Ron MacLeod
Easier Than Stereo Mixing

One thing that is surprising is that mixing for surround can be much easier than mixing for stereo. “You don’t have to define for a restricted space any more,” explains MacLeod. “We’re so used to taking all this stuff and squishing it into a stereo field, then having to bring out some definition from it. You’ve got 45 degrees, and that’s it. That’s your stereo field — a triangle.

“So over the years, we, as engineers, have had to do a lot of subtractive EQing to let things stand out, and to place things in the mix, which is a real art that I don’t want to see lost,” he says. “But it is definitely a lot easier to place things and give them space in surround. Now, the art in surround comes into defining the space instead of working so hard to bring out this definition.”

We’re so used to taking all this stuff and squishing it into a stereo field. But it is definitely a lot easier to place things and give them space in surround. The Original Surround Experience
“With symphonies, from long ago — if you ever look at the original scores from composers such as Mozart and especially Stravinsky — they were writing for specific halls,” explains MacLeod.

“They knew what those halls were doing. They knew the timing of the space, and they tied their music to the timing of the echo off of the walls,” he says. “Things didn’t get mushed — things got blended. Things got enhanced from the space itself, the reflections off of the walls and the reverberation wrapping around, because they used the room.

“So I believe that these composers and the symphony hall architects were some of the original surround artists. Of course we could take that further, back to tribal storytelling, etc… But the point is that immersive audio isn’t new. It’s the way we hear, and always have heard, our world.”

“Other types of audio that could make good use of the surreal side of surround are the electronic, experimental, electro-acoustic and especially incidental film type music,” says MacLeod.

MacLeod thinks bands like Radiohead, Bjork and Matmos — who are bringing a more experimental sound approach to pop audiences — use the sort of non-standard instrumentation that can be mixed very well in surround. “Statically, though,” he stresses. “Not spinning around. Everyone tries that for their first surround mix. You feel like you’re spinning around, you get sick and then you never do it again!”

Blue Monday Party CD Cover Repurposing the Blues
MacLeod was entirely biased against repurposing stereo recordings into surround, until he saw and heard some documentary footage of John Lee Hooker, Charlie Musselwhite and Percy Mayfield. All of the audio was very well recorded in stereo, but the filmmakers wanted it mixed in surround for the DVD.

“I was against general repurposing, but I wanted to work on the project because I respect the hell out of all those guys and it was really good material,” explains MacLeod. “So I started experimenting. I put space into the mix, so I could feel the hall. Then I ended up using the virtual 1176 in the UAD-1 card.

“To make something feel live, I always think about the classic setting of watching the band at the dance, where you get that slamming off the back wall that almost hits you upside the head,” reflects MacLeod. “But that’s what made it cool, being live. It was just a major part of that ‘live’ experience.”

Sum Difference
So how do you make a mix feel like it’s a live surround experience, when working from only two channels? MacLeod feels that the key is the sum difference. “There are ways that you can do a sum difference — where you sum the channels together while extracting their inverse. So basically, you’re taking out anything that’s mono,” he says. “It’s a way of canceling out instruments and drawing out the ambience that’s there.

“So I did that. I compressed it hard with the 1176 for my back wall, and kind of timed it out by visually sizing up the hall, and I timed out what the slapback would be. And when I did that, it really — to me — gave me the sense that I was there. And when the clapping would come up, you would hear it around you, really close,” he adds.

“It really felt like I was in a club — which is the blues experience. The blues was never about TV,” says MacLeod. “So I totally changed my mind about repurposing after that. It’s still very valuable, done right. There’s really a reason to do it,” says MacLeod.

Next page: Scoring Via FireWire Drive
Pro/Video

Ron MacLeod
1. Designing the Surround Sound Experience
2. Easier Than Stereo Mixing
3. Distance Disappears With Portable Drives


Surround Mixing Considerations
(Part 2 of 2)

A DVD Is Not a Movie
In general, MacLeod mixes straight for DVD, which is very different than mixing for film, because with a DVD, the speakers will be closer to the listener. “It’s much more intimate, you hear a lot more going down. So film mixes can’t just automatically be put on a DVD and sound good,” he explains. “Now most of the majors are specifically remixing films for DVD.” And that’s what MacLeod specializes in.

Check the Stereo Fold-Down
One of the biggest obstacles in doing a good surround mix is how the overall mix folds down to stereo. “A lot of people are going to listen to surround in stereo,” says MacLeod. “DVD has a choice where you can choose to listen in surround or stereo, but most people don’t remember to switch it over.

“Many newer receivers will default to surround, so most people at home are hearing really bizarre mixes. So, we have to be real careful to check everything to make sure that it doesn’t get too weird and that things don’t disappear in the fold-down from surround to stereo,” he adds.


Useful Links

Ron MacLeod
Ron MacLeod’s Official Site
Rarefaction - Poke In The Ear

Hardware
UAD-1 card
NHT monitors
RME Hammerfall DSP card
Oxygen 8 keyboard

Software
Digidesign
Steinberg
BIAS
Reason
Live
GRM
PSP
Pluggo
Reaktor
Waves

Artists
Radiohead
Bjork
Matmos


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MacLeod’s Favorite Gear