The sonic dimensions and acoustics of a space play an incredibly important role in how the listener immerses themselves and perceives the work in which they’re listening to. Throughout the past 70 years, the design of spatial sound has evolved massively, from the development of early stereo systems to fully immersive audio formats like binaural recording and Dolby Atmos, the listening experience becomes not only heard, but felt throughout the body. Due to these technological progressions, artists are now able to use space as a creative element, allowing this sense of movement through sonic environments that feel like a living, physical space.
The acknowledgement of spatial sound’s significance has been a crucial understanding for centuries, long before the focus of surround sound systems. Ancient Greek amphitheaters were designed with specific acoustic needs. These huge, stone, open-air structures used for performances were built within the natural landscape, particularly built into a hillside or slope. The reasoning behind this was both, so the seating could naturally rise, but also because they understood that it created excellent acoustics, sound from the stage traveled upwards to reach the thousands of people in the arena. The semi-circular shape of the amphitheater was also purposely built to help amplify the sound from the stage, the curved positioning of the seats acted as a reflector for the sound, therefore directing it to every part of the audience area.
In religious structures worldwide, the acoustics of a space have played a crucial role for the music being sung in them. For example, many European cathedrals focused on the importance of the reverberations when it came to Gregorian chants. And in a non western approach, many indigenous cultures focus on the placement and arrangement of people in the space to carefully orchestrate the music. The use of space has long been curated to immerse the listener and heighten emotional, spiritual, and connective experiences.
In the 1930’s Alan Blumlein, a British engineer developed stereophonic sound, a method of using two audio channels (left and right) to create a more three-dimensional, directional sound experience. Recordings, that, prior to this discover only had a mono option, could now create a sense of space and movement. Many music artists, like The Velvet Underground for example, began to use stereo sound to create entirely new works of music that play with space in a way that hadn’t been done before. By the 70’s and 80’s early surround sound systems began to appear in cinemas mainly, but also in high end home set ups. Dolby stereo, a multi-channel sound format, usually four-channel, which encodes sound information onto the optical soundtrack of 35mm film, was first introduced in 1975. Developed by Dolby Laboratories, it was crucial into how film soundtracks were recorded, encoded, and played back in cinemas, and made for an incredibly engaging watching experience. The first film to use a Dolby-encoded stereo optical soundtrack was Lisztomania (1975).
Binaural recordings use two microphones (sometimes placed on a dummy head) to mimic the human ears, capturing sound as we naturally do. Binaural recordings create a very realistic sound scape, especially when listening back with headphones, this is its the closest you can get to recording exactly what you’re hearing. Binaural recording’s popularity increased significantly in the late 1970s and early 1980s, however the first known binaural recordings date back to the 1880s. Clément Ader, a French engineer, transmitted opera audio through telephone lines using two microphones- one for each ear. As of today, with the invention of virtual reality and the popularity of gaming, binaural audio has come back into focus as these games depend on their sonic environment and atmosphere to help completely immerse the player.
In today’s day and age the use of multi track channels is habitual, with the listening experience becoming a full 360 degree environment. While newer formats of surround sound like 7. 1 or Dolby Atmos are available and offer a more immersive sound, 5.1 surround sound remains the standard and most commonly used format since the 90’s.
As well as the technical aspect to it, spatial sound has been used for creative purposes throughout its existence. One modern artist who often plays with the use of space throughout her work is Janet Cardiff, a Canadian artist known for her work within sound installations. One piece of hers that massively involves space is ‘The Forty Part Motet’ (2001). A sound installation that consists of 40 speakers placed in a circular shape, with each speaker facing inwards towards the audience. Based on the choral work, “Spem in alium” (1570) by renaissance composer Thomas Tallis. The composition was written for 40 separate vocal parts, divided into 8 choirs of 5 voices each, and so Janet set up 40 speakers, separated into 8 sections of 5, each projecting a different singers part.
Visitors are free to walk among the ‘singers’ (speakers) and get as close and personal as they would like, which they of course could never do in a real performance. The emotion of the piece creates an intensely personal and spatialised experience for each listener, as each part of the choir, each singer is directed into its own distinguishable beauty. Depending on where you stand, your interpretation of the piece will differ entirely.
As a whole, the spatialisation of is used to create an environment in which an audience can completely submerge themself in, creating a kind of route into the sound’s surroundings. Whether used throughout cinema, or in music or in an installation, the manipulation of spatial sound generates an entirely unique experience that no other kind of media does.
Additionally, here is a short extract from a practice in Milo’s lecture where I was experimenting using space within binaural recording. Specifically using the plug in; dearVR MICRO to move around with elevation and direction. This is a plug in I haven’t used previously, and in fact, playing with elevation was an entirely new experience for me, and although subtle, made a big difference the way the sound is perceived.
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