ABSTRACT
Multi-channel surround sound originated in the cinema industry, with the development in Hollywood of the ‘Fantasound’ system in the late 1930s for the film release of Walt Disney's Fantasia in 1941. A separate, synchronised sound film carried three channels of audio with a tone track that enabled the automated panning of sound around the auditorium to between three and eight loudspeakers depending on which system version was used.
