Creating the Dolby Atmos Mix for YES – Aurora

MixingStories from the StudioDolby Atmos
Written By Curtis Schwartz

YES's Aurora was mixed in Dolby Atmos at Curtis Schwartz Studio using a fully calibrated 7.1.4 monitoring environment, alongside the stereo and 5.1 surround mixes.

When I mixed Aurora, the goal wasn't to make sounds fly around the room. It was to make the music feel more expansive without ever distracting from the songwriting. Every placement was made to support the emotional impact of the track.

Looking for Dolby Atmos mixing?

Curtis Schwartz Studio offers stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos mixing from a private studio near London, with full 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos monitoring and major-label album mixing experience.

Explore Dolby Atmos Mixing

The studio is centred around a Steinway D Spirio and a fully calibrated Dolby Atmos monitoring system.

Working in immersive audio opens up a fundamentally different creative space. Rather than being confined to stereo’s left–right field, instruments and textures can exist anywhere within a three-dimensional environment — allowing arrangements to breathe and detail to emerge with greater clarity and depth.

The control room is configured for full Dolby Atmos monitoring with calibrated immersive playback, ensuring accurate translation from critical nearfield listening through to larger playback systems.

Here are a few recent views of the control room set up for Dolby Atmos mixing.

Dolby Atmos control room at Curtis Schwartz Studio, Sussex

Control room configured for Dolby Atmos mixing.

Praise for the Atmos mix

"The Dolby Atmos mix of Aurora is absolutely wonderful — far beyond what I had imagined."

— Shin Katayama
Music producer, A&R & journalist, Tokyo, Japan

"The first two Atmos mixes sound celestial."
— The Afterword

"This is an album that feels made for surround sound."
— Now Spinning Magazine

"Every instrument has space."
— The Prog Report

The complete audio production for YES – Aurora—stereo, 5.1 surround, Dolby Atmos and final mastering—was completed at Curtis Schwartz Studio using a fully calibrated 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos monitoring system.

Read the full YES Aurora case study →
Listening position in Dolby Atmos mixing room, Curtis Schwartz Studio

Listening position in the immersive control room.

Dolby Atmos mixing is a central part of the studio’s work in 2026.

If you're planning a Dolby Atmos release—whether it's a new album, catalogue reissue or immersive remaster—I'd be delighted to discuss the project.

Curtis Schwartz Studio is a private residential recording studio near London, offering stereo mixing, mastering and Dolby Atmos album mixing, with a Steinway Model D Spirio concert grand piano and full residential facilities.

Interested in the wider benefits of Dolby Atmos?

Read why Atmos can improve playback and create new commercial opportunities →

Discuss your Dolby Atmos project
Curtis Schwartz

Curtis Schwartz is a producer, mixer, recording engineer and composer based in Sussex, England. He runs Curtis Schwartz Studio, a private residential recording and mixing studio known for high-end production, stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos mixing, mastering, and its 9-foot Hamburg Steinway D Spirio concert grand.

Curtis has worked across records, production music, television and film for more than four decades. His credits include YES, Steve Howe, Sezen Aksu, Stacey Kent, Bee Gees, Suede, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Go West, Cutting Crew, John Taylor, Gwilym Simcock and many others.

As a composer, Curtis has written extensively for KPM/EMI and West One Music, with work used internationally across television, advertising and broadcast media. His studio continues to attract artists, labels and composers looking for a calm, highly musical environment where records can be recorded, mixed, mastered and properly finished.

https://www.curtisschwartzstudio.com
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