Schoeps offers a different approach, with mountings for its small diameter capsule (SDC) microphones in various surround configurations and a microphone/software system, which the manufacturer calls Double Mid/Side, where a rear-facing cardioid is added to a standard mid-side pair, and the resulting three channels are trans-coded in software to provide a 5.0 surround output. Recording in surround is pretty easy these days, with all-in-one 5.1 and 7.1 microphones being offered by the likes of DPA, with the DPA 5100 surround microphone, affectionately known as The Bicycle Seat, and the various offerings from Holophone Microphone Systems.īoth these systems use discrete miniature electret microphone capsules in a special enclosure, with each microphone feeding a separate channel of a multitrack recorder. This type of routing for surround almost always works well, providing that a suitable distance can be maintained from loudspeaker to nearest audience member, and there is an increasing number of sound effects libraries recorded for use in surround systems, although almost all of these, once again, are aimed at the 5.1 systems used in film and television.

All the major audio programs can achieve this easily with surround panners and multichannel output possibilities although as these are usually aimed at film, television, or music mixers, be careful to check that the output designation is as you expect (see my rant at the end of this piece for more details). That said, I do love to use surround when it’s appropriate, and in many of my recent productions, it’s played a major part in my designs.Īs with my earliest work, pan-potting mono or stereo sound effects to sets of loudspeakers is the most straightforward way of adding effects to a surround system, either by direct routing in the playback system or by creating a multichannel file in your DAW or editor. Decisions are made with regard to the play, the venue, and, all too often, the budget, but if I don’t feel a soundtrack of mine warrants it, I don’t ask.

I use it to immerse an audience in sound where I think it’s appropriate and won’t distract from the action on stage, but I never place sounds in the surround speakers, just because I can.Īpart from anything else, I work in venues that vary from one to the other, from tiny spaces above bars or in basements to multilevel playhouses seating thousands, so there’s never a one-stop approach to the use of surround, even if the production has the funds to afford it, and the venue has the infrastructure to support it. I use surround in many ways to achieve different effects, to enhance atmosphere, to unnerve or frighten an audience, or to recreate a particular acoustic. The following is a continuation of a discussion from You're Surrounded, Part One.

Binaural sound in theatre