When The Orb and David Gilmour came together over a decade ago to produce the two-part, 49-minute ambient soundscape dubbed Metallic Spheres in 2010, there almost seemed to be a bit of unfinished business attached to what we were hearing-and now we know why. To take that music to the next level, original Metallic Spheres producer Youth recast it in Dolby Atmos as a more concise 40-minute edition duly renamed Metallic Spheres in Colour (Columbia/Legacy). In a recent Zoom interview, Youth and I discussed how Metallic Spheres morphed into its current full-bodied Atmos Colour and shape, what notable Orb song seems ready-made for an immersive remix, and what else he'd like to mix in Atmos next. (A longer version of this interview appears in my monthly Spatial Audio File column on the S&V site.)
Mike Mettler: The idea of 360-degree recording was something you and Alex Paterson [co-founder of The Orb] had already discussed amongst yourselves. Tell me more about the time you guys decided, "Hey, we gotta record this way."
Youth: Yeah, I mean, before "3D60" came along, or Atmos, we-along with our engineer Greg Hunter-were always trying to find ways to get a more 3D sound into the stereo mix. And that would include using Doppler boxes, or trying to create a Doppler effect with passing jets or cars. We were using binaural microphones, which is a big part of the Atmos 3D60 experience. That, and just some extreme, clever panning of details.
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