The latest project for mix engineer/producer Richard Chycki is a 5.1 mix of The Tragically Hip – A National Celebration, a 2016 television documentary of the Canadian rock band’s final performance filmed at the Kingston Ontario. The gig took place shortly before the death of lead singer and composer, Gord Downie from cancer.

Stereo and 5.1 mixes were made at Chycki’s Street of Dreams and at Noble Street Studios in Toronto, on a surround monitoring system using Genelec 8351 three-way Smart Active Monitors in an LCR array, with 8341s for left and right rear surrounds and a 7370A Subwoofer.

‘I had been looking for a speaker update that had stronger focus and imaging, and that’s when I spoke with Will Eggleston and John Whitcore of Genelec Inc, and they said I should check out The Ones,’ Chycki explains. ‘When I first connected them up in my studio, I immediately noticed there’s almost a tactile feeling to the speaker in the imaging where I suddenly felt that I could grab elements – like in a drum kit, the hi-hat is there and I feel like I can just reach out and touch it.

‘I was able to mix on The Ones right away, and then I took those mixes and played them back on small speakers, on large speakers, in my car or on earbuds, and those mixes translated well. That was the most important thing to me – that my final mixes were going to be listened to on a wide variety of playback systems, and they all transferred remarkable well.’

Chycki then moved over to Noble Street Studios in Toronto to begin the 5.1 mixes for The Tragically Hip. ‘I had recently done the preliminary stereo remixes at my studio, so I brought my Genelec’s over to Noble Street, and because I was under tight time constraints, I contacted Will and John, and through Genelec’s Canadian distributor SF Marketing and their Genelec Product Manager Mike Calo, they were able to get me the additional speakers to set up the 5.1 system.

‘I set up the system, used the GLM software, and it did its analysis of the acoustics and adjusted the speakers accordingly. Within about 45 mins of unpacking the speakers and setting them up, I was mixing. And there was no room acclimation once I ran the GLM software – it has the same sound quality, detail, nuances and characteristics as when I used them in my studio.’

This was a special project for Chycki on a very personal level: ‘The Tragically Hip is a strong centrepiece in Canadian music culture. Gord Downie was looking at the biggest danger that any person can face, and he did it with dignity and with poise, so mixing this project was a huge honour and responsibility for me, given its gravity. To have reliable tools, like Genelec’s The Ones, so the project was delivered on time and in a way that’s respectful to the artist and so that the fans can appreciate it, is something for me that’s very deep and meaningful. As a monumental piece of Canadian culture that’s going to last for decades, it was absolutely critical to be able to deliver it properly and have it translate to as many systems as possible, as many listening environments as possible, because the band has such an incredible legacy.’

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