Fantasound

Fantasound was a stereophonic sound reproduction system developed by engineers of Walt Disney studios and RCA for Walt Disney's animated film Fantasia, the first commercial film released in stereo.

Walt Disney's cartoon character Mickey Mouse entered a decline in popularity in the mid-1930s. Disney devised a comeback appearance for Mickey in 1936 with The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a more elaborate edition of the animated Silly Symphonies series set to the music of L'apprenti sorcier by Paul Dukas. Disney met conductor Leopold Stokowski in late 1937 at Chasen's, a noted Hollywood restaurant, and Stokowski agreed to conduct the piece at no cost. Stokowski was an enthusiast for new and improved methods of sound reproduction and had already participated in experimental stereophonic sound recordings in 1931 and 1932, and a live, long distance demonstration of multi-channel sound a year later.

In January 1938, over 100 musicians assembled at Culver Studios in California for the recording of the nine-minute Dukas piece. The plan was to create a multi-track recording that allowed the separation of sound channels which would allow the dynamic balance of the music to be adjusted on reproduction. To increase reverberation, the stage was altered acoustically with five double plywood partitions that separated the sections of the orchestra, creating the world's first baffles. Although a satisfactory recording was made, in the days before widespread use of headphones and click tracks to control the speed, the musicians could not hear the other instruments clearly enough and this affected the tempo of the piece. Poor control over the separation of low frequency sounds presented a further problem on playback of the music.

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