How is THIS done?

[fritzmusic]

This is a technique I stumbled across called holophonic recording.

Here is a test file. On headphone, at first, you hear a couple of matches are lit on both sides (simple pan or binaural micing) then a shaking of a match box. Listen to the whole thing, then, you can literally hear them being shaken above your head and then going behind you down your back to the floor. Creepy! Anyone have any clue how this is done? I tried checking out the website but it's in another language.

http://www.holophonic.ch/archivio/te...Holophonic.mp3

[fweyd]

heard it before..

my guess is 2 Omni Directional mics with a "head" in the middle and he's just circling it.

[PlnsMstkn4Jacob]

I've heard of this before, but never really fully understood how it works. I think what they do is they take like a styrofoam manican(sp?) head and they drill holes at ear level and then stick little (I'm assuming) condenser mics inside the head facing outward then they record the sound going around the head and closer to the floor and above the head, and the distance that the sound is from our ears or the microphone in this case changes the way we perceive the frequencies and so our natural perception of how we hear sounds kicks in. If you we're blindfolded sitting in a chair and someone was walking around you shaking a box of matches you would know exactly where they were without actually seeing them.

That makes sense to me, hope I explained it well, this could be totally wrong but it seems logical if you think about it.

It really is a cool thing though, it gave me goosebumps listening to it just now because you feel like someone is in the room with you.

[$a1Ty]

i would love to record drums this way

[andyhix]

I've heard of this too. It's based on the fact that as sound comes into our ears from different angles, the various folds, ridges, etc. in our ears alter the EQ and other characteristics of the sound in different ways, thus allowing us to pinpoint the source of the sound, even blindfolded. This recording technique does use a fake head with fake ears to record a sound and reproduce the same sorta effect. Pretty cool. I've read about this, but this is the first sound example I've heard. Pretty convincing.

[Zetajazz44]

I've been trying to find info about this on the net for sometime now... There is 'some' info out there, but just not much... Apparently there was a plugin created at one time called "DSP Holophonics" but I've not been able to find much more info on it other than it's name...

There is another MP3 on the net somewhere, where they recorded the sound of scissors cutting around the dummy head with mics and with headphones on, it sounds like you are getting a haircut! Another where they poured steel ball-bearings on the dummy head and it sounds like they poured them on your head... pretty neat stuff... I'd like to learn more about how this is done as well... I wander if it works on the same principles as the Jecklin Discs?

[gordone]

I think you need one of thse - Dummy Head Microphone

I think it costs around $5K

[Robert D]

That is freaky cool. Seen the head before, but never heard the result.

[RezN8]

Drummer Nick Mason discusses this in his book "Inside Out" -- Pink Floyd used it extensively on "The Final Cut". The technique was developed in the early 1980s by Hugo Zuccarelli.

I tried to research it on the Internet, but as you said there isn't much info out there.

About the closest I came to uncovering the "secret" is that it is related to delaying certain frequencies in the stereo spectrum.

I started experimenting with this idea for a week or so, delaying the mids a few micro seconds from the bass and the highs, etc -- in relation to each other and between the left and right channels. Ran into some crazy phasing issues.

Very cool stuff, but I was WAY out of my league. Maybe someday I'll get back into it.

Cheers, Rez

[bennychico11]

Holophonic sound is similar to binaural...but they are not recorded the same.
Binaural uses a mock human head that captures sound bouncing off our ear lobes, off our head, the delay from one ear to the other, etc.

Holophonic is developed by a guy named Hugo Zuccarelli. It's based on the same principle as projected holograms (you remember those little devices where you could place a paper clip in them and they would project the paperclip on the outside of the device?). Much like how holograms use a reference beam he believes the ear and brain uses it's own reference beam.
External sounds are recorded with synthesized reference sounds and the brain/ear provides the second reference beam when listening back to it...effectively decoding the original signal and reproducing all the original ambient conditions.
Some people have found that other senses kick in when listening to holophonic sound...for example, smelling sulphur when the match is lit. Or in another example floating around the net, the warm breath of a woman whispering in your ear.

Holophonic sound acts three dimensional by creating phase interference patterns. Hearing impaired people also report actually hearing when playing back these recordings....as well, blind people report visual imagery.

The problem is holophonic sound, like binaural, loses most spatial reproduction when played through normal speakers. Although, Zuccarelli designed some sort of special speaker system that allows everyone in a crowd to hear the same holophonic recording.
I also don't think it's really known what kind of "reference beam" the ear puts off. Some say it may be very very high, inaudible frequencies...others think it may be pink noise or something similar.

Sound Ideas makes some SFX CDs using this process that you can purchase.
Here's the woman whispering in your ear...even creepier than the matches, IMO when listening with headphones:
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=2787

[Spelling Bee]

Is there any way to reproduce similar effects without giving Neumann my first born?

[Valley Arts Kid]

I think Waters continued to use that technique on "The Pros & Cons of Hitchhiking."

[RAMI]

Can we be sure the match box didn't stay put while the dummmy moved it's head back and forth and up and down?

[Creamyapples1]

I've actually heard stories similar to what RAMI is saying. I cannot vouche for how accurate the information is, and I can't give a specific, but a friend of mine was telling me (years ago) that a few bands in the 60s and 70s would place a mic on a stand in the middle of a room and either spin the stand while singing/playing or walk around the mic (barefoot) while singing/playing. Anyway you slice it though, it all sounds pretty cool.

[olfunk]

that woman clip gave me a satisfying feeling deep in my loins.

[bennychico11]

Originally Posted by RAMI

Can we be sure the match box didn't stay put while the dummmy moved it's head back and forth and up and down?

it's not a dummy head though. This is not binaural...it's different.
plus, there are foot steps and a person breathing as he walks around. I guess you just have to trust the person who recorded it in that he recorded like he said he did.

[RAMI]

Yeah, I have no idea what I'm talking about...Just thought I'd throw that out there. You're right about the footsteps, etc.

[Robert D]

Originally Posted by olfunk

that woman clip gave me a satisfying feeling deep in my loins.

holographic/holophonic porn..... it boggles the mind. What was that movie with the headset, where the guy fries his mind with a virtual porn loop? I think Natalie Wood was in it (not the loop).

[MadAudio]

Originally Posted by Robert D

holographic/holophonic porn..... it boggles the mind. What was that movie with the headset, where the guy fries his mind with a virtual porn loop? I think Natalie Wood was in it (not the loop).

Brainstorm, and it was Wood's last movie before she died.

[grn]

the thing is, you can never really get how it sounds when something is in front of you because of the way your face absorbs the sound and the way your ears/brain processes that. the matchbook examples wasn't really that great. it seemed just left and right to me and sort of 'behind' me, that's about it. far away only because of the room sound.

with the woman it kind of felt like she was walking behind me, but not really.

[bennychico11]

Originally Posted by grn

the thing is, you can never really get how it sounds when something is in front of you because of the way your face absorbs the sound and the way your ears/brain processes that. the matchbook examples wasn't really that great. it seemed just left and right to me and sort of 'behind' me, that's about it. far away only because of the room sound.

with the woman it kind of felt like she was walking behind me, but not really.

did you listen with headphones though? that's the key
i don't know, I can totally hear it when I listen.

[notCardio]

Chris Walken before he became addicted to cowbell.

That's always been how I wanted to die.

[Kasey]

holy crap... that was one of the creepiest audio experiences ive ever had...weird as hell.. i want it.

i dont remember who said it, but i second them - how can we do this without spending 5k?

[grn]

yeah I listened with headphones, it really wasn't all that great. it was just left fading to right and room ambience as far as I am concerned.

[bennychico11]

Originally Posted by grn

yeah I listened with headphones, it really wasn't all that great. it was just left fading to right and room ambience as far as I am concerned.

then your ears are broken

i challenge you to try and replicate it then. if it's just a simple panning/fading and room ambience, then it shouldn't be too hard for you to recreate up/down/side/around movements