Stop Beating the "Immersive Audio" Horse

The latest buzzwords being thrashed about from pro audio marketing and media are “immersive” or “spacial” replacing more legacy terms like “surround”. While the tech has been updated and streamlined it’s hardly a new application. The boxes that facilitate the designs these days are shinier, better sounding and easier to use than the tech of the last couple of decades. Unfortunately that’s where the manufacturers and trade press are focused. Too much on gear. Not enough on results. I’m not against these designs in fact for the better part of the last 20 years I’ve been doing them. Time for the hype train to pull into the station.

The see where we are let’s look at where we’ve been. One could make an argument that stereo was the first spacial format. For sure quad would be. More or less modern multi channel has been around for the better part of 30 years. In the 90s we saw Dolby 5.1 in theaters. A few years later it showed up in what was at the time the growing home theater market. On the live performance side Spacemap came to be. It was then that moving audio and automated localized sound started making inroads in live entertainment both themed and performance.

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It seems as though the history of such systems isn’t a concern of some of the modern marketers. Now that the technology is being deployed across popular music genres some seem to think this is somehow new and spectacular. In reality it’s just the next evolution. And I’m glad it’s here. But that doesn’t stop some from implying it didn’t exist prior to whatever manufacturer or top pop star has started using it.

The economics of being a music artist have changed greatly over the last 25 years or so. The quest for “free” music left many artists out in the cold in terms of making a living. Gone are fat advances, mechanicals and tour support replaced by pauper like streaming royalties. Even publishing isn’t what it once was. While it’s given some new artists a better way to market themselves (particularly new artists) and build audiences once an act crests that unless they’re Bey or Taylor it’s tough to make a living. The model has turned to touring and merch. Touring, once a loss leader is now the bread and butter.

Even with a strong touring base it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. Production expectations have driven tour budgets sky high. You need video, big lighting and even some automation. That needs designers as well. On a typical concert tour there wasn’t much of a sound design. You mixed the way the artist was recorded or wanted the mix to be. With multi zone systems there is an additional creative step needed. Aside from cost, cost of the designer (if you have one), cost of the truck space, cost of the fuel for the truck, rental of the gear and the hands to put it in and up and out, there is the artistic aspect. Gear is great but what are you going to do with it? Will it add artistic value to the production? The cost isn’t trivial so it’s got to add to the bottom line on the tour.

Is your audio world solid enough to benefit from an advanced design or is it just a shit show to get the vocals on top? Is the art reflected well in the design? Does it detract from the experience? One of the first touring artist residency rooms in town to use these designs had an issue early on where patrons learned to stand on seats to unplug some of the rear and side enclosures because they were distracting. Nothing like an out of context guitar solo screaming across the ceiling to interrupt the vibe of the moment. During the song that made your senior year in high school. A good design is more than panning some things or sending stems to another part of the room.

Design is where it all starts. Not how many speakers here or there or which box is used to position the sound in the space. It can be equal parts how does the design fit the art as well as the acoustic space. It’s not something you can pull out of your ass day of or night before the show. Themed entertainment and theater have not only a head start but also a different artistic canvas on which to paint. That allows them freedoms not found in a pop music concert. That’s what artistically is going to make the show. Does this piece of music, or even this artist, lend themselves to this kind of design? That’s the test. No amount of dog and pony shows or manufacturer training is going to help that.

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