Mike Mettler

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Other Tech
An Interview with Celeste Lear
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 04, 2006  |  0 comments

With such a storied lineage, I have to ask you: When did you first become interested in gear and electronics? Well, despite growing up in a family famous for the invention of the 8-track player, unfortunately, I was not filled in by any of my relatives on the mysterious world of electronics.

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The S&V Interview
Andy Summers on His One-Man Sonic and Filmic Synchronicity
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 08, 2015  |  0 comments
Is it fair to say everything little thing Andy Summers does is magic? It certainly seems that way, as the onetime Police guitarist is experiencing a late-career renaissance, having recently dropped a diverse instrumental album, Metal Dog (Flickering Shado), and narrated an acclaimed documentary about his former band, Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police (Cinema Libre). Summers, 72, and I recently spoke about creating those signature Metal Dog soundscapes, becoming a voiceover artist, and the (sorry) arresting nature of The Police's unique chemistry. His not-so-secret journey makes us all see light in the darkness.
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Music and Soundtrack Features
Apple Music: Spatial Audio Relations
Mike Mettler,  |  Sep 17, 2021  |  2 comments
Back in May 2021, Apple significantly boosted the appeal of its Apple Music streaming service with the addition of two new features: Lossless Audio (including high-res versions for some albums and tracks) and Spatial Audio. While the term "Spatial Audio" might indicate that Apple has created a completely new surround sound music format, it's essentially Dolby Atmos—the same immersive, object- based mixing technology used for movie soundtracks.
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The S&V Interview
Arlo Guthrie Gives Thanks for 50 Years of “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 22, 2017  |  0 comments
Is there a more hallowed Thanksgiving tradition than the annual spinning of Arlo Guthrie's magical 18-minute tale about one fateful Thanksgiving Day encounter that's also celebrating its 50th birthday this year, “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”? Guthrie and I discuss the song’s sonic origins, what had to be done to ensure it fit perfectly onto one album side, and the Guthrie family’s storied annual holiday tradition of playing Carnegie Hall in New York.
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Spatial Audio File
As Long As You Stand By Me, Spatial Audio
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 18, 2022  |  0 comments
Hear ye hear ye, o fine fellow hi-fi-inclined friends o’ mine! It’s Week Three here in the always aurally intriguing world of the Spatial Audio File, and I’m more than ready to delve right on into five more choice selections for the best of this week’s Dolby Atmos mixes Made for Spatial Audio on Apple Music. Happy Spatial Listening, everybody!
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Spatial Audio File
Atmos Lang Syne: The Ten Best Immersive Audio Tracks of 2022
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 30, 2022  |  2 comments

Where did all the time go? Time, flowing like a river. Time is on my side (yes it is). Time to play B-sides. Are you eye-rolling at all my lyrically borrowed time comments yet? Anyway, it’s high time to take stock of what we’ve heard and what we’ve learned this past calendar year, seeing how a) time flies, and how b) time is indeed all around us—just like the best Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos mixes are, in fact.

With all this time sensitivity in mind, it seems to be the exact right time (last one, I promise) to comprise my Top Ten list of the best immersive audio tracks of this past year. As always, I’ve thoroughly spec’ed and checked all of the tracks I’ve selected here by way of my personal deep-dive listening sessions on both my home system and headphones alike. You’ll find each and every one of them amidst the cavalcade of Made for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos tracks within the ever-expanding immersive audio libraries on Apple Music Unlimited, Amazon Music, and Tidal.

Enough with all the time-wasting—here are my choices for the ten best, thoroughly immersive audio tracks of 2022, which are, in reverse order from 10 to 1. . .

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The S&V Interview
Aubrey Powell: Pink Floyd’s Perennial Man of Vision
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 12, 2019  |  1 comments
Aubrey Powell, Hipgnosis co-founder and the creative director for Pink Floyd's massive The Later Years: 1987-2019 box set, tells us why having a personal bond with the artist helps with the creative process and why the intended visual message must connect with the music itself.
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The S&V Interview
Avant-Garde Pioneer Irmin Schmidt on Can’s Singular Sonics
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 12, 2017  |  Published: Sep 13, 2017  |  0 comments
When Can began releasing their structurally challenging, progressive/electronic music out of Cologne, West Germany in 1968, they essentially ushering in the movement that came to be known as Krautrock, and their far-reaching influence has been cited by such convention-defying artists as David Bowie, the Talking Heads, and Radiohead. Can keyboardist Irmin Schmidt called me to discuss the band’s new The Singles collection and their singular improv-compositional style, when surround sound mixes are (and aren’t) options for their catalog, and what Can song avant-garde German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen gave his rarely handed out seal of approval.
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Other Tech
Back Talk: Paul Ben-Victor
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 26, 2008  |  0 comments

Walk me through your recent HDTV buying experience. I found myself attracted to the LCD. Two of my very good friends - Dave Rodriguez, who's directed two upcoming films that I'm in, and John Barr, the director of photography on those films - they're plasma guys.

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Other Tech
BackTalk: Dominic Monaghan
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 03, 2006  |  0 comments

Anything you can tell me about what happens in Season 3? I just know that there are a few new characters and that we'll be delving into the story of The Others a lot more. And, um, some people are going to be dying, which is, um, interesting. And that's as much as I know.

So nobody is safe? Nobody is safe. That's correct.

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