Editing Vocals for Atmos in Revoice Pro with Kevin Madigan

Live and Studio Mix Engineer Kevin Madigan has worked with a huge array of top artists and performers to work including Santana, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Neil Young, David Gilmour, Ray LaMontagne, Lana Del Rey, Smashing Pumpkins and many more.

Fresh from working on the Black Panther II Wakanda Forever Soundtrack, we caught up with Kevin to hear his experiences of using Revoice Pro 4. Kevin is also doing a lot of work in Dolby Atmos which offers a lot of interesting sonic possibilities which we were excited to hear about...

How did you get into the music business?

After finishing college I ended up working in acoustics. During and after that time, I worked doing live and recording/mixing gigs and just kept going from there.

You primarily work as a FOH engineer, how much does your live sound experience help you when you’re in the studio?

Probably helps in making fast and accurate choices for levels, dynamics and EQ.

Which DAW(s) do you use and why?

Pro Tools. I know it very well and that allows me to work efficiently.

You're a Revoice Pro user, can you give us a recent example of how you used the software?

David Crosby had just released a live record before he passed away recently. I was the live, recording and then mix engineer (with Michael League and Nic Hard) on that. There were 4 very talented vocalists in the band. On the night it’s all about the ephemeral, spectacular performance. Afterwards in mixing the recording, we had an opportunity to help out a little with Revoice for alignment to make it even better.

What do you think is unique about Revoice Pro?

The speed and quality that it works at is amazing. It allows you to do things in minutes and get on with mixing the music that would otherwise take hours of editing drudgery.

You work a lot on mixes in Dolby Atmos, what excites you about mixing in Atmos?

The creative possibilities for mixing are expanded. It can be really exciting for someone to hear music that’s immersive - especially for the first time. It can be very engaging, magnetic, drawing a listener into a song.

On Atmos projects, does your approach to mixing vocals change compared to traditional stereo mixes? Are there new creative possibilities?

Yes. I’m not looking for a space to fit vocals in when mixing in Atmos. Now there’s lots of choice where elements might go to in a different part of the 3D space. However that extra choice brings its own caveats - you don’t want to lose the character or impact of a song because of distracting mix position choices.

Do you have a favourite record / project that you’ve worked on and why?

I’ve been lucky to work with Manny Marroquin on a lot of songs in Atmos in 2022. Some that have stood out are the Black Panther II Wakanda Forever Soundtrack (Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” is beautiful), Lizzo’s “Special” album and Kendrick Lamar’s "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers"

Is there any advice would you give to aspiring engineers?

Work on everything you get an opportunity to and get as much experience as you can.