The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing announced that it has shared an online panel, “Prelude: Immersive Audio 101,” part of its “Inside the Mix” series of webinar events that streamed live for P&E Wing members and invited guests earlier this summer and is now available to view.
Webinar panelists include Jimmy Douglass (producer and engineer: Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z), Leslie Ann Jones (recording engineer, director of music recording and scoring/Skywalker Sound, and current Co-Chair of the P&E Wing), Mike Piacentini (mastering engineer: Bob Dylan, Coheed and Cambria, Miles Ahead – A Miles Davis Biopic) and Darcy Proper (mastering engineer: Billie Holiday, Steely Dan, the Eagles), who were joined by moderator Brian (BT) Gibbs (producer and immersive mix engineer, Skyline Entertainment & Publishing) and Maureen Droney, Vice President, Producers & Engineers Wing.
Go here (Recording Academy website) or here (YouTube) to view the session.
The session provides an overview of immersive audio production from the unique perspectives of the panelists, who have each faced different challenges in contributing to the growing body of immersive audio available today. After an intro by Droney, Gibbs delivers a concise slide presentation outlining the history of immersive audio and how it got to where it is today and the panelists each offered anecdotes that illuminated the subject.
Among other topics, Jones shares her experience miking the U.S. Army Field Band along with her subsequent mix decisions that resulted in a GRAMMY-winning immersive album; Douglass offers additional perspective on mixing for immersive formats, generally referring to the stereo mix as the ultimate blueprint for how the artist and producer had decided how the project should sound; Piacentini focuses on workflow in the Sony 360 Reality Audio format; and Proper discusses tailoring project workflows to different immersive formats.
“All of our panelists have worked prolifically in immersive formats from 5.1 surround sound to Dolby Atmos, Sony 360 Reality Audio and Auro-3D,” says Droney. “They generously shared their personal insights and tricks of the trade and also delved into common problems they encountered while navigating the waters of immersive sound. We are glad to be able to share this first session of our “Inside the Mix” series with a lot more to come.”
