois—but he stumbled out of the new-decade gate with the half-hearted mish-mosh sheen of September 1990’s Under the Red Sky.
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Spatial Audio File
State of Love and Trust: Josh Evans on Mixing Pearl Jam in Atmos
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 31, 2023

Producer/engineer Josh Evans has been tasked with bringing Pearl Jam’s storied catalog into the Atmos universe, and he’s already spearheaded a number of great immersive mixes for various catalog entries of theirs ranging from the band’s explosive 1991 debut Ten to the broader strokes of 2020’s Gigaton. Recently, Evans got on Zoom with music editor Mike Mettler from the friendly confines of his studio HQ in Seattle to discuss why Pearl Jam trusts his Atmos instincts, the rigorous multitrack tape-to-digital transfer process he follows, and why it’s important to sometimes just let the music breathe. Read on to immerse yourself accordingly. . .

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Music Reviews
Remaster Class - XTC: Nonsuch
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 27, 2023
Any Kind of Love Is Alright

XTC was indeed riding high following the both-sides-of-the-Pond success of February 1989’s psychedelically fulfilling Oranges & Lemons, but far be it from Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, and David Gregory to even think of doing the same thing twice.

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