Dolby Atmos is a slightly strange format because a lot of people listening to it don’t necessarily know they’re listening to it.
On Apple Music, whether someone hears the stereo or Atmos version can depend on the device they’re using, their settings, and how they’re listening. They might hear Atmos on AirPods, a MacBook or a soundbar, then hear the stereo mix somewhere else without ever consciously choosing between the two.
That informs one of the main principles behind how I approach Atmos: the Atmos mix should still feel like the same record.
Stay true to the stereo mix
The stereo mix is still the primary version of most records, and usually the one the largest number of people will hear. I don’t want somebody switching playback systems and suddenly wondering why the balance, energy or character of the song has changed.
So I generally treat the approved stereo mix as the reference. The goal isn’t to reinvent it. It’s to preserve what already works while using Atmos to create more space, depth and separation around it.
Atmos can make a mix considerably more spacious and enveloping than stereo. That’s the opportunity I’m interested in.
What I’m less interested in is moving things around simply because the technology allows it.
Use the format, but don’t let the format dictate the music
There’s always a temptation with a new format to demonstrate what it can do.
Early stereo is a good example. Before conventions developed, engineers sometimes made extreme decisions simply because stereo was new: vocals entirely on one side, instruments isolated on the other, and so on. Some of those experiments are interesting historically, but a lot of them haven’t aged especially well.
I suspect we’ll eventually say the same thing about some of the early Atmos mixes with sounds flying around the listener for no particular musical reason.
I’m completely in favour of movement or dramatic spatial effects when they genuinely add something to the production—especially when Atmos lets you create an effect that wouldn’t really be possible in stereo.
But the medium shouldn’t dictate the art.
Some of the best musicians I’ve worked with are capable of doing remarkable things on their instruments, but you might never know it from the record because they play what the song needs rather than using every opportunity to show you how good they are.
I think Atmos works best with the same philosophy.
Atmos from stems
For many projects, I’m a big advocate of creating the Atmos version from well-prepared stereo and mono stems from the approved stereo mix.
There are absolutely records where it makes sense to go back to the original multitrack and build a completely new Atmos mix from the ground up. I do that as well.
But it isn’t always necessary.
If I’m given good stems that accurately reconstruct the stereo mix, I can get back to the approved balance quickly and spend the time on what Atmos actually adds: positioning, depth, space and immersion.
I think of that workflow as being somewhere between mixing and spatial stem mastering.
It also makes Atmos much more affordable. Considering the current return on investment for Atmos for many independent artists—and even for some label catalog work—I think this is the sensible approach for a large percentage of releases.
You keep the creative decisions that made the stereo mix successful and translate them into another format rather than paying to make the record all over again.
Future-proof the record
Even if you have no plans to release an Atmos mix today, it makes sense to archive proper stems from the finished stereo mix.
Have your mix engineer—or yourself, if you’re mixing—print a useful set of stereo and mono stems that accurately reconstruct the approved mix. Ideally those stems should pass through the same mix-bus processing that helped create the sound of the record, while avoiding final mastering processing that could make them difficult to work with later.
Keep those stems with the final masters.
If an artist decides several years from now to make an Atmos version, that can save a huge amount of work. There’s no need to reopen an old session and discover missing audio, obsolete plug-ins or software that no longer runs just to reconstruct the original mix.
Ultimately, I see Dolby Atmos as another way of presenting the same record.
The best Atmos mixes, to me, take advantage of the additional space without losing sight of the song, the production or the mix people already know.