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First-order Ambisonics (Rev #1, changes)

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Introduction

The invention of first-order Ambisonics (FOA) in the mid-1970s by Michael Gerzon and Peter Fellgett was following the classical coincident audio recording and playback principles from the 1930s.

First-order Ambisonics is an extension of Blumlein’s M-S recording system.

History of first-order Ambisonics

Felgett [1], Gerzon and Craven [2-4] were considered as the pioneers of the FOA technology. The scheme of M-S microphone system is extended to 3D first-order Ambisonics by a third figure-of-eight microphone of up-down aiming. [5]

Gerzon’s designing paper [2], March 1975

2D FOA

3D FOA

External resource

• Ambisonic Net: https://www.ambisonic.net/
• Thornton, Stephen (14 May 2010). Michael Gerzon: Audio Pioneer 1945 – 1996: https://www.michaelgerzonphotos.org.uk/
• Visualization XY stereo microphone system Blumlein Pair Eight/Eight 90° Intensity Stereo: https://sengpielaudio.com/Visualization-Blumlein-E.htm
• Into the Soundfield: Michael Gerzon and Ambisonics at Oxford: https://intothesoundfield.music.ox.ac.uk/
• ambiX v0.3.0: https://www.matthiaskronlachner.com/
• Ambisonics in the 21st Century: A Review of Spatial Audio Techniques - Michael Zeligs, CCRMA: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/blogs/mzeligs/ambisonics-in-21st-century-review-of-spatial-audio-techniques

References

[1] P. Felgett, Ambisonic reproduction of directionality in surround-sound systems. Nature 252, 534–538 (1974)

[2] Gerzon, M.A. (1975). The Design of Precisely Coincident Microphone Arrays for Stereo and Surround Sound. Journal of The Audio Engineering Society. Download: http://pcfarina.eng.unipr.it/Public/B-format/A2B-conversion/Gerzon/Design_Precisely_Coincident_Microphone_Arrays.pdf

[3] P. Craven, M.A. Gerzon, Coincident microphone simulation covering three dimensional space and yielding various directional outputs, U.S. Patent, no. 4,042,779 (1977)

[4] Gerzon, M.A. (1973). Periphony: With-Height Sound Reproduction. Journal of The Audio Engineering Society, 21, 2-10.

[5] Zotter, Franz & Frank, Matthias. (2019). Ambisonics: A Practical 3D Audio Theory for Recording, Studio Production, Sound Reinforcement, and Virtual Reality. 10.1007/978-3-030-17207-7. Download: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-17207-7.pdf