HISTORY OF STEREOPHONIC REPRODUCTION – week three
Stereophonic sound is a method of sound reproduction through two or more audio channels that are sounded through two or more speakers in a way that creates the impression that there are sounds that are multidirectional, coming from different directions as natural hearing. This contrasts to monophonic sound that is only through one audio channel. Stereophonic sound, more commonly known as stereo, dates back to 1881 in Paris by Clément Ader who showcased the first two channel audio system with telephone transmitters. Modern stereophonic technology was invented by Alan Blumlein in the 1930s after being in a cinema and realising that the sound from a single speaker didn’t match up with the actors and actions that were happening on screen. He was able to notice this since he had earlier worked on measuring amplitude and frequency responses of human ears, where he even invented a number of advances in telephone equipment, therefore having advanced understanding of sound. Blumlein after being frustrated in the cinema, constructed different ideas that would ‘fix’ this unmatched sound of the actors to create an affect that would be later known as stereo.
He discovered this through recording techniques of microphones that where omnidirectional and bidirectional, which depended on where the microphones would be placed when recording. One of these techniques includes the Blumlein pair, where two microphones of figure 8 are placed on top of one another, crossed at 90 degrees.
The use of stereo gradually expanded through the 1900s, with the first stereo discs being cut in 1933, which encouraged more to produce in stereo, which then lead to stereo tapes being recorded, in 1958, the BBC began stereo broadcasts on Saturday mornings and radio stations were in stereo. This has developed into what we know as stereo today, though not many people are aware of the difference between mono and stereo since everything is now media saturated with everyone having some sort of electronic gadget and headphones.
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Schoenherr, S.E. (1999). Stereophonic Sound. [online] www.aes-media.org. Available at: [https://www.aes-media.org/historical/html/recording.technology.history/stereo.html.]
Trenholm, R. (2015). The fascinating story of the man who invented stereo (and pioneered TV and radar too). [online] CNET. Available at: [https://www.cnet.com/science/meet-alan-blumlein-the-man-who-invented-stereo/.]