The Sensurround Audio Legacy- Can You Feel It?
Synthesiastic Sound Design from Movie Palaces to Nightclubs
Sensurround was a “seat-quaking”, surround sound design experience developed for film venues in the mid 1970s. Although the longevity of this audio innovation was short lived in movie theaters, the factor of high observability of the speaker architecture combined with the timing of the emergence of the subculture of underground sound engineering led to the unintended consequence of rapid adaptation of the system for live events by DJ engineers. This was an exceptional example of how the influence of subculture and social groups enabled ingenuity in recontextualization. The new application of multi-speaker, dimensional sound design set up conditions that drew crowds and expanded the capacity for engaging hedonist, audiophiles in New York City nightclubs for decades.
Cerwin-Vega was the audio engineering manufacturer that developed the Sensurround technology in conjunction with MCA and Universal Studios. They were founded in 1954 by Gene Czerwinski, a one-time aerospace engineer who loved big band music and was determined to reproduce it as realistically as possible.[1]
Czerwinski’s expertise in solid-state engineering, and thermodynamics enabled him to create a truly innovative speaker design. By folding the horns inward, he was able to increase the path length, which resulted in heightened amplification. This unique approach is a testament to Czerwinski’s mastery of innovative principles for sound engineering.
Although Sensurround was only used for a handful of film releases its marketing lead to massive exposure of the synthesia-like audio experience. It can be argued that this raised awareness inspired an increase in sub woofer design and opened up the market for home stereo systems.
Sensurround’s initial release launched with the epic disaster film Earthquake in 1974. This was the first time, audio was considered to be integrated into the film experience as a special effect. Cerwin-Vega and the Universal Studios team won an Oscar for developing Sensurround, and Earthquake won one for Best Sound.
The concept required large powerful bass cabinets, which would provide very low frequencies in order to shake the movie theater, thus simulating a real earthquake. For this purpose, the “E” bass horns and woofers were developed. These woofers were 18” versions that were folded into a horn configuration. The internal path length of the horn was 6 feet with a cutoff frequency of 33 Hz. [2]
The word Sensurround plays off the concept of immersive, sense oriented, dimensional audio. The experience of watching a Sensurround film can be described as sound that you feel from the vibration of the base or associated with a discreet low frequency effect audio channel. This is sometimes referred to as a LFE channel. Sensurround added an extended-range bass for the more intense, dimensional tremor used specifically for depictions of earthquakes, amusement park rides, space laser attacks, and World War 2 air raides.
W.O. Watson, a sound engineer who worked on Sensurround, said of the effects:
“We generate both sub-audible and audible frequencies that actually vibrate the torso and the diaphragm inside the body. You feel something going on in your flesh and the auditory nerves are also responding to the sensation.”[3]
The films produced with Sensurround were advertised and promoted as physical, motion oriented experiences. The initial release caused a boom in awareness of mass produced sound systems.
Antecedents in comparable film effects that would enhance the senses of film viewing included experiments such as Smell-O-Vision and 3D or depth illusion oriented films of the 1960s. Although each effect would work to draw audiences, the production costs and challenges on theaters, specifically in the case of Smell-O-Vision, with lingering foul scent combinations made the formats difficult to sustain.
Sensurround’s failure at long term success in the film marketplace was attributed to the trend toward multiplex cinemas and the need for more compact stereo design structures.
“Theaters were forced to rent special speakers for this format, which purported to mimic the experience of a quake by basically shaking the heck out of the audience. Though the film was a hit, some distributors reported structural damage to their theaters due to the excess rattling; the noise also wrecked movies playing on adjacent screens. Sensurround was quickly phased out.”[4]
The hype machine of promotion around disaster and shock novelty films may have resonated with the dystopian landscape of New York City’s economically depressed but creatively fertile outer boroughs.
Ricky Grant was a part of a DJ collective called Nu Sounds, based out of East Elmhurst, Queens. Ricky’s ingenuity as an autodidact engineer led him to rebuild the “Earthquake” sound system based on observation of the speaker design in movie theaters.
Ricky augmented the systems for outdoor use specifically considering the ways a DJs would work with large crowds. His modified adaptation of the Cerwin- Vega, Sensurround specs were assembled with other systems allowing him to combine aspects of the specialized theater speakers with more commercially available home entertainment style systems. This hybrid model is an exciting example of heterogeneous engineering of sound design components. This allowed Ricky to create a sound that opened up the possibilities for accommodating larger audiences with a novel way for them to feel the music.
“The equipment that we had, the speakers, were probably the best in the city and they were hand built by us. We put the money up. We bought tools. We got some books and we worked out the formulas and we built the speakers to specs. We had industrial Cerwin-Vegas, Earthquake speakers….The mid range speakers were JBLs 15” and 12”. The mid base was Joss. The low base was the Cerwin Vegas Earthquakes. The damping factor was adjustable.”
–Ricky Grant [5]
Because of the pace of innovation and the degree of experimentation within the DJ and the sound engineering community from the mid 1970s to late 80s and because these augmentations were by nature pirate, non-sanctioned reproductions, attribution of individual design contributors is difficult to identify. What is safe to say is that the ingenuity and financial reward of delivering hybrid custom sound systems to the expanding nightclub scene fostered a wave of design innovation.
A few of the most revered examples of custom designs coming out this period include the system developed by Richard Long at the Paradise Garage and Alex Rosner’s custom design for David Mancuso’s the Loft.
Soon Cerwin-Vega caught on and repackaged the Sensurround speaker designs back to the dance venues.
Nightclubs had to have “Earthquake bins,” and Cerwin-Vega developed its series “E” subwoofers to fill this demand. “Disco people want to feel the music,” the company’s technical director told Billboard magazine in 1975, “and that takes plenty of clean bass. More clubs are turning to Cerwin-Vega speakers and we’re getting special requests for the identical speakers used for the Sensurround effect used in Earthquake.”[3]
In 1985 re-contextualization of the sound engineering developed for movie theaters came full circle with the build out of the Palladium nightclub on Union Square in lower Manhattan. The Palladium started its life as a deluxe movie Palace in 1927 and operated as a cinema up until the 1970s.
The Palladium was transformed into a nightclub by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager with a focus on state of the art sound that could support its capacity for 3,400 people. [6]
The sound system developed for the Palladium integrated custom speakers influenced from the original Sensurround and Earthquake adaptions which you can see in this 3D walk through of the space.
Author’s Note
In the mid to late 1970s, my mother was an actress in New York City. She worked as a tour guide at Lincoln Center, where she taught visitors about the acoustic design of Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall) and the Metropolitan Opera House. She also did some film extra work on Saturday Night Fever during this period. My passion for sound design and disco can be traced back to her influence.
References
- Bates, James (September 23, 1986) “Quiet Talk From a Noise Merchant : ‘Loud Is Beautiful’ Is a Slogan for Loudspeakers, but Cerwin-Vega Cultivates a Soft Corporate Tone”. Los Angeles Times.
2. https://cerwinvega.com/cerwin-vega-history.html
3. Marke B. (July 30, 2019) The Earthquaking, Subwoofing Magic of Sensurround
4. Yardbarker — Film gimmicks that worked (and a few that didn’t)
5. FOUNDING FATHERS: The Untold Story of Hip Hop-Narrated by Chuck D
6. Goldberger, Paul (May 20, 1985). “AN APPRAISAL; THE PALLADIUM: AN ARCHITECTURALLY DRAMATIC NEW DISCOTHEQUE”. The New York Times.
7. Jo Ke — Video of 3D rendering walkthrough of the Palladium.
Research
Rogers, Everett M. “Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition” — 2003
Shapiro, Peter “Turn the Beat Around. The Secret History of Disco.” — 2005
Codrea-Rado, Anna “HOW NIGHTCLUBS BECAME MUSEUM PIECES” The New York Times.––2018
Filmsound.org 100 Years of Cinema Loudspeakers
