Eric “ET” Thorngren (left) with Jerry Harrison
Photo: Wireimage/John Medina
The P&E Wing and the S.F. Chapter offered Academy and community members the opportunity to learn about 5.1 surround mixing and speaker technology at the 5.1 Surround Sound Experience. Presented by JBL, the event featured a keynote discussion between artist Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads) and engineer Eric “ET” Thorngren, who have together created surround mixes for Talking Heads, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and O.A.R., among others. Hosted as the first official event at the new rehearsal and recording studio facility, Bay Area Sound Studios, the event drew around 100 members and audiophiles who listened to JBL’s LSR Series of studio monitors with Room Mode Correction in several different acoustic environments.
“Before, everyone knew the great album, where you and your friends would sit and listen to the record together,” Harrison said, “and then sit and listen to it again. With surround, you drag people to experience all these angles of the experience. I’ll tell someone, ‘This is special and you need to be right here to hear it.’ Not, ‘I’ll burn it for you and you can get out your ear buds.’”
