Because I tend to take on projects that I don't have enough spare time for, I'm going to attempt to create Atmos mixes for the whole 'KID A' album.
Here are my discoveries and plans so far:
(Updated: October 1st)
1. Everything In It’s Right Place - first pass
DONE
- Multitrack mix from Exhibition stems
- Lead Vocal extracted from stereo album mix and retimed to slightly slower Exhibition version.
2. Kid A - first pass
DONE
- Full rebuild and edit from Exhibition stems. I will have to reconstruct the song from the stems as they play as loops and don't follow the structure of the song. Edit to match album instrumentation.
- Retime all the Exhibition stems as they are significantly faster than the album version.
- Lead vocals and some other elements extracted from stereo album mix.
3. The National Anthem - first pass
DONE
- Combine stereo album mix with Exhibition stems. The Stems are missing the lead vocals and close mic'ed brass and the mix is too messy for clean extraction.
- Small retime needed on the stems.
4. How to Disappear Completely - first pass
DONE
- Exhibition arrangement is quite different to the album version. No drums or bass, less acoustic and electric guitar. I want to re-create the album version.
- Combining stems of strings, Martenot, vocals with Drums, bass and guitars from stereo album mix.
5. Treefingers - first pass
DONE
- The Exhibition has a 5.0 mix of a longer version of Treefingers. It also features additional sound effects.
- Re-creating the approx album length, matching the intro and outro but keeping the addition effects
- Upmix the 5.0 to Atmos.
6. Optimistic - first pass
DONE
- There are no stems of Optimistic in the Exhibition so this will have to be an upmix + stem extraction (whatever I can get without artifacts)
7. In Limbo - first pass
DONE
- Exhibition stems cover all the instrumentation and parts but in loops that need to be edited to match the album version.
- Lead vocals extracted from album stereo mix.
- Full re-build of arrangement like Kid A.
8. Idioteque - first pass
DONE
- Main beat and some ambiences in the Exhibition stems.
- This will have to be constructed from extractions from the stereo mix, mid/side separations and other tricks.
- Most likely a combination of the stereo mix, extractions and stems to build the necessary tracks for an Atmos mix.
9. Morning Bell - first pass
DONE
- There are no stems of Morning Bell in the Exhibition so this will have to be an upmix + stem extraction (whatever I can get without artifacts)
10. Motion Picture Soundtrack
- Stems for double bass and harps from Exhibition
- I will need to extract the lead vocals from the stereo album mix and blend the remaining Organ and harps with the Exhibition stems to create the immersive layers.
Only a few songs have stems ready to go for mixing, so overall I will need to do a lot of reconstruction to recreate the album arrangement. The stems are often the wrong tempo, edited as loops or in the wrong key. Anyway, it will be a fun experiment on one of my favourite albums.