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anyone used Holophony in theatre before?


Jambo_UK

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I'm looking to use Holophony Sound in a Lighting and Sound project next term and just wondered if anyone had used it before? and if so How they recorded it and presented it?

 

I'm planning to record the soundtrack and then provide the audience with headphones to wear in the performance and have lighting effects around them. I have had limited expereince with recording using Holophony technology. I have used a sphere microhone to do the basic recording then used a Cubasis to mix it down. Is there another approach I should try?

 

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

To help those who need to know what it is;

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holophony

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Jambo,

 

I tinkered with this type of recording about twenty years ago, after I heard a demonstration album by Hugo Zucarelli. (I still have it - PM me for more details if you want a listen). The sleeve notes spout all kinds of unlikely stuff about being able to perceive up, down and front to back when wearing the headphones and listening hard. I can't say I ever quite got that, although it was very lifelike recordings of bees buzzing round your head and so-on.

 

Much of the theories put forward were debunked at the time by industry professionals and most concluded it was just very well done binaural, probably recorded with a dummy head.

 

If this is not what you're meaning or seeking to do, forgive me - the meaning in Wikipedia sounds like something much more dramatic.

 

Pete.

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The main recorded example I remember at the time was Pink Floyd's The Final Cut. (a classic piece of mid-Thatcher music, all the more poignant after last week's Falklands commemorations, and rather undeservedly panned in my view)

 

It was touted as having a bunch of atmospheric holophonic sound effects. Was never convinced that they were genuine magic, but certainly were well recorded & effective. Must dig out & have another listen - can't believe it's almost 25 years old!

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Well the Wiki entry you refer to specifically says that it isn't related to binaural recording so I think you may be a little confused here. What you describe with a sphere and headphones sounds more like binaural to me. I've heard some fairly convincing demonstrations of 3 dimensional audio from a single pair of speakers but the listening sweet-spot is fairly small so it would be difficult to use this in a theatre environment unless you were just using a few seats in a large auditorium.

 

The believablity of a binaural recording seems to depend on the listener and how closely the binaural recording 'head' matches the listener's head. Some listeners cannot hear the 3D soundstage while others find it very convincing.

 

Cheers

 

James.

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