Ryan Ulyate
Producer / Engineer
photo by Aya Muto
February 2023
Welcome to my (sporadically updated) website.
I've been recording, mixing and producing music professionally, ever since I got my foot in the door of a “real” 24 track studio 1978. I’ve worked on more albums than I can remember! (Luckily we have Discogs and All Music to keep track of it all)
In 2004 I started a long working relationship withTom Petty.
Working with Tom was It was an experience that I will be forever grateful for. He was my friend -a very talented and very cool guy. His music is timeless. His voice is one that will be heard for many years to come.
In November 2022 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at theFillmore, 1997 was released.
The deluxe version has over 4 hours of music picked form the last 6 shows of their 20 show run at the Fillmore in January and February of 1997. I mixed this in Stereo and Dolby Atmos. Here’s an interview by Chris Wilman for Variety, and another by Jeff Slate for Rock Cellar.
In October 2022 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Greatest Hits was released in Dolby Atmos.
I had a great time going back to the original multitracks to find all the right takes, match the stereo mix, make stems, and then go into Atmos mixing. Making sure you have everything that is on the original record accounted for before you start mixing in Atmos is very important. Here’s an interview with Mike Mettler for Sound and Vision, and another one with Jonathan Cornell for Immersive Audio Album
On March 14, 2022 I was interviewed by Matt Boudreau for the Working Class Podcast (#378).
I really enjoyed my conversation with Matt, which was more about the story of my career than I expected! Matt tends to focus more on the personal stories than the gear. His podcast is a great resource for those “in the biz” and those aspiring to get more involved.
2018 I did a Qobuz Video Interview about Tom Petty and Hi Res Audio .
A friend just sent me a link to this video I did in 2018 for the Hi-Res streaming service Qubuz. I’m on my usual soapbox about Hi Res. It was just after we lost Tom Petty, and I talk about what is like to work with his music after he’s gone.
In July 2021, Angel Dream (Songs And Music From The Motion Picture She’s The One) was released.
I’m really happy with the way it came out! Here’s Chris Willman’s story in Variety where Mike Campbell and I describe the process of “reimagining” this album. Also check out Patrick Flanary’s story for Inside Hook.
In May 2021, Mick Fleetwood & Friends Celebrate the Music of Peter Green was released.
It was an honor and a pleasure to work with Mick Fleetwood and producer Glyn Johns in mixing this “all star” concert, celebrating the music of Fleetwood Mac founder, Peter Green. it was so gratifying to work with so many of my musical heros on this one. One of my favorite projects ever!
In October 2020, “Wildflowers & All The Rest” was released.
This “deep dive” into one of Tom’s great albums was such a rewarding project. 245 reels of 2” tape were gone though, as well as numerous 8 track demos and live shows. The result is 5 CDs of material (or 9 LPs on the vinyl edition). Tom’s family, bandmates and I are so happy that this great music will be released to the fans on October 16th. Here’s a video of Tom set to his demo of “Wildflowers”. He told me that he wrote the song on that take! The album re-entered the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart at #1, 26 years after it was first released!
Also, here’s an interview I did for Variety, as well as another interview for Tower Records
There is also a Dolby Atmos mix that I did for 25 tracks from the box set. I’ve always been a big fan of Immersive Audio, and Atmos really puts the listener “in the music”. it is an ACTIVE experience, and I love it!
Dolby, Avid, ATC, Amazon and Izotope really helped me a lot to get my studio up and running as an Atmos mix room, and I am very thankful for their support. Here is an interview I gave to Sound & Vision about mixing Wildflowers in Atmos. If you have the time, check out the Recording Magazine podcast where I also speak with editor Paul Vnuk about mixing Wildflowers in Dolby Atmos. My bit starts at 26:18.
I don’t usually highlight reviews, but I am pretty proud of the fact that Variety named Wildflowers & All The Rest the Best Music Boxed Set of 2020. (And the competition wasn’t too shabby either ;-)
On August 27th 2020, my first radio show aired on Sirius XM’s Tom Petty Radio.
“Behind The Glass with Ryan Ulyate” featured some great jams, covers and funny moments that I found when going through the tapes recorded during the Wildflowers sessions. Most of these tracks are still in rotation onTomPetty Radio. One of them, “Them JuJu Beads” is now a fan favorite ;-) I did a second show around the time Angel Dream came out in July 2021. I might do another one, but it has to be good…
There is a link to the one hour unedited audio of the interview at the bottom of the article that gives you a sense of who Tom was and what motivated his art. There was so much more he wanted to do! Also, check out this article in Rolling Stone where Tom is remembered by Chase Simpson and Josh Jové of the Shelters. (The picture in the article was taken on the day The Shelters were signed to Warner Brothers Records)
In October 2019 I recorded and produced a very special song performed by one of Tom’s heroes, his former tour-mate and his proteges.
Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen and The Shelters performed the Byrds’ “Feel A Whole Lot Better” (the same song Tom covered on the “Full Moon Fever” album). It’s currently only available as an “exclusive” on Tom Petty Radio on Sirius XM. I really love how it turned out!
I In June 2019 was on Sirius XM ‘s Tom Petty Radio
I was talking about the 2009 album “Mojo”. I did one minute intros for each track on the album with memories of what it was like to be in the room with Tom and the Heartbreakers. It was a such a fun project for us all!
Tom Petty
If you want to get a sense of the guy I knew and loved, check out his interview he gave to Randy Lewis for the Los Angeles Times on September 27th 2017. Here’s a quote from Tom about how he felt about music and his band. "The thing about the Heartbreakers is, it's still holy to me," he said with no air of loftiness or pretense. "There's a holiness there. ... And to us, in the era we came up in, it was a religion in a way. It was more than commerce, it wasn't about that. It was about something much greater. "It was about moving people, and changing the world, and I really believed in rock 'n' roll — I still do," he said. "I believed in it in its purest sense, its purest form. ... It's unique to have a band that knows each other that long and that well.”
Hi-Res!
One of the things Tom and I were passionate about is Hi-Res audio. Hi-Res gives people the opportunity to hear exactly what we heard in the control room when we were making and mixing the music. Jim Belcher from Universal produced several 1-minute video interviews for the Stream The Studio website. I’m so fortunate to be included with some of my favorite producer/engineers on this!
SIGGRAPH 2018
Judith Crow, David Bianciardi, Greg Hermanovic and I had a great panel discussion at the SIGGRAPH 2018 conference in Vancouver last August. We discussed the Siggraph 98 Interactive Dance Club that we put together 20 years ago (a once-in-a lifetime event... well, at least in my lifetime!). For more info check out my S98 IDC page.