Frank Filipetti is one of the most respected names in the music business. As a producer, mixer and engineer he has been at the forefront of digital music and production for decades – working with artists such as Elton John, KISS, Billy Joel and Carly Simon. He won a Grammy for Best Engineered Album for James Taylor’s landmark Hourglass, which also won that year’s Best Pop Album. Filipetti continues to work in music and film production and remains a major proponent of the surround sound experience for engineers and consumers alike.
PART II
You’ve been a major proponent of surround sound mixing and listening for music, not just movies. Do you see a future for it?
Unfortunately, not at the moment. Record companies have shown an amazing lack of interest, which is a shame because I think surround is the most exciting way to mix. There’s a remarkable increase in listener participation that simply isn’t there in stereo. A great surround record is truly an all-encompassing experience. It allows you to lose yourself in the sound. It changes the paradigm of the passive listener.
Music today has become a kind of background to one’s life. People no longer put on an album simply to listen. They still love music, but listening has become an activity that accompanies their lives whether it’s doing homework, answering emails, or driving. And because of this they lose an important emotional component of the music.
Surround sound encourages listening as an activity in and of itself. But that’s a problem in a multitasking society, given how the pace of life has quickened and how impatient we have become. Music for its own sake can be like meditation, a way to really focus on an experience that can’t be obtained any other way. (more…)
