Santa Monica, CA (October 11, 2022) — The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing streamed an online panel earlier this summer, “Prelude: Immersive Audio 101 ,” and has now shared it online.
Part of the organization’s “Inside the Mix” series of webinar events, the session featured panelists 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). They were joined by moderator Brian (BT) Gibbs (producer and immersive mix engineer, Skyline Entertainment & Publishing) and Maureen Droney, vice president, Producers & Engineers Wing.
The session gave an overview of immersive audio production from the 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 provided a 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.
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Among other topics, Jones shared her experience miking the U.S. Army Field Band, along with her subsequent mix decisions that resulted in a Grammy-winning immersive album; Douglass shared 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 focused workflow in the Sony 360 Reality Audio format; and Proper discussed tailoring project workflows to different immersive formats.
Droney remarks, “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. 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.”
