The photos are worth a thousand words as top Los Angeles engineers and producers gathered at UMG’s 21Fifteen Studios for a full day of panels, demos and great music.
The event kicked off with a Keynote Conversation titled “Immersive Music: The Artist and the Engineer,” featuring Manny Marroquin, left, and Jimmy Jam.
More than 250 audio engineers, producers, musicians and executives braved the early morning rains on Saturday, March 2, and walked through the doors of Universal Music Group’s 21Fifteen Studios in Santa Monica for the first annual Mix LA: Immersive Music Production.
Inside, attendees were treated to an opening Keynote Conversation titled “Immersive Music: The Artist and the Engineer,” with legendary producer/artist Jimmy Jam and 19-time Grammy-winning engineer Manny Marroquin, held in the studio’s stunning 13.1.10 Dolby Atmos Live performance stage.
A series of expert panels and one-on-one discussions followed throughout the day, along with programming and technology demonstrations from sponsors set up throughout the multi-studio facility.
Following the full day of events, attendees re-gathered a half-mile down the street at Host Partner Apogee Studios for an afterparty, where they were treated to David Williams on piano from the live performance stage, as well as curated Atmos playback listening sessions in three different immersive environments. But we’ll talk about that tomorrow.
In the meantime, please scroll down for a selection of photos from Mix LA: Immersive Music Production.
Immersive Music: The Artist and the Engineer
From left, moderator Tom Kenny, co-editor of Mix, Manny Marroquin and Jimmy Jam in a Keynote Conversation.
Manny Marroquin, left, and Jimmy Jam.
From left, moderator Tom Kenny, Manny Marroquin and Jimmy Jam.
The event kicked off with a Keynote Conversation titled “Immersive Music: The Artist and the Engineer,” featuring Manny Marroquin, left, and Jimmy Jam, moderated by Mix co-editor Tom Kenny (not pictured).
Attendees filled the Dolby Atmos 13.1.10 Stage for the Keynote Conversation.
Creative Intent: The Stereo and Immersive Mixes
The first Mix Panel of the day was titled “Creaative Intent: The Stereo and Immersive Mixes,” featuring, from left: Moderator Tom Kenny, with engineer/producers Dennis “ROC.am” Jones, Dave Way, Steve Genewick and Eric Schilling.
Producer/engineer Dennis “ROC.am” Jones.
Breaking It Down: Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue,” With David Rideau
Moderator Nick Rives, UMG Director of Engineering, at left, with producer/engineer David Rideau.
Producer/engineer David Rideau
Breaking It Down: Ryab Ulyate’s “Dreamland,” With Ryan Ulyate
Moderator Nick Rives, left, with artist/producer Ryan Ulyate, whose 2023 solo album “Act 3” was nominated for a Best Immersive Audio Album Grammy this year.
Monitoring the Mix: Speakers and Headphones
The Mix Panel on “Monitoring the Mix: Speakers and Headphones” included, from left: Moderator Clive Young (co-editor of Mix), mastering/mix engineer J Clark, film and TV music mixer Eva Reistad, engineer/mixer Adam Loeffler, and engineer/mixer Alex Solano.
UMG engineer/mixer Adam Loeffler on the mic, with fillm and TV music mix engineer Eva Reistad looking on
The Mailroom Sessions
The Mailroom Sessions, sponsored by PMC, Avid and RSPE, were packed all day in the 11.1.6 PMC monitoring environment, with custom Avid S6 console.
The PMC-based 11.1.6 “Mailroom,” as it appears without the all-day crowds.
Studio 1: SSL and Kali Audio
SSL showed its System T 500 console in the Studio 1 live room, with a Kali Audio 7.1.4 monitor system on stands and tuned the night before.
Hands-on demos of the SSL System T 500 console took place throughout the day.
Studio 4: Sony
Sony showed its VME (Virtual Mixing Environment) technology in the PMC 7.1.4 Studio 4, where they tested and captured more than 50 sets of attendee ears for individualized room simulation and immersive mixing in headphones.
Sony also showed its open-back MV1 headphones, designed to work with VME for individualized immersive monitoring through headphones.
More Sponsors in the House
The main lounge area off the Stage was filled all day with exhibitors, including DPA Microphones, with an immersive miking option on display.
Neumann/Sennheiser showed its most recent headphones, which incorporate technologies base on binaural modeling from the ears of the “Barnaby” dummy head.
Three sponsors, three friends. From left, Tom Menrath of ASG, Phil Wagner of SSL and Kurt Howell of NTP Technology..
Alcons Audio showed its new M Series ribbon monitors in the Studio 1 Lounge.
API rolled into Santa Monica to feature the AXS Legacy console in Studio 1.
Apogee had HypeMic, Duet and a range of interfaces and converters on display.
Voyage Audio partnered with Aspire Sound and captured a lot of attention with its 8-capsule Dante and USB mics.
NTP Technology, makers of DAD and Penta, has been a longtime sponsor of Mix immersive eaudi ovents.
