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 Disneys 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 Berliozs Symphonie Fantastique regarding surround sound?
3) How are Richard Wagners 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 (17) 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 classmates list. Make up new sentences with them.