Brauer Mixes Coldplay in Surround
Over the summer, Grammy-winning engineer Michael H. Brauer mixed Coldplay’s “Strawberry Swing” in 5.1 surround sound for that music video’s theatrical premier at London’s Odeon Theater. The fifth single off Coldplay’s record Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, “Strawberry Swing” is being released as a digital single today.
Michael Brauer at the SSL in Electric Lady Studio B, with the Dangerous Monitor ST-SR surround controller.
Brauer’s been setup in Electric Lady’s Studio B since March ‘09. The studio was re-structured to suit Brauer’s equipment array, and the unique 80-input SSL SL 9000 J console re-tooled and optimized to his typical workflow. To mix Coldplay in 5.1, however, Brauer supplemented his system with the Dangerous Music Monitor ST-SR surround monitor controller.
Brauer noted, “The SSL J in my new room at Electric Lady doesn’t have the 5.1 monitoring panel. I was concerned how I would mix surround without it until I discovered that Dangerous offers the ST-SR. It’s exactly what I was looking for. It offers everything I need from the SSL panel and more. It sounds great and works like a charm.”
The new chalk-drawn stop-motion Coldplay video, created by art collective Shynola (Radiohead, Beck), debuted in July, appearing ahead of major movies at the Odeon. Brauer mixed the surround version of the song in one day for its theatrical release. Check out the video in a much smaller, lower resolution format here!
Most recently, Brauer’s been mixing for John Mayer, The Bravery and Shakira.