Holophonics

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Holophonics is a form of binaural sound recording using a dummy head arrangement which is best heard on headphones. It should not be confused with Holophony which is a system of sound recording over the surface of a sphere.

It rose to fame in 1983 with the release of a recording entitled "Zuccarelli Holophonics (The Matchbox Shaker)" released in the UK by CBS which consisted entirely of short recordings of sound effects designed to show off the system. These included the shaking matchbox, haircut & blower, bees, balloon, plastic bag, birds, airplanes, fireworks, thunder, racing cars. The system was designed and patented by Argentine Hugo Zuccarelli.

Zuccarelli, came up with a theory that claimed that our ear is a sound emitter, producing a reference sound that combines with incoming sound to form an interference pattern inside the ear. The nature of this pattern is sensitive to the direction of the incoming sound. Our ear's cochlea detects and analyzes this pattern as if it were an acoustic hologram. The brain then interprets this data and infers the direction of the sound. This was printed in New Scientist and was followed by two letters casting doubt on Zuccarelli's theory and his scientific abilities.

(Zuccarelli, Hugo; "Ears Hear by Making Sounds," New Scientist, 438-440 1983)

(Baxter, A.J., and Kemp, David T.; "Zuccarelli's Theory," New Scientist, 606-606 1983)

[edit] Recordings released using Holophonics

Pink Floyd, "The Final Cut" Harvest/E.M.I, 7243 8 31242 2 0 (1982).

Roger Waters, "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking", Harvest, CDP 7 46029 2 (1984).

Psychic TV, "Dreams Less Sweet".

[edit] Examples of Holophonic Sound

• From holophonic.ch: An example of holophony: you hear someone lighting two matches, first on your right and then your left. You then hear him/her shaking the box of matches all around your head. Listen with headphones. Notice that this demo is from Umberto "Umbi" Maggi, an Italian bass player and sound engineer that also claims to have invented holophony. It appears that Zuccarelli and Maggi have worked together in Italy in the '80s. Another excellent example from holophonic.ch is the sensual voice of a women whispering into you ears going from the left to right.