Mix engineer Rob Burrell recently converted a space in his personal studio into a Dolby Atmos mix room, including a Focusrite Red 16Line 64-input/64-output Thunderbolt 3 and Pro Tools HD audio interface in its kit complement.
Based in the Nashville area, Burrell has worked with the likes of Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town, Michael W Smith and Michael McDonald, as well as having credits in film and television. He is equally at home in recording, mixing, mastering and postproduction, in genres as wide-ranging as country, Christian rock, Latin music, hip-hop and film scoring.
‘I really needed the workflow to work for mixing, mastering and Atmos post,’ Burrell says of his new venture. ‘I had a list of things that I wanted to hit in the most concise kind of package possible – I had high hopes for the Red 16Line, but generally I don’t get too excited about gear any more, because I’ve been there and done that with much of it. But this is different…
‘First of all, I always talk about wanting the tech to “melt away”, meaning that once a new bit of gear is integrated into your set-up, it should feel like it’s not there. But more than that, it has affected the sound in a positive way. Once I was using the Red 16Line, I could hear things in my mixes that I was missing before. As a result, my mixes have been coming together more quickly, with more transparency and easier troubleshooting.’
Of his philosophy of mixing day to day, he says: ‘If someone asks me if I’m more of an analogue or digital guy, I’m whatever it takes to make things great. Generally I work digitally all in-the-box now, but it varies from project to project. I can literally go from an orchestral record to a hip-hop song the next day, and a country song the day after that. I like the challenge, and I like to get my butt kicked a little bit by trying new things.
‘So, after mixing in 5.1 and 7.1 since the late 90s, it was a no-brainer to dive into Atmos, which is a very precise and technical process with a fantastically artistic canvas to paint with. It’s such a deeply rewarding challenge. Recently I’ve been going back to material that I’ve mixed in the past and mixing it for Atmos, just as an exercise.’
Additionally, Burrell makes time to work with independent artists on a shoestring budget and mentor up-and-coming talent. ‘I was very fortunate to come up under some great mentors myself, so I’ve always wanted to pay that forward,’ he says. ‘A lot of younger musicians and engineers contact me for guidance, and I help where I can. When free time is tight, the way I’m able to do this almost daily is through something I call MixMentor Mastering.
‘They might not have the means to hire me or someone else on the pro level to mix a whole project, but what I can do is give them lots of guidance in tracking and mixing on their end. We’ll listen to a mix, I’ll give them some advise based on what I hear, and they revise it on their end, getting it much closer to a pro project before I touch it. Then we give them the best mastering job we can, and they’re happier with the result than they would have been, and they’ve learned something about production in the process. It’s a rewarding thing to do, and I’m glad I can offer some advice to the next generation. And more often than not, I learn something from them too – they’re approaching record production with fresh ears and self-taught skills, and I’m constantly impressed and have to ask “how’d you do that?” And that is what makes a great engineer period – listening, asking questions and learning.’
