The labyrinthine corridors and stairs of London's Abbey Road Studios are dotted with photographs of many of the music legends that have passed through its more than 90-year history, but the most abundant are those of The Beatles. There are several album covers signed by George, Paul, John and Ringo. From a pedestrian crossing in front of the studio entrance, the four from Liverpool gave a legendary patina to these facilities, which have seen the birth of many of our musical and film memories, from Pink Floyd to Star Wars, from Oasis to The Avengers. : end me . It is history, but also the future, because technology is creating a new way of feeling music. The key is to make it three-dimensional.
Although the first stereophonic broadcast was documented in 1881, it did not reach the cinema until 1940, with the Walt Disney film Fantasia, closely linked to technology, because in order to calibrate its sound in the first movie theaters that were going to broadcast it, the entertainment bought a number of audio oscillators that two young engineers, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, had started manufacturing in a ramshackle garage in Palo Alto, California, founders of Hewlett Packard (HP). The place is today considered a "historic monument" as the birthplace of Silicon Valley.
The implementation of stereophonic sound would become popular between the 50s and 60s of the 20th century, although groups like The Beatles were in favor of recording some of their albums in mono –today almost everything that exists is stereo due to the CD editions of the 90s– . Stereo sound has continued to be applied for decades. It places the viewer at a point in the center of the sound reproduction. It is an immersive experience, because a channel is felt in any position between its left and right sides, although always horizontal.
Later, immersive sound systems (surround), introduced the ability to surround the viewer with different sound sources with several speakers distributed in a room and next to another speaker for bass. In 2012, it was once again a Disney (Pixar) movie, Brave, which debuted a new Dolby immersive sound system called Atmos, capable of distributing sound sources throughout the room. Today, more than a decade later, there are hundreds of movies that use it.
In 2017, Abbey Road Studios built a Dolby Atmos and IMAX audio mixing stage for cinematic sound post-production with movies like Tim Burton's live-action Dumbo, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Downton Abbey. Last year, the London studios produced the sound of Tá r , in which Cate Blanchett plays a conductor. There is no better way to feel in the middle of one.
Spatial sound also reached telephones a few years ago, first at the high end, and headphones. Today, much of the music that is created and also much of what already existed is adapted to this technique, which considers each sound source as an object that can be placed in a three-dimensional matrix so that the viewer feels it that way during playback. .
Among the streaming music platforms, Apple Music launched its Spatial Audio system in 2020. It is Dolby Atmos with a layer of technology added by the apple company that anchors the point of view of reproduction and the sound is not only enveloping, but it is fixed in such a way that, when the user turns his head, the sound source remains, virtually, in the same place.
Playback can be done through a multi-speaker system, which increases the quality of the effect, but also with just a pair of speakers or with headphones. If these support Spatial Audio, the feeling that the sound is somewhere around the viewer is real.
The three-dimensional distribution changes the way sound is perceived. Many songs from the Apple Music library are already recorded with this system, while others are being converted to Spatial Audio, although they are labeled as Dolby Atmos in the playback app. Some of the best experiences are with titles that have always been heard in stereo and are now distributing their channels in three dimensions.
In addition to Apple Music, the Tidal and Amazon Music platforms use the Sony 360 Reality Audio standard. It's a different codec from Dolby, with the same kind of effect. You need an app and compatible headphones or speakers. The same goes for another standard for spatially distributed sound called DTS:X.
Three-dimensional sound is within the reach of any musician. You only need a computer and software to place each sound source at a point in space. Podcats and audiobooks are also beginning to use this technology, because it not only provides great sound quality, but also becomes a narrative element that enriches the recording.
The Audible audiobook platform is producing several of its recordings with this system. Filmmaker Sam Mendes has directed one on Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens, and opines that he “had never heard such a cinematic audio production before. It is cinema for the ears”.
Netflix is preparing a documentary series about the world of Formula 1 that will have Dolby Atmos sound. It is very spectacular. It is not the same to hear a car go from one point to another horizontally, through the stereo, than to perceive it as in the circuit, and even to feel a car fly during an accident. In football, the Bundesliga and the Premier are already broadcast with Dolby Atmos sound through the Sky channel. It is the closest thing to being in a stadium from your living room, using a system that distributes 62 microphones throughout the stands and the pitch.
The technological deployment pursues the objective of moving the viewer by imitating the way of hearing in the real world.
