Composing Orion’s Belt – Spatial Composition in Dolby Atmos

Step inside the immersive world of “Orion’s Belt”—a piece that lives at the crossroads of Afro-Cuban rhythm, jazz composition, and Dolby Atmos spatial audio. In this episode of Behind Immersed, I unpack how years of studying Afro-Cuban music, playing percussion alongside master musicians in Toronto, and living inside that rhythmic environment shaped the core groove and bassline of the track. From there, I trace how an improvised synth melody evolved into a fully orchestrated work for trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax, trombones, and bass trombones, all placed deliberately around the listener to create a truly cinematic soundfield.

At the heart of this piece is a long-form solo section crafted specifically for my mentor and dear friend Ingrid Jensen—one of the fiercest trumpet improvisers on the planet—alongside pianist Noam Lemish, whose melodic touch and deep sense of rhythm glide over the groove. I dive into how we captured Ingrid’s sound in an immersive context using a Monet trumpet, ribbon mics, classic condensers, and room mics to preserve not just her tone, but her relationship to space. I also break down the creative problem-solving behind the layered percussion intro: tracking parts one by one around the array (including me on a ladder, shakers in hand) to simulate a full percussion section surrounding the listener. Throughout, I explore how composition, improvisation, recording, and production constantly inform one another, and how all of that comes together to make Orion’s Belt a rich, jazz-oriented, rhythmically driven, and deeply immersive listening experience.