THE DEVELLOPMENT OF PHASE 4 STEREO

Since the introduction of the revolutionary stereo record in 1958, the art of recording has undergone a rapid evolutionary process.

P H A S E 1 S T E R E O

"Concert Hall Realism." In this phase (1958 to 1961), stereo recordings attempted to recreate a true stage presence. The instruments of the orchestra were placed "soundwise" in their normal positions, with the result that for the home listener the "live" and directional sounds of these instruments were recreated, so to speak, as if they originated from an imaginary soundstage spread between the listener's two loudspeakers. The record buyer no longer needed to be content with listening to his favorite artists in the restricted medium of "compressed" monophonie sound; the directional sound of stereo was now available to bring the artist into the listener's home. It was a question of balance, iriner définition, greater spread and added breadth which combined to give a superior quality to the sound and,added realism. This type of stereo recording reflected the "purist" approach and applied most generally to stereo recordings in the field of classical music. When London Records introduced its first stereo record in 1958, it had years of préparation and refinement behind it. The result was that London's "ffss" (full frequency stereophonic sound) offered the most advanced and finest définition of "concert hall" sound ever heard on records: ffss became the symbol for the finest in high fidelity stereophonic recording.

P H A S E 2 S T E R E O

"Separation of Sound." In this phase (1959 to 1961), stereo recordings proved that an orchestra could be "split in half"; that voices could be "full left" while the orchestra was "full right"j that a ping-pong bal] could be heard hitting the table on the left and then on the right, and that sounds could be reproduced "Jeft-right" without any center "leakage." As with all new technological advances, it was only a matter of time before the technology became of great interest in itseif, and techniciens became aware of the varied technical possibilities inherent in this type of reproduction. Sounds emanating from two loudspeakers lent themselves to a seemingly endless variety of juxtaposition, séparation, and other strictly mechanical processes, and a fascinating display of unusual sound pyrotechnies it was that followed . . . bongos jumped from left to right speakers while saxophones and trumpets answered back and forth between speakers: it was the technical "gimmick" that was in commande the technique was the end-in-itself.

P H A S E 3 S T E R E O

"Moving Sounds." In this phase (1961), it was demonstrated that the sounds of a whole section of an orchestra or a single instrument could be moved (in varying degrees of velocity) and followed by the listener's ears as the sounds passed through the space from left to right speakers and back again electronically . . . without the orchestra players ever actually leaving their seats. Again, the technicien had a field day with this type of stereo recording device, and in rhany recordings the music became subservient to the overwhelming "gimmick" of moving sounds. However, in another application, as in certain opera, drama and musical comedy recordings, the voices of the protagoniste could be followed moving before one's ears as in a true-to-life stage présentation

P H A S E 4 S T E R E O

"New Scoring Concepts Incorporating True Musical Use of Separation and Movement." In this phase (1962), arrangers and orchestrators re-score the music to place the instruments where they are musically most desired at any particular moment and make use of direction and movement to punctuate the musicality of sounds. The effect is more sound-more interest-more entertainment-more participation-more listening pleasure: PHASE 4 stereo is not "background" music. PHASE 4 stereo recording (and this term is used in its broadest sense here to include the arra'ngements-the musicians-and the engineers) al lows you to enjoy the musical activity. Recording in this fashion (see more detailed descriptions on the opposite page) is made possible technically as a result of London's new 4 Track Master recording system. Now, for the first time, the musicaj arranger is given a whole new technical capacity with which to work, and with which to create new musical entertainment and enjoyment.
To take advantage of this new musical framework afforded him, the musical arranger (who up until now was accustomed only to writing musical figures in the conventional way on ordinary two dimensional manuscript paper) now has to envision the sounds he hears in his head as they relate to each other in the extra dimension of space afforded by stereo reproduction. This is not unlike the student of plane geometry (accustomed to only two dimensional geometric forms) who, as he advanced to the mathematics of solid geometry, had to create in his mind the image of a third dimension, the new dimension adding countless new geometrical forms and possibilities. And just as the student of geometry had to employ ordinary two dimensional paper to depict and convey three dimensional figures and thinking, so the musical arranger, restricted to two dimensional musical staves, had to create new forms of musical annotation and scoring to convey his full musical concept.
With completed scores and control sheets in hand, the arranger, the A & R man, the performing artists, and the engineers have to pore over the complex scores until they are confident all can feel and "hear" what the arranger has in mind. Through a complicated network of microphones, switches and dials, the music envisioned by the arranger comes into reality as the engineer captures on 4 Track Master tape, the complete and true musical concept of the arranger. With music finally recorded on the master four tracks, the remaining steps to complete PHASE 4 are highly crucial and still involve not only the engineer, but the musical staff as well, to insure that the arranger's concept is carried through right down to the finished disc. From the 4 Track Master tape, the four tracks of sound have to be carefully rebalanced in the réduction to two channels of sound which eventually reach the listener via his two-channel stereo record groove, and ultimately through his two louds