“If you had the choice to be in the studio with me while I was making The Bells, you’d understand the context it was made in. You’d begin to learn everything that led up to that moment. Spatial Audio gives people the chance to be part of that experience.”
Detroit legend Jeff Mills joined Apple Music during the recent Amsterdam Dance Event for a discussion on the evolution of Spatial Audio, which seeks to create an immersive, 3D sound experience.
The conversation focused on Mills’ recent work, including the first-ever Spatial Audio DJ Mix for Apple Music, Outer to Inner Atmosphere: The Escape Velocity Mix, and his Spatial Audio recording of recent album Tomorrow Comes the Harvest.
On the Outer to Inner Atmosphere mix, Mills said that the idea is to “put the listener in a completely different scenario, to make them believe they’re somewhere else entirely. When I recorded the album, I was thinking about what the different circumstances would be that music could be listened to. By creating alternate configurations, you give the music the ability to be experienced in new dimensions.”
This immersive experience opens up possibilities for a truly out-of-body experience, as he added, “I’ve been imagining what happens when I’m no longer here, how I can still be involved in electronic music even after I’m gone. This technology replicates how I might play records together. It simulates that process and allows someone to imagine how I would do it in the future.”
Mills was joined on the panel discussion by Stephen Campbell, global head of dance, electronic and DJ mixes, Frankie Hutchinson, head of D&E artist relations, and Clif Norell, Apple Music’s lead spatial audio mixing engineer.
Inspired by the cosmos, Mills developed his mix to simulate breaking Earth’s gravitational pull, drawing from his Axis Records catalogue. He added that the immersive experience made possible by Spatial Audio opens up numerous future opportunities.
“We can hear things in 3D. That’s already there. But it’s the visual aspect we still need to address – how to convince someone they’re no longer where they are. That’s where things like classrooms, studios, and performance spaces will change.
“One day, you might be sitting next to Miles Davis and the sound engineer. These things will come. It’s going to make us rethink sound completely.”
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