Unit 1
From the history of sound production

Text 1. Part 1. The Renaissance —
the 1940s

PRE-READING

1. Read the heading of the unit. Write down some words and phrases related to the subject.

2. Can you guess the meaning of these words?

Natural, mono, stereo, history, Renaissance, composer, compose, antiphonal, music, musician, cathedral, choir, organ, incorporate, sonic, effect, concert, hall, German, conductor, complex, orchestra, perform, foyer, audience, specialist, laboratory, telephone, experiment, multichannel, audio, format, system, idea, animated, film, soundtrack, concert, hall, record, technology, engineer, pioneer, reproduction, control, front, configuration, subwoofer, prototype, group, cinematic, commercial, stereophonic, dramatically, military, various, klaxon.

3. Tell the class what you already know on the topic.

4. a) Talk to your classmate. Give your own definition of that special period in the history of humankind called «the Renaissance».

b) Report your definitions back to the class. Discuss and compare your ideas.

c) Study some dictionary definitions of «the Renaissance». Do they differ from how you defined it?

5. You are going to read an article about the history of surround sound. Before you start reading, discuss the following points with the group.

1) What is surround sound? How does it work?

2) Can you name some examples of surround sound systems?

3 What kind of music did the Renaissance composers write?

4) What do you know about the European musicians Hector Berlioz and Richard Wagner?

5) How did Walt Disney and his engineers contribute to the surround sound appearance?

SUBJECT AND LANGUAGE STUDY

Reading

6. Skim the text to complete the following statements:

a) This text considers the…

b) It tells the readers how…

c) Each paragraph gives us information about…

It is more natural for the human ear to listen in surround than to hear sounds in mono or stereo. If we go back to the history as far as the 14—16^th centuries, we will see that the Renaissance composers who wrote antiphonal church music managed to fill vast cathedral spaces with the sound of the choir or organ incorporating side-to-side or front-to-rear sonic effects. In 1830, Hector Berlioz composed his Symphonie Fantastique whose score called for the horns to be placed at the back of the concert hall. The German composer and conductor Richard Wagner (1813—1883) created works so mighty and complex that they required large orchestras and the musicians to perform in the foyer, under the stage, and even among the people in the audience.

Throughout the 1930s specialists at Bell Laboratories (also called Bell Labs and formerly known as AT&T Bell Laboratories and Bell Telephone Laboratories) carried out experiments with different multichannel audio formats, including three-channel stereo or system 3.1 (left, center, right). In 1938, Walt Disney triggered off the idea of adding surround sound to his upcoming animated film, Fantasia. The soundtrack was recorded using a technology called Fantasound developed by Disney engineers. Fantasound was a pioneering sound reproduction system, which stored three channels of audio (3.1) and a control track on the film itself. The sound was playbacked through five channels: three front speakers and two rear ones. This speaker configuration, sans subwoofer, was the prototype of the 5.1 arrangement, which is in common use today. Besides – amazingly – the same group of engineers invented multitrack recording, panning, and overdubbing! Thus, Fantasia became the first commercial cinematic release shown in stereophonic sound.

Unfortunately, war preparations dramatically curtailed further advance of surround sound technologies in entertainment. However, multichannel audio was used by the military for identifying the source of the sound: independent speakers were dedicated to various alarm sounds (for example, klaxon, bell, horn) aboard warships and it helped sailors in an emergency instantly locate the entering sound.

Essential glossary

• antiphonal – одноголосый, монофонический

• to incorporate – соединять (ся), объединять (ся)

• sonic – звуковой

• score – муз. оркестровать

• horn – рожок, рог, горн, труба, духовой инструмент

• conductor – дирижёр

• surround sound system – система объёмного звучания

• store – сохранять, запоминать

• film – плёнка

• to playback – воспроизводить, считывать

• speaker – динамик, громкоговоритель, акустическая система, колонка

• subwoofer – низкочастотный динамик, отдельная низкочастотная колонка

• panning – панорамирование

• overdubbing – накладывание одной (магнитофонной) записи на другую

• entertainment – сфера развлечений

• alarm – тревога

• emergency – чрезвычайные обстоятельства

• to locate – определять местонахождение

7. Scan the reading passage. What are the answers to the questions in exercise 5?

8. Read the text quickly. Put the names and the events mentioned in the text in the chronological order.

Richard Wagner; military preparations; the Renaissance composers; Walt Disney’s Fantasia; Hector Berlioz and his Symphonie Fantastique, invention of multitrack recording, panning and overdubbing; Bell Laboratories.

9. Find the English equivalents for the following words and expressions in the passage.

Церковная музыка; заполнять огромные пространства храма звуком хора или органа; величественные и сложные; зрительный зал; в течение 30х; в прошлом известные как; провели эксперименты; инициировал идею; выходящий в прокат мультфильм; непосредственно на самой плёнке; три передних динамика и два задних; без низкочастотного динамика; который сегодня широко распространён; подготовка к войне; дальнейшее развитие технологий объёмного звучания; источник звука; различные сигналы тревоги; на борту военных судов; немедленно определить местонахождение.

10. Read the text in more detail and find the answers to the following questions.

1) What did the Renaissance composers try to do for listening church music in surround?

2) What was so special about Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique regarding surround sound?

3) How are Richard Wagner’s works described in the article?

4) What kind of experiment did the Bell Laboratories specialists do with different audio formats?

5) What technology did Disney engineers develop in order to record the soundtrack for the animated film Fantasia?

6) How did the military forces employ multichannel audio systems?

11. Match the people (1—7) with their achievements (a-g).

1) specialists at Bell Laboratories

2 Richard Wagner

3) the military

4) Walt Disney

5) the Renaissance composers

6) Hector Berlioz

7) Disney engineers

a) his music was performed by orchestras so big that the musicians had to play scattered around the concert hall: in the foyer, under the stage, and even in the audience;

b) the location of the sound was identified by the multichannel audio system;

c) they wrote music designed to achieve spatial effects in large cathedrals;

d) used his great idea in one of the upcoming animated films;

e) the score of his work required that the musicians playing the horns had to stand at the rear of the hall;

f) did experiments with various multichannel audio formats;

g) invented a new technology called Fantasound

12. All the terms in the left column below are mentioned in text 1. Match the terms with their definitions in the right column.

Grammar revision: regular and irregular verbs

Regular verbs

The past simple and past participle of regular verbs end in —ed.

Describe-described-described, include-included-included

Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow this rule. For some irregulars, all the three forms are the same.

Hit-hit-hit, let-let-let, put-put-put

For other irregular verbs, the past simple is the same as the past participle.

Tell-told-told, make-made-made, catch-caught-caught

With some other verbs, the three forms are different.

Write-wrote-written, do-did-done, show-showed-shown

There are some verbs that can be regular or irregular.

Burn-burned-burned or burn-burnt-burnt

Dream-dreamed-dreamed or dream-dreamt – dreamt

It is more usual to use the irregular forms in British English.

We use the past participle for making the perfect tenses and the passive forms.

The engineers have carried out numerous experiments with different audio formats recently. (present perfect)

The sound was playbacked through five channels: three front speakers and two rear ones. (past simple passive)

13. Some of these verbs are regular and some are irregular. Give their three forms. Work out the meaning of the words that you do not know from the context.

Example: hear-heard-heard

Go, see, be, write, manage, fill, incorporate, compose, call for, place, create, require, perform, know, carry out, trigger off, record, develop, store, playback, invent, become, show, curtail, use, dedicate, help, locate.

Use the verbs in your own sentences.

Vocabulary work

14. Look through the text and write a list of key words. Compare it with your classmate’s list. Make up new sentences with them.

TALKING AND DISCUSSING POINT

15. Think of a plan to the article. Make a summary of the article according to your plan.

16. Explain these words and expressions from the text.

To hear sounds in mono or stereo, vast cathedral spaces, conductor, audience, pioneering sound reproduction system, sans subwoofer, prototype, stereophonic sound, source of the sound, emergency, instantly.

17. What have you learnt from the text about the following?

– The Renaissance composers and their antiphonal church music

– Walt Disney’s Fantasound

– Bell Labs experiments

18. Speak on music. Comment on the statements.

– Music distracts us from daily routine.

– Can you imagine your day without music?

– A tuneful song barely heard out of the open window, a brass band playing somewhere at a distance, birds singing nicely in the garden… There is so much music around us that sometimes we do not even notice it.

WRITING

19. Write a composition on the topic (120—180 words).

So what is music?

20. Make a report, an electronic presentation or do a project on one of the following topics:

– The Renaissance music

– Hector Berlioz. His life and works

– Richard Wagner and his influence on music

– Bell Laboratories. Discoveries and developments

– Walt Disney’s Fantasia

CHECK POINT

21. Complete the following statements basing on the information in the first part of Unit 1. You do not need more than three words, symbols or numbers for each gap.

1) Renaissance composers wrote their antiphonal music with the sound of the choir or organ incorporating side-to-side or front-to-rear sonic effects to be played in…

2) Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique was performed with the horns placed at the back of the…

3) Richard Wagner’s works were so impressive and complicated that they needed large orchestras; the musicians stood in the foyer, under the stage, and even among the people in the…

4) In the 1930s, specialists at Bell Labs experimented with three-channel stereo or system…, as well as with other multichannel audio formats.

5) Fantasound was the first sound reproduction system, which stored three… (3.1) and a control track on the film itself.

6) The sound in Fantasound was playbacked through five channels: three front speakers and two…

7) This speaker configuration in Fantasound, sans subwoofer, became the prototype of the…

8) Besides, the same group of Disney engineers created multitrack recording, panning and…!

9) Further development of surround sound technologies in entertainment was curtailed by…

10) Multichannel audio was utilized by the… for identifying the source of the sound.