Chris Lord-Alge is a five-time GRAMMY\u00ae-winning mix engineer who has Green
\nDay, Keith Urban, Madonna, and Rod Stewart among his clients. He has
\nrecently upgraded Studio A at his MIX L.A. complex for Dolby Atmos\u00ae work,
\nfacilitated by an interface and converter infrastructure based on Focusrite
\nRedNet components. The Dante\u00ae-networked RedNet setup helps interconnect
\ntwo Avid Pro Tools workstations and a new 9.1.4 Ocean Way Audio speaker
\nsystem with Chris\u2019 beloved Solid State Logic SL4064E mixing console.
\nChris has had to rethink his long-established workflow with the addition of the
\nnew immersive audio capabilities in Studio A, but with encouragement from
\nvarious industry colleagues, he says, \u201cI decided to make the leap into the
\nunknown and finally eliminate all the vintage gear that was connecting my
\naudio to the console.\u201d <\/p>\n
For many years, Chris\u2019 mixing workflow required projects to be initially
\ntransferred to a 48-track Sony DASH tape machine, which he favoured for the
\nperformance of the converters and the metering (he eventually eliminated all
\nuse of tape and just used the machine\u2019s converters). He has now replaced that
\nmachine with a Pro Tools HDX rig, operating at 96 kHz\/48-bit, that feeds a pair
\nof Focusrite RedNet HD32R 32-channel HD Dante network bridges. Using
\nDante Controller, Chris selects the tracks for distribution over the Dante
\nnetwork through four Focusrite RedNet A16R MkII 16-channel analogue
\ninterfaces and into the mixing desk. His stereo mix from the console is then
\nrouted back through one of the A16R MkII units and an HD32R HD Bridge and
\ncaptured in the Pro Tools computer. <\/p>\n
The converters in the A16R MkII units offer a noticeable improvement in
\nperformance over the DASH machine, Chris says, plus he no longer has the
\nhassles of his former setup, where he had to synchronize the DASH machine
\nand two Pro Tools rigs. \u201cOnce I figured out what level worked and the
\nheadroom, I found the sound of the A16R MkII was much better and clearer
\nand more open,\u201d he reports. <\/p>\n
For more information about Focusrite RedNet A16R MkII, visit:
\nhttps:\/\/pro.focusrite.com\/category\/audiooverip\/item\/rednet-a16r-mkii
\nA second Pro Tools system is now dedicated solely to mixing in Dolby Atmos,
\nwhich is natively 48 kHz\/24-bit. \u201cI get a great stereo mix of the record with all
\nmy colours of analogue gear and an analogue console, and we break that out.
\nOnce I\u2019ve done my stereo mix and I\u2019ve created all the stems I need for Atmos,
\ninto computer number two they go. So, my Atmos mixes are made from stems
\nthat are created with all the vintage outboard gear. Then computer number
\ntwo with the Dolby renderer becomes my second playback system,\u201d stated
\nChris. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe second Pro Tools system doesn\u2019t need I\/O because it\u2019s all in-the-box,\u201d he
\ncontinues. \u201cAll I need is one RedNet PCIeR Card, which gives me 128 channels
\nover Dante at 48\/24, connecting through a Mac Mini as the Dolby renderer. So
\nPro Tools can send 128 objects to the renderer and the monitoring. None of
\nthis would be possible without RedNet.\u201d <\/p>\n
While it does take some time to print all the stereo stems from his mix and
\ncreate a session for the second Pro Tools system for mixing in Atmos, Chris
\nsays, \u201cAt this point in time, that is the way that works for me. I use the Atmos
\ncomputer and the renderer for the object placement and the three-
\ndimensionality of the mix. But for the actual nuts and bolts of creating the
\nsonics inside the mix, I use my stereo rig.\u201d <\/p>\n
The MIX L.A. complex is now fully wired for Dante and RedNet, he says. \u201cThe
\nwhole room is networked with RedNet and so is my new studio next door. We
\ncan capture from there; they can capture from here. I\u2019m able to use Dante to
\nconnect to my other studios and move forward into the future. And it works
\nseamlessly.\u201d <\/p>\n
Chris, who by his own estimate has mixed more than 25,000 tracks in stereo,
\nadmits that he is a Dolby Atmos novice: \u201cI am completely a newbie. But I\u2019m
\nlearning about the future, about how it works and what can be done.\u201d To that
\nend, he says, he has received welcome support from the Focusrite team in the
\nUS. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Focusrite support is undeniably amazing,\u201d Chris says. \u201cBecause it\u2019s one of
\nthose things that, once you get the puzzle pieces correct, it boots and works
\nevery time. But you have to understand how it works, and I didn\u2019t.\u201d
\nHe does have some reservations about some of the Atmos music mixes that he
\nhas heard, though. \u201cAs soon as you go into Atmos with some records,
\neverything\u2019s exposed. Once you start to unglue it, it doesn\u2019t have the same
\nimpact that you remember and it becomes more about, \u2018Wow, I never heard
\nthat part.\u2019 Well, maybe you weren\u2019t supposed to hear that part. And this is the
\nproblem I have with it. I feel that a lot of records have been pulled apart and
\nhave revealed the ugly side of the song, not the good side.\u201d <\/p>\n
Live performances delivered in Dolby Atmos in a theatre could provide the best
\nlistener experience, he believes. \u201cI feel you should be able to go into a theatre
\nand hear these live concerts remixed in Atmos and take advantage of the
\nthree-dimensionality of it. Because when you\u2019re in a concert, it is three-
\ndimensional. So, if you could actually do that in a theatre, I think it\u2019d be
\nexciting.\u201d <\/p>\n
Chris may be a relative beginner where immersive music mixing is concerned,
\nbut he is determined to be successful at it: \u201cI like to win. I like to have the
\nedge. And the only way to stay ahead is to find your own path with Atmos,\u201d he
\nsays. \u201cI\u2019m just letting my ears decide what works. But you know, it\u2019s a fun ride
\nevery day, so I\u2019m enjoying it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Find out more about Focusrite RedNet products visit:
\nhttps:\/\/pro.focusrite.com\/category\/audiooverip <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chris Lord-Alge is a five-time GRAMMY\u00ae-winning mix engineer who has Green Day, Keith Urban, Madonna, and Rod Stewart among his clients. He has recently upgraded Studio A at his MIX L.A. complex for Dolby Atmos\u00ae work, facilitated by an interface and converter infrastructure based on Focusrite RedNet components. The Dante\u00ae-networked RedNet setup helps interconnect two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cla-1-1200-627.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestudiolounge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}