Mixing with Dolby Atmos: Brad Wood (Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins, The Bangles)

➡️➡️Learn more about Brad Wood and Mixing with Dolby Atmos here: producelikeapr...
➡️➡️Join the Produce Like A Pro Academy here: producelikeapr...
➡️➡️Watch Brad Wood: Interview & Studio Tour here: • Brad Wood: Interview &...
➡️➡️Check out these Dolby Atmos compatible products here: imp.i114863.ne...
➡️➡️Check out PMC Studio Monitors here: imp.i114863.ne...
➡️➡️Get the Anatomy of a Mix with Brad Wood course here: promixacademy....
Brad Wood, a record producer and mixer since 1988, has produced hundreds of albums including groundbreaking debuts by Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, Sunny Day Real Estate, Ben Lee, Pete Yorn & Placebo. He has also produced career highlight albums for artists like Smashing Pumpkins, mewithoutYou, Touché Amoré, Say Anything, the Bangles and Skating Polly. Originally from Chicago, Brad now lives in Los Angeles and works in his private full-service studio, where he uses a hybrid of the best new and vintage analog and digital equipment.
For over 50 years, content creators and audio professionals have relied on Dolby to make soundtracks that inspire, amaze, and bring audiences into the story.
Today, Dolby continue to push the envelope for quality sound through innovations in immersive audio.
Dolby Atmos Content Creation Solutions enable you to easily create a three-dimensional sonic environment where you can precisely place and move individual sounds to deliver an entirely new entertainment experience. And because these intuitive tools integrate into your existing mixing, editing, and sound design workflows, you can start using them quickly and easily while staying focused on your creativity.
Plus, with Dolby Atmos becoming more readily available across devices and content, it’s been embraced by both audiences and the world’s top content creators.
Dolby Atmos lets you precisely place and move sounds in three-dimensional space with the introduction of audio objects - and with much more precision compared to traditional surround. And with the addition of overhead speakers, you can create a fully encompassing soundstage to make listeners feel like they’re inside the experience.
❤️My Favorite Plugins:
➡️Waves MV2: waves.7eer.net...
➡️Waves RBass: waves.7eer.net...
➡️Renaissance Vox: waves.7eer.net...
➡️Renaissance Compressor: waves.7eer.net...
➡️Warren Huart IR Pack lancasteraudio...
➡️Warren Huart Kemper Pack lancasteraudio...
❤️GEAR:
➡️Stealth Sonics: stealthsonics....
➡️UK Sound 1173: vintageking.co...
➡️Apollo x16: u.audio/apollo...
➡️Apollo Twin: u.audio/apollo...
➡️Check out all of Warren's favourite gear here: imp.i114863.ne...
➡️Check out this weeks top deals on Studio Recording Gear here: imp.i114863.ne...
Join the community here:
Facebook Group
/ producelikeapro
Facebook Page:
/ producelikeapro
Instagram
/ producelikeapro
Twitter
/ producelikeapro
❤️❤️Free 3 Part Mixing Course:
• Happy Christmas! Here'...
Sign up here to get exclusive videos and content producelikeapro...
#ProduceLikeAPro
#HomeRecording
#BradWood
Giveaway Winners: www.producelik...
Produce Like A Pro is a website which features great tips to help the beginning recordist make incredible sounding home recordings on a budget.

[@Producelikeapro]

What other mixers and producers would you love to hear from? Let me know below!

[@41illusion]

Gary Katz and Elliott Scheiner who both worked on The Nightfly by Donald Fagen. Matthew Wilder, David J. Holman, and Paul Palmer who all worked on Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt.

[@philippgrunert8776]

Alan Moulder, Chris Sheldon, Steven Wilson (his mixing is dramatically under evaluated)

[@thomaskunz3726]

Hi Warren, now i know how to answer your question. I don't know as many professionals as you do, but i would like to suggest something unusual. Can you please take some of your mixes on a USB stick and go to a HighEnder's room with Magico M6 Speakers and Soulution Amplifiers and have a listen. Then please comment on how much better such a system really is. Kind regards, and thank you for all your work and inspiration. Namaste

[@melissabell585]

I still want to hear you and Steve Albini have a "friendly chat" about all sorts of things. :)

[@thomaskunz3726]

Hi Warren, i just had another idea. I am a big fan of Isotek mains conditioners. I got a Isotek Aquarius and was quite astounded by the sonic improvement. That might be something for your show too. Namaste

[@TrevKen]

What's crazy is that this video somehow encodes spatial audio within a stereo mix on KZbin. Listen to these demos with good headphones, it works great. Especially after switching on "Windows Sonic For Headphones" in the Windows sound settings. So surely we could use the Atmos VST plugin and then mix it back down to stereo like this video?

[@hifidavid]

Here is a real world success story. Client gave me a Logic mix. I broke it out to stems. Loaded in Cubase and “mastered” each track as opposed to a master bus. Turned on Cubase ATMOS and put the tracks in space. Automation allows movement of the tracks, and track groups all around the room. Used headphones. Rendering to Binaural. Used AWS media converter to make an iPhone audition. Gave back to the client. It blew his socks off. I got his deal, and his album, and his future albums, and all his friends. iTunes distributed with spatial support (which is just ATMOS). It is a game changer. Reach out if you need a partner on this.

[@TrevKen]

Fantastic! Congrats. Is it possible to use the Atmos VST plugin to do the mastering effects and fold down to a standard stereo mix, like this video is? It must be possible because this video sounds exactly like the positions given when using my DT990 Pros and switching on "Windows Sonic For Headphones" in my sound settings.

[@Beatledave7]

Brad is such an engaging easy going gentleman! Very much enjoyed the interview thank you Warren!

[@Producelikeapro]

Agreed! Wonderful guy!

[@Leo.Brodie]

This was very informative! I like how he explains his rationale for moving sounds out into the room versus leaving them up front in the stereo bed. In his approach, he foundational elements tend to stay in the traditional front stereo field, with more incidental elements used to add height and depth.

[@Producelikeapro]

Fabulous! Yes, agreed 100%!

[@michaeltablet8577]

I'm so excited about this new technology! Opens up a whole new world of creativity. It broadens the canvas we get to paint on and gives us so many more colors. Thank you for sharing this video!

[@Producelikeapro]

Agreed 100%! Thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@user-hn2wc3fy7y]

Very interesting blurb about the acoustics measurements in a room like that. Cool stuff!

[@anthonyanzalone]

very cool look into atmos mixing. I’m watching this during my break at work on my phone with headphones. when he soloed the bongos I actually looked up to the left because it sounded like there was somebody next to me playing bongos. There is definitely some spatial thing going on there that is translating to my headphones, even over KZbin. When he releases the solo I can still here the bongos in the spatial placement. very neat.

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic! Thanks ever so much for sharing that Anthony!

[@jeremythornton433]

The first time I heard the Dolby Atmos was in a demo booth at my local Best Buy. Wow! Stereo speakers behind me, above me, another pair further ahead up above me closer to the tv, and a set beside each side of the tv. The played a jet airliner flying over head and the sound did exactly that! Very impressive. Beyond my needs or budget but impressive nonetheless.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing Jeremy!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing Jeremy!

[@wonton411]

Great stuff here! I haven't been this excited about something in a long time. Thank you for sharing.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Jeff!

[@michaelevans5460]

Brad Wood has produced so many records that I love. My favorite is The Mysteries of Life's criminally over-looked "Come Clean," from the late 90's. I'm also a big fan of Veruca Salt and Liz Phair. "Ghost Notes" is awesome.

[@brettjockell6611]

OMG...Thanx so much for this! I will be putting this in the closet. While this would never be within my Budget...the mindset is mind blowing. I am not there yet ... But so grateful to the glimpse on my journey! Warren......your the best!

[@Journeymanlive]

what a cool dude!! what a clear video too ! seems so obvious now, just love where Atmos is leading us. thanks

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@trevornokesmusicltd5357]

Bad Kitty in Atmos Comes across absolutely fantastic. So Much felling, Totally absorbing. Thank you so much Warren & Brad, Just feel like putting 16 speakers in my tiny Studio.......Only Joking. Amazing.

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha I hear you Trevor!!

[@ParadiseProjectsGroup]

That was great. Love the song, so good to hear a fresh new song that grabs you, what't the word? Musical . . yes.

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic

[@adebolasegun4018]

When you played on stereo I was like nice but then you decided to play in atmos I just conformed.. the ending was heavenly. My brains kind of like it … Mad ooo. Clapping 👏

[@brettjockell6611]

Unbelievable how that atmos mix translates into my Amazon earbuds...Wow!

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes! Pretty amazing indeed

[@kernelpickle]

That LIz Phair song is giving me vibes of B.W. Stevenson's Shambala. I like it.

[@Simbabhebhe]

Brad’s one my favourite PLAP guests. Great video. Going to try and this software and try it out :)

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@DeadlyMixKrew]

We're trying to decide on a monitor controller and an amp for the Atmos system we're building. We've decided on 3× Result6 + 8× ci30 but hung up on the mon-con. The R1 we bought doesn't pair with the A16R so we either have to build a new PC with TB3 ports and move the entire network connect through a Red16Line or we need to return the R1 and either get a monitor controller that connects via Dante or we buy another 16×16 converter to feed the mon-con.

[@blue_mountains28]

Found my way here from investigating the album credits for Pert Yorn's, Day I forgot. Sounds amazing.

[@patkelly8309]

Fascinating. Personally I see Atmos making more long term inroads within the film and Gaming industries but I would love to have the chance to delve into mixing with it. Hell, just to listen to certain albums through Atmos would be beautiful. As a predominantly Dub and Ambient producer, music where space and sound placement/movement is key the potential here is astronomical. Thanks Warren et al.

[@donaldlee6760]

At 22:27 - I wonder if the white speaker cable could have been routed inside the black pipe to make it even more stealth.

[@watsonstudios]

The Cars snare drum "miss" song is "My Best Friends Girl" It happens right before the first chorus. Yes, I also noticed this right away after hearing for the first time. You tend to be very aware of inconsistencies when you're a drummer and drums are what you're usually focused in on when listening to most music.

[@splashesin8]

I kind of liked that miss though.

[@ajaypatidar7433]

Oh

[@davewestner]

Thanks for sparing me about 15min of trying to figure out where that is. Appreciate it

[@doerrjams5770]

Yeah, the bongo stem was trippy! Didn't expect anything to sound different listening on regular headphones over KZbin, but the bongos totally sounded like they were 3 feet to my upper left. Could almost visualize where they were. The guitars sounded like they were on the top right/left of my head. Definitely different than just stereo panning. Wild.

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic! Thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@splashesin8]

This was fun! I had another freaky traffic light crossing tonight. Some of the moving drones reminded of some of the peculiar sound movements I heard in yet another narrow escape. A lot more fun hearing it in the safety of my bed on surround sound. This month has been the opposite in terms of what is safer. It seems no light control at all, is safer than the bonafide controlled traffic light orchestrated intersections. It's highly frustrating that the facades of most car grills can't be climbed in a last ditch effort to not get pushed out of the crosswalk into streaming moving traffic. Also, shorter hoods at, not an easy height to jump up on top of in my older stunt woman life saving style.

[@MichaelForbes-d4p]

I know Im late to the game but this is a sweet video!

[@silofuse]

Brad you are certainly right about that side-stick @ 50 sec into The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl. Also....were you Liz's drummer when she played live on Dave Letterman?

[@doomranger6047]

Wow I’m excited about that new Liz Phair album. It sounds like a real return to form and something that could’ve come off of Exile in Guytville (definitely in my top 10 albums of all time)or any of her first three albums! Matured of course!

[@Producelikeapro]

Agreed! Liz and Brad always create great music together!

[@Eidn]

If you could get Nigel Godrich to appear you would cement your legendary status!

[@Producelikeapro]

That would be amazing!

[@RajaKumar-lz7zt]

Raja Kumar

[@Studio31Zero]

Please tell Brad that Veruca Salt's "Ghost Notes" is the greatest album I've ever heard.

[@Producelikeapro]

Hopefully he will read this!

[@producifer1]

Thanks, Dan. Ghost Notes is a highlight for me, a real labor of love.

[@Studio31Zero]

@@producifer1 The songwriting on it is fantastic. Everyone involved deserves to be especially proud of this one.

[@thetempleofsound]

This was a great deep dive into the Atmos world. Thank you @Produce Like A Pro I am just very curious how one would work with master bus processing, especially out of the box bus compression and mastering it in general? Does it basically negate that ability? Or are there ways to work it in? Would love an episode on this part of the workflow with Atmos if there even is one yet.

[@chrisstixmartin]

Wow! Just Wow!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks Chris

[@BrooksAudio]

Very informative! Thanks!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@johnego669]

Brad is amazing!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes, he's amazing!

[@patbarr1351]

I'm hearing good things about Spatial & Atmos, but I haven't tried them yet (yes, I know the trial is free... I'll get to it one o' these days). I enjoy my 5-channel setup & Elton's "Honkey Chateau" sounds terrific on it. Something magical happens with an instrument or voice getting a speaker to itself, if only for a moment-- very realistic. I'm glad to see this coverage because I think one reason SACD & DVD-Audio did so poorly was because hardly anybody knew about them!

[@goodbyedelete1]

What are the non pmcs used on the sides that sit in shallow white cabinets? Please :)

[@statlerwarldorf2583]

Did he not use the binaural settings to get the near and far aspect?

[@rogermallison8172]

I like the sound that is produced for this video you can hear the room without to much nice sort of live sound

[@korglegend]

Brill, Jackpot!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks Stuart!

[@donaldlee6760]

I'm a huge Liz Phair fan and have a 7.2.4 atmos system as well as the atmos subscription to Tidal, however Tidal does not seem to have the atmos version. Is this on Apple Music?

[@Kliphmusic]

What were the 2 mentioned Apple Atmos showcase songs? With one being disappointing?

[@shawnwaldron1018]

Quick question I notice that mix engineers sometimes or most often rout the lead vocal to a stereo aux track why do they do this what would be some of the reasons for this could you please explain

[@neddnl]

Where can I listen to the Dolby Atmos of this track or the Album? On Tidal there is no Atmos mix and also nothing on Apple Music?

[@andycherry]

this is fascinating stuff but why isn’t soberish availability in atmos on apple music yet (at least in the USA?)??!!??

[@Producelikeapro]

Not sure! Did you check on Tidal? They’ve been doing Atmos for a long time

[@larryvaughn5843]

Monterey and the older osx versions work on my 5.1 cheese graters. Just have to do a small bit of hacking. Not sure how it works with pro tools.

[@LemonesqueStudio]

That missing CARS snare is at 2:06 in the track

[@NoQualmsTheArtist]

Haha, converted my studio to Atmos. First thing I play to clients or friends is Rocket Man. Goddamn I'm a cliche 😂

[@philippgrunert8776]

Maybe this is the right time to interview Steven Wilson on his mixing (also surround a.o.)

[@dougleydorite]

yes!! he is working on a remix of storm corrosion in atmos

[@Johnnybananass-_]

who else paused the video and loaded up the Cars song to listen for the shanked snare ??haha

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha it’s the first thing I did when I got in the car to drive home after the shoot!!

[@mbourque127]

What is the model of the speakers?

[@dougleydorite]

i would also like to know

[@davewestner]

10:17 has anyone tried recording themselves singing while wearing those binaural gizmos?

[@dwaaaiii8757]

Hello Warren, i wanted to know the real point of using a analogue moddeled eq.... Most analogue moddeled eqs aren't used for adding harmonics anyway and I know that some analogue moddeled eqs have unusual curves(and many have the exact same as a pro Q3 as i tested) which might sound musical in certain content. But if I'm gonna mix with my ears anyway, should the unique curves matter? Like I'll make my own curves anyway using my ears according to what i like...so why do people promote analogue moddeled eqs so much?

[@mixinthecloud3338]

Why hasn't this been before? How about the cost? And you are not really recording in Atmos or ASMR. You are taking stereo mixed tracks and applying them across the 9.1.4 space. Intermodulation distortion? Sorry. Not buyin' it.

[@paulkerr9128]

The thing about Atmos is that there aren't a standard number of speakers. Atmos systems are all over the place from basic 5.1.2 systems up to 9.1.4 , as this guy has, and more. How do you mix Atmos music tracks when you have no idea how many speakers the end listener will have? In stereo, it's just two speakers. Everyone with a basic stereo set up has just two speakers. In stereo you know exactly what you are mixing for.

[@Leo.Brodie]

That's the brilliance of Atmos -it's not speaker-channel based. The Atmos "mix" actually contains all the separate tracks plus the changing spatial information. There is a renderer in the playback system that figures out what speakers to send the sounds to based on the desired' positions and what speakers are available.

[@Producelikeapro]

Exactly, it’s object based so it works out the balances between speakers to place the sound exactly where the mixer intended it.

[@paulkerr9128]

@@Producelikeapro Thanks, yes, I sort of get the theory but it still seems to me to be heavily dependent on the number of speakers in the system. The minimum Atmos set up of 5.1.2 isn't going to be able to replicate effectively an Atmos mix that was created on, say, a 9.1.4 system where the engineer was mixing using speakers that don't exist in the more basic system. Anyway, enjoyed the video. Such an interesting subject.

[@ikemorsch9727]

Love the new John Mayer album, but the Spacial Audio of that album is terrible. I feel like there is weird phasing going on.

[@Producelikeapro]

It's all about who mixed it!

[@russell_szabados]

My god, I’m trying to do the math of 13 PMC speakers and a sub and my mind won’t let me imagine laying out that much money for a home studio. Established producer or not…

[@le-berry]

mixing in stereo gives a decent result. Mixing in the air will never give a predictable result. Atmos sucks for music.

[@garethde-witt6433]

This just convinced me that it’s just not worth trying

[@TheDabbinDave]

Some of the mixes sound terrible with my home theater and headphones. The Rush Atmos mixes are really bad. The producer who mixed the few songs they have needs to be punished!!! Booka Shade - Dear Future Self sounds amazing!!!

[@avh700]

Luckly the Rush stereo mix of the Blue Ray is the best Ive heard. An Atmos mix can be redone if your savvy by using the available 5.1 mix with the outputs of a blu-ray player with outputs L C R L SR and make a bootleg Atmos remix.

[@LasseHuhtala]

It's a bit sad that it isn't easier to use Atmos, and by easier I mean cheaper. I've got a whole bunch of outputs I could use, but no, you need this and that and the other thing.

[@NoQualmsTheArtist]

It's pretty cheap now. I've just converted my studio to Atmos. Logic Pro has Atmos built in natively. Krk classic 8's for mains, classic 5's for surrounds. About $2000ish all up. That's the price of a professional DJ controller for an entire Atmos Studio.

[@bobeschism9426]

Come on, man. Everyone knows you don't do Heavy Metal in Dobly.

[@Producelikeapro]

Hahaha Spinal Tap baby!

[@stephaneaudet]

It's funny for you but to me it's too complicate.I want simplicity the must possible.

[@nlpascal]

I just watched the first 6 minutes and I've heard enough. Fact. Nobody is EVER going to hear Atmos mixes the way the producer intended. (Who is going to invest in a sound system like that? And those sound bars? Let's keep it real) Sounds to me like a gatekeeping effort on behalf of Dolby and the recording industry. Sorry you bought into this.

[@OdinOfficialEmcee]

I just can't see the practical application for atmos beyond a simple gimmick or movie theaters. Most people still aren't listening to their music in a true stereo setup, and fewer yet sit down to *just* listen to the music. It's cool tech, but I don't see its place in the consumer market anytime soon

[@Producelikeapro]

Immersive Audio is already in so many things, gaming, movies, Tidal has been playing in fir a while now, Apple is playing Spatial, which is just folding down Immersive, Netflix have everything mixed in Immersive and all TV companies and Record Companies are going through their catalogs and mixing for it. I’m just trying to help Producers and Engineers by punting them towards something that’s a growth industry.

[@OdinOfficialEmcee]

@@Producelikeapro That is totally fair, and I welcome the information and thank you for providing it! I can definatly see it being an area for audio professionals to prosper in. I just don't know how many people will actually experience it the way it is intended to be, with the full immersion in sound. If the average consumer isn't able to hear the difference, I wonder if they would be willing to pay more for music mixed this way, given a choice. With that in mind, I wonder if most artists would find it beneficial to pay (presumably more) for a mix in this format. I may be totally wrong though. I do fully agree though, that clients from bigger labels, Film and TV, gaming, etc. will definatly be using this format moving forward to offer a new type of experience, and any additional cost will be nominal to them given what they already spend bringing products to market. Plus, as it can still work on stereo systems, it is not any hinderance to those without a decent atmos system.

[@Producelikeapro]

@@OdinOfficialEmcee the average consumer can definitely hear the difference! A WELL mixed song that folds down to binaural can still be a massive change. Now that every major mixer I know is adopting this format get ready for a lot of incredible tracks be remixed in Atmos at the highest level!

[@Producelikeapro]

@Paul noneofyabusiness HUGE Gentle Giant FAN!!!

[@Producelikeapro]

@Paul noneofyabusiness I had a lovely long chat with Ray Shulman a couple of years ago, I should get him on an interview soon!