Surround sound



5:1
[FL] [CNT] [FR]
[] [LFE] []
[SL] [] [SR]



After an immense amount of time procrastinating, I'll finally add a written body to this webpage, which has been what you see above. In due time, with the afforded maneuverability by way of sonic area processors like the Roland RSS-10, I hope to execute on my desire to expand into 5:1 sound for music production. Why not just stereo? My relationship with stereo is screwy; I acknowledge that its sufficient for many venues of art and sonic materials; people have two ears, so having two distinct audio channels seems to be the extent to which sound can be taken. But it isn't.
Stereo is a cautious thing, as it can very much work against the application it is selected for without competent execution. In the world of guitar music, it is heralded as a mandatory step. "Two guitars tracked tightly will possess enough minute differences to not register as a mono image, but the human brain will still read it as one entity" is the philosophy behind it, but I'm not so sure anymore. When I listen to Mortician, and the two guitars are going in both ears, its evident that the stereophonic effect there is something appreciated by listeners, but if we're going to go as far as to make it a requirement productionwise for something which may be subjective, I don't know if I am onboard. I believe I've heard something in recent memory (perhaps a track from Godflesh's Us And Them record) which had a sonic architecture comprised of a loopified slab of grimy bass, one mono track, with distant high guitars occuring in the left channel with something else, perhaps a reverb trail on something, or a percussive element instead, in the right. And it didn't feel disruptive. I feel that the insistence to always dual track the guitars aborts the oportunities for sonic kineticism to take place; and I think I sold myself on the alternative production approach, which is treating everything as mono considerationally, and doubling over the "work channel" (left channel) through an effects processor, with a delay or reverb engaged. The Antalax demos which can be listened to on this website showcase this technique, though it has been downmixed to mono.

I think this was the catalyst for mentally recognizing audio channels as repositories for materials I didn't want to be relegated to unheard option tracks (scraps on the cutting room floor); I want a bodies' syncopations to be all-there, available to be picked up on and appreciated by a party discerning enough.