With its thought-provoking lyrics and genre-hopping pop, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Waa Wei’s seventh solo release is not only a survival guide for facing life’s everyday trials, it’s breaking new ground for music in the region. To discuss one of the first Chinese-language albums mastered specifically for Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, Apple Music talks with Have a Nice Day producer George Chen about what the technology brought to the project and what it means for the future of recording. (This interview was translated from the original Mandarin Chinese.)
What makes Spatial Audio unique is its live-sounding feel and 360-degree environment. How did you use this quality to enhance the album’s atmosphere?
With Spatial Audio, all vocals and instruments become three-dimensional. This means going from only having the option to pan left and right to a 3D space. In Waa Wei’s song ‘Have a Nice Day,’ the lyrics describe how we can face life with a relaxed smile. The arrangement has lots of percussion and cute sound effects. We decided to let each instrument vividly move through the space as a way to render the little everyday joys in life. ‘四月是適合說謊的日子’ (‘April, Good for Lying’) is another approach. We arranged Waa Wei as the narrator right in front of the listener, and Chiu as the cat described in the lyrics: He’s overly sincere, so we placed him back-left. This way, the production not only enriches the songs but also the stories and characters in the lyrics.
From its vocal performances to musical arrangements, Have a Nice Day spans a wide range of sounds. So how does Spatial Audio bring out the unique aspects of each genre?
Different genres have different objectives: Ballads want to clearly convey vocal and instrumental expression; rock needs that passionate live feel; electronic music needs to emphasize auditory stimulus. Waa Wei’s ‘沒事不哭’ (‘Merci Beaucoup’) is a kind of modern bossa nova song, a genre that wants to make the listener feel relaxed. Compared to a stereo mix, Spatial Audio allows for each instrument to play around Waa Wei, and the musicians take turns improvising during the interlude. This allows the listener to place themselves in the performance and sway along with it.
Will you consider recording for Spatial Audio in the early production and arrangement stages of more albums in the future?
Definitely. Spatial Audio will have more stringent requirements for recording, arranging, and mixing. We can clearly hear the emergence of each instrument and completely feel each reverberation in the space.
Do you have any suggestions for other producers working with Dolby Atmos?
I think it’s necessary to take the traditional stereo mixing approach as a solid foundation and add the imagination of sound in space. This is a time of rapid technological progress, and we should use technology as a creative tool.
Would you consider trying this tech with projects that cross into other media, such as theater music, music videos, audio books, etc.?
The unique dimensional feel of Spatial Audio is very suited to combine with visuals, and is indeed related to theater and film music that I like. Also, radio dramas, which in the past were listened to on the radio, can be made into Spatial Audio podcasts where each voice plays a role in our ears.