Creation of 5.1 mixes

In order to begin re-mixing stereo material to 5.1, the stereo material must first be analysed. As mentioned before the stereo material was sourced from two different local artists from contrasting genres. Each artist provided the individual tracks of their songs and any subsequent information, such as reverb effects settings. Effects such as reverb are used different in the 5.1-system due to the extra channels; a more in-depth discussion of this can be found on the previous blog link "differences in mixing for surround"

The analysis of the stereo material provided a basis for the 5.1 material: it is important not to stray too far from the original material in order to maintain the original “sound” of the artists’ work. Although it is important to maintain the originality of the artist’s work, the whole point in re-mixing the material in 5.1 surround sound is to provide a different listening experience: one that surrounds the listener in the music creating a more immersive experience. It is for this reason that no extra effects were added that were not in the original stereo mix. However, some that were in the original were utilised differently in the 5.1-mix but maintaining the overall original sound. 

The main steps taken during the re-mixing of the stereo material were panning and pan automation. As the 5.1-system has extra rear, centre and subwoofer channels that stereo does not, the original panning methods employed in the stereo version were changed:

• Instruments that would normally be panned evenly between the left and right speakers to create a phantom centre image, such as kick and snare drums, bass instruments and vocals, were panned to directly to the centre speaker of the 5.1-system. Alongside this any bass instruments would be sent to the low-frequency enhancement channel (subwoofer).

• The lead instruments in each song, for example the piano’s in Griff’s The 2^nd Before and the mandolin in Rhauri Campbell’s instrumental, would no longer be panned to precise positions but move across speaker channels in left-to-right motion or front-to-back. This was done to exploit the 5.1 medium’s ability to reproduce better directionality and localization of sound sources. Not only this, but the moving sound sources were used in a way to create a better sense of interaction between the listener and the music, by forcing the listener to concentrate more on lead instruments and attempting to create a greater sense of involvement.

• Other instruments used as ornaments, such as the extra percussive instrumentation in Griff’s The 2^nd Before and also backing instruments such as the melodica in Rhauri Campbell’s instrumental, would be panned to the rear speakers. This would be used to create a sense of surprise when these instruments would fade in and out throughout the songs. Normally these instruments would be used to emphasise other main instruments and would be relatively low in the mix. However, because the 5.1 system eliminates problems such as masking while mixing (discussed in more depth in the blog link provided) these pieces of instrumentation can be heard more clearly and can be used more extravagantly in the mix without interfering with the main instrumentation.

Overall, the main aim while producing these 5.1 mixes was to create a more interesting and immersive listening experience without straying too far from the original. In order to maintain the original “sound” of the instrumentation, no new effects were added that would change their character. This would create continuity between the stereo and 5.1 mixes even though they both create different listening experiences. So, if no new effects were to be added to ensure continuity, that left only one way to create a more interesting and immersive listening experience, which was panning and pan automation. These methods would allow the placement of instrumentation all around the listener and allow the movement of lead sound sources to create a more exciting listening experience to concentrate upon.