Genelec 'The Ones' power Morten Lindberg's impressive immersive studio

Record producer Lindberg Lyd revamps its post-production studio monitoring system, implementing smart active monitors and Genelec woofer systems in a 7.1.4 configuration.

In the world of immersive music recording, no one has done more to set the benchmark for what can be achieved than Grammy-winning music producer and sound engineer, Morten Lindberg.

Having embarked on his recording career in 1992, through his production company Lindberg Sound, Lindberg established the 2L record label to specialize in high-quality recordings by Norwegian performers and composers with an international repertoire. To increase the level of sonic excellence even further, Lindberg has recently revamped its post-production studio monitoring system, implementing smart active monitors and woofer systems. Genelec in a 7.1.4 configuration.

Lindberg explains that "once you've experienced immersive audio, it's really hard to go back to stereo. When I started making recordings back in the '90s, stereo was our working perspective, it was what we had. Then surround sound came along at the turn of the century and it opened up a whole new wide picture for music playback. When we started experimenting with immersive audio, what we hoped to gain by adding the height dimension was simply to increase the level of detail and resolution. How much space would be available for instruments and musical lines, the size of the canvas available for the choruses, and so on. But, that's not what we got. What we got was an emotional component. By adding the third dimension to the soundscape, the emotional impact on the listener was multiplied by ten.”

Lindberg's newly upgraded post-production facility is designed specifically for the Immersive audio editing, mixing and mastering. Compatible with both Dolby Atmos as with Auro-3D, the monitoring system is mainly based on series models The Ones de Genelec, starting with seven three-way coaxial monitors 8351B in the lower layer, all of them complemented by adaptive woofer systems W371A. The upper positions are handled by four of the lightest and most compact 8341A, with a subwoofer 7380A playing the LFE channel and additionally a compact nearfield monitor 8320A which is located on the 7380A, to provide a frequency extension to the LFE channel above 120 Hz. This acts as a verification system on the true content of the LFE channel before it is distributed.

Coaxial design

“I found that the coaxial design of The Ones generates an incredible image not only in surround, but in fact adds to the entire surround and extends to the upper dimension, preserving that precise detail of our source,” Lindberg continues. “All of The Ones models that I've used have full bandwidth capacity, in themselves, so the intention with the W371s was to really get down to that haptic, almost tactile aspect of sound, to reach out to that part of the sound experience that transitions from audio to the realm of vibrations.”

Lindberg goes on to explain that "our entire body is actually a very sophisticated sensory system and the experience of music in our body is much broader than our traditional definition of audio. There are different directivity modes that you can apply on the W371A woofer that can help if you are in a complicated or small room, but in a room like this, which is spacious and generally has good sound quality, I find that the W371A's complementary basic mode reproduces for me the most open and natural extension into that area. tactile, where your belly moves in some way.”

Lindberg uses monitor management software Genelec GLM to connect, calibrate and control the monitoring system. “By measuring our listening positions and our workspace we can do some pretty clever optimization of the monitors in this particular room,” he says. "What I found most useful about the GLM is how 'elastic' it is in terms of the number of monitors you can connect to the system, and how they are located and configured. In addition, the GLM can also work as a controller for the monitors, giving access to all elements."

But, while experience, skill and the finest technology are obviously essential components in Lindberg's impressive recording toolbox, it is also clear that he has never lost sight of his true mission in music. "A perfect recording for us is when we can make you cry... or laugh. It's about emotions," he concludes.