Tech Special: Gary Hilton

I was looking at new TVs at the weekend and a huge UHD thing was being presented to us, on the screen was the most wonderful colour and movement. I then looked at this long metallic slug which accompanied the TV, the super sound bar, and thought: are we really as up to speed with sound as we are with vision?

We create and reproduce for the wonder of our eyes but what of sound, dialogue, the dynamism of music and the impact it has on the narrative? We widely accept that music or sound can affect us more than visuals, so where is the technology; we have 4k and UHD TV, AR, VR, 360 vision, but can a super sound bar tick the aural box?

Sound design, the audio, music, the voice over, the foley, the SFX all sit in the same artistic area I want to address them through music. Music moves us, defines us, defines eras and personalities, fills the screen and sells products.  Aside from the obvious monetary contribution to both the economy and point of differentiation to all creative visuals, where is music or audio up to when we consider the technological developments in visuals?

The consistent point is quality audio content but we need to draw a parallel with the advances in visuals 1080 to 4k and UHD. Advances in home cinema and expensive headphones are improving the sound experience.  But how do we bridge the gap between soundfields encoded to 360 picture by proprietary gaming software to the wider TV and film market? How do we support the advances in virtual reality with commonality in audio software and hardware to avoid a Betamax/VHS power struggle?

The objective is to capture multiple sound sources and encode them to 360-degree picture. Ideally we need both the technology to record, mix and produce in 360 plus the delivery mechanisms. Many people will own current devices which will render these improvements negligible, but history has proven all advances forward do offer some trickle back: Revolver recorded fifty years ago on mono sounds fantastic through studio speakers today!

Music and audio in 360 degree, 3D, VR and AR is the future and how we get it is the current hot topic. The solution, whilst not yet fully formed, is that you will hear everything as it is and in the right place: a total surround sound experience. Before you start imagining the number of speakers which will need to make up a sphere around your head, stop and count the number of audio receivers you already have. Two. Your ears. We also have a super-charged computer called a brain. This combination, in simple terms, allows for multiple inputs to be identified, registered and recognised.

It is the latter we need to focus upon when considering audio reproduction devices, for it is the filtering process within our brain which undertakes countless processes to allow us to sense and feel the audio. Stop and listen to your environment. What you are hearing is a personal filtered version of everything that is around. The key point is everything that is of aural benefit to you comes courtesy of your brain.

We experience sound in six simple modes, - front and back, above and below, left and right - and  this that we should focus on for the production and delivery of 360 degree surround sound. What we need to do is agree on the platform, call it for now, and establish across the industry an easy to understand format built on the premise that great sound is a prerequisite for all moving image.

The future means making things better while acknowledging where we have come from. The success, as with all projects, comes from a clear brief and early engagement across the creative team. Keep it simple and do not over-complicate. Simply ask; what’s best for our two eyes and two ears?

As for the commercial landscape, might we encounter a recycling of back catalogues as we saw from vinyl to CD, film to video to DVD? I look forward to sitting and listening in awe to Revolver as I actually hear Ringo behind me, John in front, Paul to the left and George to my right.