Surround Sound

What is Surround Sound? Surround sound exists mainly to create an immersive experience through multiple channels instead of your normal stereo or mono mixes. Mono only has one centre channel and stereo only has 2 channels, a left and a right. Surround sound is mostly available through 5.1, 7.1 and 9.1 but today I will only be discussing 5.1 mixing. Here is each channel that is include within 5.1 mixing: - Left - Centre - Right - LFE/Low frequency Effects (Subwoofer the .1) - Left Surround - Right Surround This is what 5.1 mixing includes, 5 speakers which surround the listener to create an immersive sound image.

It's also important to know how to calibrate a room if you are wanting to mix in 5.1

Room calibration is extremely important if you do plan to mix in 5.1. This is to ensure that there is no phasing issues when dealing with 5 speakers. Why mix in 5.1? The main benefit from mixing in 5.1 or any format in surround sound is to create immersion, hence why surround sound is utilised in most theatres today. Working with 5 speakers you can direct sound and place them in specific spots around the room but when mixing within 5.1 or any surround sound format, it is common for dialogue to placed within the centre speaker and also both the Left Surround speaker and the Right Surround speaker are made sure to be at a lower volume level compared to the speakers at the front of the room. The reason for is, its to ensure that anyone sitting towards the back of the theatre are not distracted by the speakers place behind the listeners. Since its mostly used in film its important to keep the viewer's attention on screen and make sure that sounds that are beside or behind them are not loud enough to distract the viewer away from the film. When mixing in 5.1 it's important to note that there are standards put forward by different companies such as; Dolby Digital & THX. Dolby digital is the most common standard to follow at the moment, these standards are put in place to ensure that film and audio companies follow their specifications to ensure the mix of the film works within their theatres.