Quadraphonic Sound (or Quadrasonic Sound)

          Quadraphonic sound was the first consumer surround sound product. Quadraphonic sound systems took a few different forms, but all delivered audio to four speakers that were to be placed in four corners with respect to the position of the listener. Audio programming for quadraphonic systems would have audio separated into four distinct channels: right-front, left-front, right-rear, and left-rear. Recorded material was available in the form of

Shaping Space and Time

          Friedrich Kittler states that the phonograph allowed for the storage of time (Kittler, 3). I would argue that Quadraphonic sound allows for the transformation of space in audio playback and to a lesser degree the recording process. Audio had long been recorded both live and in studio on multiple tracks via reel-to-reel tape. This is necessary for quadraphonic recording to be relevant. Often individual instruments and vocals were recorded in the case of pop and rock music. In the case of classical music the individual sections of an orchestra were recorded along with in many cases the sounds of the venue itself. That provides us with at least three distinctions. The live pop or rock act, the pop or rock act in the studio, and the live orchestra.

Ad for the Marantz 4400 quadraphonic receiver 

           Almost all quadraphonic receivers or decoders included some sort of visualization of the audio coming from each of the channels. Sometimes it was as simple as a VU meter which was not terribly uncommon on stereo equipment, but in many cases an oscilloscope or a simulated oscilloscope would be included. Oscilloscope units were even sold separately for the express purpose of use with quadraphonic sound systems. Separate units would also usually feature some sort of audio testing functionality. The oscilloscope gives a visual representation of the space that is being filled by the quadraphonic sound system. It functions in this sense as both a diagnostic or adjustment tool and a visualization.

          The actual experience of being at a live performance effectively amounts to listening to music played at you primarily from the front and the sounds of the audience and venue around the listener. In the case of classical performances that means primarily hearing the musicians in front of the listener generally with little to no amplification and the sounds of the music as it reverberates off of the walls of the venue. This is much the way that Charles Lincoln described what listening to a quadraphonic classical performance would be like. He describes the sound of the orchestra coming from the front speakers while the reverberating sounds of the venue would come at the listener from the rear speakers. Much like the unattainable experience J. Gordon Holt described of reproducing the “best seat in the house” (Holt, 97). Lincoln goes on to expand well beyond this to making the listener a participant in the reproduction of the music. Lincoln describes changing the individual volume settings on the quadraphonic sound system simulate sitting in different locations in the concert hall suggesting that with the turn of the knob the listener can be in the front row another turn and it is the back row. This approach is essentially a simulation of reality. This affordance, however, is equipment dependent. In a move that Lincoln and Holt would likely cringe at Walter Salm writing for popular mechanics suggests that one could save money by buying cheap small rear speakers since they are only reproducing the reverberations of the concert hall (Salm 137).

          The live performance of a rock or pop act has often been quite different. This would be increasingly true in the 1970s as arena performances rapidly became normal occurrences. As Holt wryly puts it,

A live, in- person rock performance differs from most other performances in that the audience is not expected to listen! It is expected to participate- loudly -and whatever it hears of the musicians is determined solely by the power and efficiency of the sound reinforcement system (“Ok! What is High Fidelity,” 76).

Holt is clearly dismissive, but there does seem to be some truth to the matter. Live recordings of rock concerts usually do not seek to reproduce the sounds of the concert hall beyond the time in between songs. This means a different situation for quadraphonic sound. This leads to putting the listener in the middle of the band. This does not make sense in reality as the instruments of a rock band are all amplified, so the sound one hears at a concert is not the sound coming directly from the band’s instruments. It is the sound coming from the amplified speakers which are generally facing the audience. If all of the speakers on stage were facing inward toward the musicians, it would not make for a very good listening or playing experience for the band or the audience.

Studio recordings of pop and rock music are not exactly recordings of a performance at all. A single song may be the result of many individual recording sessions combined together. The lead guitar might not just be one lead guitar. It may be several different guitars played by the same or even different musicians that are played over the course of a single track on an album. J. Gordon Holt argues that fidelity is not a relevant term in this case, because fidelity refers to accurate representation of reality (“Stereo Scene,” 97). Holt refers to this dismissively as art. It should probably come as no surprise that Holt was not convinced quadraphonic sound had much to offer (“Stereo Scene,” 98). Returning to Kittler, this adds another time aspect, the transformation of time. The kind of studio recording described above is a combination of many different times. It is essentially many performances but also no performance at all.

Pink Floyd

The cover for a quadraphonic release of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon

The Azimunth Coordinator

          Pink Floyd is generally the single band most associated with quadraphonic sound. Pink Floyd performed what is believed to be the first quadraphonic live performance in 1967, and their most famous album was reported by the sound engineer on the album, Alan Parsons, to have been recorded with quadraphonic sound in mind (Calore. Parsons, 50). Pink Floyd’s May 12, 1967 “Games of May” concert performance made use of a four channel surround sound system controlled by a custom joystick called the Azimuth Coordinator. The band’s keyboardist Richard Wright controlled the joystick on top of his organ. Using it he could control the volume of his organ and the volume of various tape tracks that the band had recorded earlier in each of the corners of the concert hall. Pink Floyd may be one of the bands most closely associated with quadraphonic sound simply because they were the first to use it in concert, but it may also be because what they produced went beyond music. Pink Floyd is usually associated with progressive or psychedelic rock. Part of what has given them that distinction is their use of soundscapes. Many of their songs are not what would be typically thought of as standard pop or rock songs. Their songs often feature a variety of recorded sounds such as clocks or cash registers along with segments of spoken word or yelling. Many of their songs also feature qualities that are generally avoided in music such as dissonance. This makes much of Pink Floyd’s work more of an experience than traditional music. In this sense quadraphonic sound becomes a natural fit as it would allow one to craft an environment of sound. This may also hint at why quadraphonic sound was more or less a commercial failure. Quadraphonic sound is best adapted to creating space. Stereo and even mono do a perfectly decent job of reproducing sound with high fidelity, and all of these formats face the acoustic limitations of the equipment used and the listening environment. This is, however, a time when home video is not a reality beyond Super 8 home movies and the like, so phonograph records, audio tapes, and a few rare FM broadcasts are the only sources for quadraphonic listening. Perhaps it is content without context that caused quadraphonic sound to falter with the general public. If the live performance is reality, then quadraphonic sound may be a way to create audio fiction. For these fictions to work they have to be constructed with meaning and context in mind. This is why a work filled with soundscapes and experimentation like that produced by Pink Floyd works. Other works may not necessarily be bad fiction, but they may not take advantage of the affordances of quadraphonic sound.

Calore, Michael. “May 12, 1967: Pink Floyd Astounds With ‘Sound in the Round’.” Wired .com.

Holt, J. Gordon. “Stereo Scene.” Popular Electronics. September 1970. 97-99.

---“ Ok! What is High Fidelity.” Popular Electronics. July 1971. 71-76, 93.

Kittler, Friedrich A. Gramophone, Film, Typewriter. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1986.

Lincoln, Charles. “Now It’s Four Channels.” Popular Electronics. January 1970. 67-70.

Parsons, Alan. “Four Sides of the Moon.” Studio Sound. June 1975. 50-52

Salm, Walter. “Now it’s 4-Channel Stereo.” Popular Mechanics. May 1970. 134-137.