The Beatles' seminal song, "Sgt. After Giles Martin, the son of George Martin's original producer, said that Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band will receive another Dolby atmos mix. This is because the mix was created with Dolby Theaters in mind and not personal listening via Apple Music. I'm going to replace it, said the two-time Grammy winner to Rolling Stone. It's great. It's not right.To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the album's release, the current Atmos mix was created. It was originally intended to be played at Dolby Atmos cinemas during a series live listening events. People listen to it now in smaller rooms, or with headphones, because it's available on streaming services such as Amazon Music HD and Apple Music.Sgt. Peppers is a theatrical mixture that's then being transformed into a smaller mediumSgt. Peppers was, I believe, the first album to be mixed in Dolby atmos. Martin explains that we did it as a theatrical presentation. So, Sgt. Peppers is a theatrical mixture that's then being transformed into a smaller medium. It's not right. I'm going to go back to the theatrical mix, and turn it into near-field Dolby Atmos. This is different from the cinema Dolby Atmos. It's quite bright. It's a little digital. It's digital, but I will replace it. That's cool.Martin says that the spatial mix of Sgt. Martin says that Peppers' spatial mix lacks a bit of bass, and some weight behind it. The Atmos mix of Abbey Road was created for the 50th anniversary of the album in 2019. It sounds much more like the stereo mix.The most fascinating thing about Sgt. Peppers is the fact that it was released in a time when mono recordings were still the main focus of most producers according to NPR. George Martin spent three weeks mixing the mono version of the album before he worked on the stereo version. The album has survived through three periods of music: mono, stereo, and spatial audio.There are many examples of well-known albums that don't sound right in spatial audio, even though it is still in its infancy. Chris Welch, my colleague, outlines some of these issues in his review Apple Musics spatial audio. Songs like Buddy Holly by Weezer or Whats My Age Again? from Blink 182 suffer from muffled vocals as well as lifeless guitars. These are only growing pains in a new format. We will one day be able to look back at these tracks the same way we did early stereo recordings from 60s.Rolling Stone's interview with Giles Martins is worth reading for their insights into spatial audio.
