An Industry Focused Investigation into Immersive Commercial Melodic Rap Production -Part Two

In part one of this study, five professional mixing engineers were asked to create a Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 mix of the same melodic rap song adhering to the following commercial music industry specifications: follow the framework of the stereo reference, implement binaural distance settings, and conform to –18LKFS, -1dBTP loudness levels. An analysis of the mix sessions and post-mix interviews with the engineers revealed that they felt creatively limited in their approaches due to the imposed industry specifications. The restricted approaches were evident through the minimal applications of mix processing, automation, and traditional positioning of key elements in the completed mixes. 

In part two of this study, the same mix engineers were asked to complete a second mix of the same song without any imposed limitations and were encouraged to approach the mix creatively. Intra-subject comparisons between the restricted and unrestricted mixes were explored to identify differences in element positioning, mix processing techniques, panning automation, loudness levels, and binaural distance settings. Analysis of the mix sessions and interviews showed that when no restrictions were imposed on their work, the mix engineers emphasized the musical narrative through more diverse element positioning, increased use of automation, and applications of additional reverb with characteristics that differed from the reverb in the source material.