The history of surround sound can be traced back to Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ in 1940 in which multiple speakers would be placed around the theatre, with some select theatres having up to 54 speakers for one viewing.
It was not until 1977 that major leaps in surround sound technology were made with the release of ‘Star Wars’, which utilised the new Dolby Stereo technology which consisted of 4 channels: Centre, right, left and surround.
Surround sound as we know it would not come in to play until the 1990’s, however, with the release of 5.1 surround sound technology. This involved a left, right and centre channel in front of the audience and a left and right ‘surround’ speaker behind them, with an additional subwoofer for the low end.
This is similar to the later released 2010 technology 7.1 surround sound, which involves the same configuration with an extra surround speaker on the left and right side.
Dolby Atmos was released in 2012, which involves additional speakers above the audience to create a sense of vertical space. This technology is now increasingly being used for music due to its unique ability to deliver immersive, complex mixes that treat each element of the song as an ‘object’ in a 3D space.
I believe that if incorporated in to the production process this technology creates room for a lot of experimentation to create songs with immense depth, as well as unique psychedelic effects by utilising the space to its full potential.
Resources:
How Disney’s Fantasound Brought Surround Sound to Hollywood in 1940
Dolby Stereo and Surround Sound: The Evolution of Immersive Audio in the Film Industry
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