Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546135
44 FA L L 2 0 2 6 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y know what dialogue and sound effects are doing in the same spots. It gives us the creative control we need to play well together—as well as handle any notes from the directors or executive teams. Dennis: Typically no, not for the core orchestral elements. But there are specific things—electronic effects, pads, little events that happen in a big hybrid score— where moving them around the room is really cool and really effective. That's where objects shine for music. There's so much to choose from in these big hybrid scores, and some of those electronic elements lend themselves beautifully to placement and movement in the space. Michael: For music projects, I'll move things when it serves the music, especially electronic and synth-based elements where movement can become part of the performance itself. But I'm not moving things around the room just because Atmos makes it possible. The placement is usually the statement; the movement is the exception. One example was mixing Jónsi, the lead singer of Sigur Rós, on his Obsidian album. I experimented quite a bit with the Atmos Music Panner, moving instruments through the room in ways that became part of the composition. In one case, I was simply experimenting and ended up drawing my initials in the Atmos Music Panner and having an instrument follow that path rhythmically in time with the track. What started as me just playing around actually created a unique motion and energy that we didn't anticipate. It sounded different, interesting, and ultimately made its way into the mix. How do you approach reverb when mixing music in Atmos? David: I use a combination of multiple stereo reverb instances as well as multichannel reverbs in beds or objects to be utilized as needed for crafting the final mix—using front, back, and sometimes overhead reverbs and or delays, each with slightly different settings; different pre-delays, slightly different EQ on the input, maybe a little longer decay in the back. This gives me independent control over the reverb image in each part of the room, and it makes folding down to 7.1 and 5.1 much cleaner—I can just ride faders to tailor it. I'm generally conservative with reverb when it comes to the music, though. Too much blurs the image. I mostly use it for extending tails or for establishing a specific space the story Do objects move much in your music mixes? David: Once the foundational orchestra is set, I don't like to move it. It can become distracting. But story-driven moments are different. In Zootopia 2, Gary De'Snake had a flute theme, and after discussing with the music team and composer Michael Giacchino, added movement that lived directly overhead every time he appeared on screen— with enough reverb that it bloomed across the top and draped down the sides, so it wasn't a jarring "look up" effect but a thematic presence that set his character apart from the orchestra. In Moana, the Pacific Islands voices would move overhead and around the audience at specific spiritual moments in the story. But in both cases, the story was telling me what to do. The format was serving the narrative, not the other way around. These are examples of why we prefer to leave the Atmos musical imaging to the final mix and not be locked in before we Michael Keeley's room at Sound Striker Atmos in action on Zootopia 2 Placing sources in Atmos on Frozen