Band On The Run (Dolby Atmos - 2024)

The ATMOS Mix of Band on the Run is an incredible way to experience such a cherished album. It’s so much fun hearing musical details that have eluded us for 50 years.

Giles: Yeah, it’s really interesting for me. You can forget the amount of love and care that goes into an album, and when you’re doing an Atmos Mix, you have to be careful that you don’t pull things apart too much. There’s a reason why recording artists layer things on top of each other – the reason being it should be condensed and put together. Sometimes things will sound quite wide, and some will be narrow. The reason is because it has to sound natural. I don’t believe in listening to “a mix” – you listen to a song. But with Paul and what he does, and it’s in this album, it’s just a ball of energy, and he’s a ball of energy. That’s what it is to me. You just hear how many ideas he has. That’s what it is, you hear the brain working.

He’s clearly having so much fun! When beginning this particular project, was there a conversation between you and Paul about what he was looking for?

Giles: No, that’s not really how we work. The way we work is that [producer and engineer] Steve Orchard, who is brilliant, and deserves a lot of credit for this work, Steve compiles everything. There’s lots of things that have to happen in these projects, like sorting out the tapes and making sure things are running at the right speed. Lots of really detailed stuff. Then Paul comes in, and we’ll listen to everything, he’ll tweak, and we have a lovely time. Musically, Paul already knows where everything should be and so there’s a pre-emptive guesswork that, I guess, I do with Steve beforehand. Obviously, we respect the stereo as well.

So when you’re working in the studio, Paul remembers everything?

Giles: What’s lovely is how much he enjoys it. Paul remembers everything when you’re working on a track. Very fond memories. And I learn that there’s a reason why everything’s in place in the song.

The sequencing of this album is impeccable. It has a sort of narrative arc to it. There must be a bit of excitement, peeling the layers back one by one and seeing what you find. Is it a little bit like that?

Giles: It’s always interesting to hear different tracks and instruments soloed – backing vocals and things like that. You find that there’s not much extra material. The reason why things sound good is because they were played so well! So, again, going back to what I say about doing this, you have to be respectful that things should be together and not taken apart. […]

Did Paul have any notes when you played him these mixes?

Giles: What’s interesting is that Paul never wants to be safe. He wants everything to be listened to. We’ll listen to the song together, and we have a button, which is the original stereo mix and the new mix. We flip between the two at any stage and just see if we’re missing anything. Sometimes he’ll go, “Oh, you’ve done this differently, but I like it.” Or, “we’re missing this bit here.”

Giles Martin – From Paul McCartney | News | ‘Band on the Run’ Dolby Atmos Q&A with Giles Martin

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