So I had to go in and make it match. Technically, it was very difficult: there are edits in the program, and there were no notes about where the edits were. So it was very complicated--and actually, so complicated that I think you'll find that some of the versions of the songs are quite different from some of the original versions.

Ed: I noticed that the mix of "Kashmir" seemed quite a bit different than how I remembered hearing it.

Kevin: Well, I didn't use any of the original mixes as a template; I just started fresh. None of the of them have any relation to the old mixes.

Those tracks that were recorded in Morocco, in the square, those are edited pieces which were originally long jams which got edited together by Aubrey Powell; some of the edits have changed, making the music a little different.

So that was difficult; the technical aspect was complicated.

The mixing of it was thrilling: it's always an honor working with music of that caliber.

Ed: Were Jimmy and Robert very much involved in the mixing process?

Kevin: No. They were involved in the listening process; I think that Jimmy was very much behind me doing my thing for it. He trusted me from the Zeppelin stuff, and he'd come in and make comments every now and then, but definitely didn't babysit the whole program. When he felt a change was needed he certainly mention it.

For Robert, this was his pet project, more than the Zeppelin stuff last year was. So he was a big part of it, whereas we didn't see him at all, during the mixing of the Led Zeppelin DVD and the How The West Was Won CD.

No, they left me to my own devices; it was very encouraging.

Ed: With Unledded, you seemed to go for a much dramatic surround sound mix than last year's Led Zeppelin DVD.

Kevin: It's one of those things: [music mixed in 5.1 sound] is new territory for all of us: I'm growing into this thing; I'm discovering what I can and can't do, and how to make things expansive. I think that when you first get into 5.1, the expansiveness of the whole thing is maybe a little daunting. So you don't really let yourself go quite as crazy as you could.

With this one, I really tried to use 5.1 to make it a lot of fun. There's a lot of percussion coming from the back, and a lot of the orchestration coming from behind. It's not really following the stage layout quite as strictly as some people might, so now you find drums in the back, and trombones in the back.

Article Author: Ed Driscoll

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