Nilento Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden, is designed to adapt to a wide range of requirements, the latest example of this thinking being the addition of Atmos recording.
Founded by Lars Nilsson – a trumpet player who moved into production sound 30 years ago – the facility focusses on acoustic jazz and classical recording, as well as producing mixes from location recordings. Its studio space offers changeable acoustics, with the main live room able to be converted into four smaller rooms including two Iso booths, and allowing it to transform from a big-band environment into rooms suitable for choir, piano trio or a soloist.
Nilento also has three separate control rooms – one is an analogue room equipped with a stereo pair of Genelec 1030 monitors, while another is a digital recording room with a stereo pair of Genelec 1031s. The main control room is something else entirely, designed for mixing full Dolby Atmos with a Genelec 7.1.4 Smart Active Monitoring system calibrated with GLM software.
‘My first experience with Genelec was Donald Fagen,’ says Nilsson. ‘We bought some 1031s with a sub and suddenly I heard depth and details that I had never heard before. When I mix classical music, I want to hear the same small levels of detail – these are the details, which I need to pay attention to, in order to do my job. Having a trustworthy reference point with qualified frequencies makes a big difference. I need to be able to trust it. I can trust Genelec.’
Nilsson’s main control room doesn’t feature a large mixing console, and the heart of his system is a Pro Tools MTRX interface with a range of I/O across multiple formats. The monitor set-up comprises 11 8341 three-way coaxial monitors, plus a 7370 subwoofer.
‘I don’t use a big control surface because I work directly with the screen and I find I’m more precise with a mouse than I am with faders,’ Nilsson explains. ‘I use an Avid S1 control surface; it’s only eight faders wide so it doesn’t take up too much space, and it leaves plenty of room for musical scores.
‘When The Ones series came out, I was knocked sideways,’ he continues. ‘I switched my monitors out as soon as I heard them. Using all 8341s suits the room very well; it’s a large room with a high ceiling and I wanted to use the same monitors throughout, because I want to have the same SPL and the same power. Genelec’s GLM software is the main reason I changed to The Ones. I’ve rebuilt this control room four times and reached a point where I was quite satisfied, but GLM identified areas where I was maybe half a dB wrong in specific frequencies, or we had to move the sub to get it phase aligned with the other speakers.
‘You just can’t get it right like you can when you use the GLM software, especially when it comes to adjusting the phase with the subwoofer. Now I can place the sub just under me, so I can feel its power and adjust the phase so that it fits perfectly with the main monitors. It also means I don’t have to use the full range of the monitors. I’m very satisfied with the set-up.’
Nilsson’s approach to mixing in Atmos is to place individual instruments in different spaces as objects that, he says, creates a much more emotional connection to the music. ‘I knew Atmos was a format I wanted to work in because I’ve produced a lot in 5.1 surround and I always missed the height element. Because I work a lot with classical music I often record in churches and big halls, so I’ve always searched for more depth in my mixes. Atmos is a totally natural solution because the depth is already in there.
‘Everyone should be interested in Atmos,’ Nilsson concludes. ‘The music is a lot more fun, it’s more musical and more involving. I want to develop it more and more, and I’ll never go back. I’ve been searching for this for 30 years.’
More: www.genelec.com
