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Trailer
12 min

Part 1

Monitor installation, transition, environment, speakers vs. headphones, drums, percussion, bass, effects spread
13 min

Part 2

Guitars, vocals, synth, objects vs. beds, VCAs, panning, resonance, compression, equalisation, de-essing, limiting
19 min

Part 3

Fine-tuning with headphones, binaural rendering, near & far mode, different banks, reverb automation, templates

Mixing

Dolby Atmos Workflow

Josh Gudwin, Dolby Atmos

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Duration:00 min / 44 min Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese

Description

Join us at Henson Studios in Los Angeles for Josh Gudwin’s first ‘Mixing in Atmos’ MWTM series! Using a 9.1.4 PMC setup and Pro Tools, Josh takes you through his workflow alongside Dolby expert Ceri Thomas.

The pair discusses many facets of the exciting format, exploring a number of areas including signal placement, combining objects and beds, the equivalent of master buss treatment, binaural rendering, and much more. Additionally, Gudwin speaks of the differences in his approach to stereo and Atmos mixing, compares templates, and reveals his signal chains used on a variety of instruments and vocals!

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Trailer
12 min

Part 1

Monitor installation, transition, environment, speakers vs. headphones, drums, percussion, bass, effects spread
13 min

Part 2

Guitars, vocals, synth, objects vs. beds, VCAs, panning, resonance, compression, equalisation, de-essing, limiting
19 min

Part 3

Fine-tuning with headphones, binaural rendering, near & far mode, different banks, reverb automation, templates

Comments

(26)

Arthur Hermans September 28, 2023 at 9:24 AM

Great masterclass, but I think it doesn't make sense to mix a song in immersive that's been recorded for stereo reproduction. It's like the earlier Beatles songs were everything was hard-panned left and right, these were stereo reproductions of mono recordings. I think we need some content on how to record for immersive reproduction. I did an immersive production myself and the most difficult part was the recording, not the mixing.
Arturo Mena Leon July 13, 2024 at 11:43 AM

why wouldn't it make sense? Maybe it is not as fun as you would like it to be but there's still a lot that you can do to a song produced for stereo in Dolby Atmos, and you can really tell when you start listening to a bunch of music in a 7.1.4+ room
Flaviya / Duck The Bass April 3, 2023 at 10:31 PM

Great masterclass. We need more masterclasses like this. I got certified as a Dolby Atmos Professional 3 weeks ago, but all the available materials cover technical side of it, so we, musicians, are getting lost in the creative side of it. Got a chance to meet Josh Gudwin in person few days ago and get advice from him. It was mind-blowing to learn that he has done more than 850 immersive audio mixes.
Luke Howard August 18, 2022 at 11:42 AM

Pro Tools doesn't let you group plugin settings across different channel widths, so what I do is split the bed masters into four stereo (master) tracks and group the insert controls for those along with the masters for each object pair.
Egor Egorkin February 1, 2023 at 10:40 AM

thats actually kick ass tip, only mono/stereo channels are out of sync, anyway I use multi-mono and Center Channel is the only one which will be demanding some manual dragndrops. thanks!
angel cano July 30, 2022 at 7:07 PM

not a Dolby atmos guy but this mix sounds like an orgasm to the ears
Nathan Scott April 22, 2022 at 3:45 AM

I would love to see a Dolby Pro Tools mix template as an available download for MWTM members
Jameel Miller March 24, 2023 at 4:31 PM

+1

Phil Rochefort April 26, 2023 at 6:39 PM

+1
Michał Kupicz March 24, 2022 at 5:18 PM

.
Todd Boston January 20, 2022 at 12:45 AM

Listening to Atmos music in a full 7.1.4 room or higher there is no denying the intimacy and increased emotional impact of the music which is why there are so many high level engineers currently mixing in Atmos with more joining daily. When done well, including the John Mayer song referenced here it just sounds more engaging and intimate. Of course this is subjective but most of the people that have heard it in a good room are all in. To me it just sounds the way music should be listened to. As great as 2 channel audio has been for the last half century + it has always been a compromise of how to make the music sound as good as it can given the limitations of the format. If we think of it as a different way of listening instead of a replacement of stereo, both formats likely will co exist for many years to come. But, the technology is here. The Sonos Arc with sub and rear surrounds sounds amazing for under $2000. In a year or two there will be similar systems for under $500 and when Atmos hits cars its game over. Atmos for film, tv and music is here to stay. The remixing of stereo into Atmos is the natural early evolution of the format. Take what we know and experiment with how we can move it into Atmos. The real potential is albums created fully in the Immersive formats and is where the industry will most likely end up. It's just a whole new level of creative possibilities and since artist drive the music industry they will want to work in a world where anything is possible. Atmos makes that more real.
Pau Paredes January 15, 2022 at 11:02 AM

I like these two marines
Jorge Zevallos January 8, 2022 at 2:22 AM

I vote for more Atmos mixing videos!
Jorge Zevallos January 8, 2022 at 2:17 AM

a ver :)
McKay Garner January 3, 2022 at 11:22 PM

I vote for more Atmos mixing videos! I love seeing how other people are mixing in Atmos. The infrastructure, gear, and tech is just being rolled out to consumers. It is "early days" there. Some soundbars sound fantastic and convincing that there are indeed height speakers and rear speakers in the room, even if not. That stuff is only gonna get more affordable just like how plasma tv's were $14,000 and now led's are bought for peanuts. Binaural renders are only going to get better as tech rolls out better versions, and custom hrtf profile capabilities should be more widespread soon enough, greatly increasing the localization of sounds for every listener. I'm all about mixing in Atmos! It's my favorite way to hear recorded music currently.
Wilson Claudiano da Costa January 1, 2022 at 9:22 PM

Yes, we need more videos with Stereo MIX.
Alberto Cacaroto December 26, 2021 at 11:06 PM

Still waiting for the Dua Lipa - Dont start now mixing :(
Victor Nery December 24, 2021 at 10:59 PM

Okay. Not trying to be annoying or anything, I really just want to discuss this in an educated fashion. What I get from this video and Genewick’s one as well is a killer stereo mix, and the Atmos mixer doing some minor panning/movement that doesn’t even translate well to headphones or 2.1 systems. I’m sure it sounded nice and open on that gazzilion dollar room, but I still don’t get the hype. Because on a consumer level, Atmos seems gimmicky. Even Gudwin says it, “the stereo mix is king”. So what are we doing? Taking stereo mixes, opening up the panning of guitars and keys and calling it a day? Until this really changes the experience for the average joe listening to John Mayer on the bus going to work, this will never make sense to me. Not hating, just want to spark conversation. What do ya’ll think?
Mee Mee December 25, 2021 at 9:38 PM

I agree with you

MixedBy DotRob December 26, 2021 at 7:39 PM

100% agree! I have yet to hear a single good sounding binaural downfolded Atmos mix on headphones. I have heard incredibly good sounding Atmos mixes in extremely expensive rooms though! But in my experience, the consumer doesn't care how the music sounds. And at the end of the day, the consumer will have to pay for the extra cost. But maybe I don't understand the whole Atmos thing.

Tom Norris December 27, 2021 at 1:34 AM

Some mixers like Josh approach Atmos in a very subtle way, which keeps it sounding very very similar to the stereo mix, keeps the artist happy, and gets it across the finish line quickly. Other mixers like Steve Genewick approach Atmos more aggressively and throw sounds and instruments around the room more. That approach definitely produces more "obvious" results, but it takes a lot more time to balance it so it doesn't lose the feel of the stereo version. I don't think immersive mixing for non-film/tv music is at the point where the decision makers are putting as much time/effort into it, and so I completely get why Josh takes this approach (and this approach still sounds great on headphones/home theater). This is partly because like you mentioned, most people are just listening on normal headphones, and only 0.001% of people have a room or access to a room like Josh's. I would say only 2-5% of listeners have a soundbar/home speaker, or a very minimal consumer setup that can playback Atmos content. But there is a future outside of high end rooms, soundbars, and movie theaters since Atmos is being integrated in cars - Mercedes in 2022, and I imagine Tesla and other high end brands will follow. I think it's really early days now, but once there's more opportunities for non-enthusiasts to experience Atmos and immersive music outside of headphones/binaural/Apple Spatial downmixes it could be really cool (if we get there, hopefully).

Brian Bolger December 30, 2021 at 6:12 PM

Yes this is very niche. Enough with the Atmos videos already.

Ben January 17, 2022 at 4:13 PM

I totally agree as well on your point, The video is really interesting as a passionate of tech, but on a musical level and music enjoyment level....it's not my forte, I prefer to work my chops so my stereo mix improve so much that you'd feel it's all around you even in 2.1.

Jared Gagarin October 13, 2022 at 4:09 AM

yea this is it. I bet you that 95% of spatial audio mixes on apple music weren't even listened to/approved by the artists themselves; they were purely moves made by labels since apple music gives them incentives to provide spatial audio mixes.

About Josh Gudwin

After completing a 4 year enlistment with the US Marines, Josh decided to pursue a career in the music industry. Following studies at Full Sail, an internship at Track Record, and an assistant engineering position at the Record Plant, Gudwin spent two years honing his craft under the wing of top vocal producer Kuk Harrell. He soon became an eminent vocal producer and mixer in his own right, amassing credits with major label artists including Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, J. Balvin, Jennifer...

About Dolby Atmos

Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels, allowing sounds to be interpreted as three-dimensional objects.[1] Following the release of Atmos for the cinema market, a variety of consumer technologies have been released under the Atmos brand, using in-ceiling and up-firing speakers.