Dolby Atmos in music, how it changes the mix and why it matters in studio work today

9 February , 2026

Interview with Alberto Rossetto on the Dolby Atmos short course at Saint Louis a Rome: who it is aimed at, skills required, and expected outcomes.

Immersive audio is no longer just an “insider’s” topic in filmmaking: it is also firmly entering music production, and more and more professionals are trying to figure out how to navigate it and what skills and tools to acquire. We collected some frequently asked questions about the Dolby Atmos short course at Saint Louis College of Music in Rome and turned them over to the course’s instructor, Alberto Rossetto: a mixing engineer, co-founder and CEO of Milk Audio Store and Milk Studios, with experience built up between recording, mixing and soundtracks, and work in recent years also dedicated to the diffusion of Dolby Atmos Music in Italy.

Who is the Saint Louis course on Dolby Atmos aimed at and what type of professional or musician benefits most from it?

The course is aimed at all sound engineers, both professionals and beginners, and musicians who want to understand how to approach production to creatively exploit immersive audio. It will especially help those used to working in stereo or discrete multichannel formats such as 5.1 to understand what is behind Dolby technology and how to best organize a Dolby Atmos session. For a music producer or musician, the experience can translate into a change of perspective: rethinking the way they approach a production by imagining from the outset how 360-degree listening can support the creative work. As such, the course is dedicated to those who want to find out how to set up a setup in immersive audio, learn about the technology and requirements for working with object-oriented audio, and tackle a mix in Dolby Atmos from start to delivery.

For those who hear about it often but have never dealt with it: how would you explain Dolby Atmos in a simple way?

Imagine that you stop being a passive listener of music and, all of a sudden, become part of the sound experience. Immersive audio, specifically Dolby Atmos, is a format that brings the listener inside the sound image, allowing them to grasp the exact origin of each sound in an intelligible and detailed manner.

Alberto Rossetto docente corso breve dolby atmos

Intervista al docente del corso Dolby Atmos Music, Alberto Rossetto

In what areas of audio work is this skill most in demand or valued today?

Today Dolby Atmos is widely used in film, but since 2017, when Dolby Atmos Music was conceived, new frontiers have opened up for a major change in record production. The main areas in which Dolby Atmos is being worked in are post-production and record production; meanwhile, it is also beginning to enter areas such as podcast production and advertising production, with some initial experimentation in live performance.

On the professional side: what changes when you can present a portfolio that includes expertise on the immersive mix?

The demand for products mixed in Dolby Atmos is beginning to rise, and in Italy, there are still few professionals who are fully familiar with this format. The demand for technicians who can master it is also growing in television: therefore, having a good command of the format can make your profile more competitive and your CV more attractive right away.

Does one already need solid studio experience to follow, or is it also suitable for those who are consolidating the basics?

The course is recommended for engineers and musicians who have a clear idea and a good grasp of what signal routing means, regardless of the DAW used. During the lessons you will use Pro Tools, but this does not imply the need for in-depth knowledge of the software: along the way you will understand how to set up routing and, most importantly, how sound placement works. From a creative point of view, we are in a particularly interesting moment because, although new canons of work are beginning to be glimpsed, there is still much room to define a new literature of music production.

What is useful to have at home or in your studio to practice between classes?

For continuous practice, it is very useful to have a DAW with the Dolby Renderer included or a license for the Dolby Atmos Renderer.

From your perspective, what is the most common mistake of people who try to learn Dolby Atmos as a self-taught?

The most common mistake is to start working with headphones under the pretense that you can make an Atmos master. Binaural listening is only one part of the mix in Atmos: it is indispensable, but it remains one component within a larger system.

Why does it make sense today to choose an in-person course in Rome instead of relying only on tutorials and self-study?

Because the course will be held in a 7.1.4 mix room listed on the Dolby website and recognized as a room that meets the requirements to mix in Dolby Atmos.

What outcomes should those who complete the course expect, in terms of operational skills and professional awareness?

Those who complete the course will have the ability to set up a mix session or music production in any studio equipped with a 7.1.4 or larger listening system. Professional mix engineers will be able to use this expertise to offer more to the productions or labels they already work with; those who are newcomers will have a broader background to spend in a market that increasingly demands more productions in this format. For musicians, too, the impact is immediate: understanding how to approach immersive audio from the outset allows them to optimize their choice of sounds and the production itself, both at the programming and recording stages.

Do you want to acquire the skills to use Dolby Atmos Music in the studio?
Learn about the Dolby Atmos Short Course at Saint Louis College of Music and request information.

FAQ

The course starts on Feb. 20, 2026 and consists of 10 meetings of 3 hours each, on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., weekly, for a total of 30 hours. The modality is in-person at the Saint Louis College of Music a Rome and in the Dolby Atmos Mix Room (via Francesco Sabatini 10, 00135).

It is a course designed for producers, sound engineers and musicians who want to understand and consciously use music production techniques in Dolby Atmos, which are now increasingly in demand in the recording industry and on major streaming platforms. The teaching alternates between theoretical moments (to navigate formats, standards, and distribution) and practical studio sessions on real projects, with the goal of achieving operational autonomy in a Pro Tools session for mixing in Dolby Atmos

To register, it is necessary to fill out the dedicated form and finalize the registration through online purchase. The procedure is indicated directly dedicated to the Dolby Atmos