Admiral Twin is an American pop rock / power pop band, formed in 1997 by members of the Mellowdramatic Wallflowers in Tulsa, Oklahoma .
123-769: Their name comes from the Admiral Twin Drive-In, a popular drive-in theater that operated in Tulsa from 1951 until it was destroyed by a fire on September 3, 2010. The Admiral Twin Drive-In was rebuilt and reopened for business on June 15, 2012. Admiral Twin released their debut CD, Unlucky , in December 1997 on independent New Pop Revival Records. The band consisted of Brad Becker (vocals, guitar, keyboards, and more), Mark Carr (vocals, bass), Jarrod Gollihare (vocals, drums), and John Russell (vocals, guitar). All of
246-477: A Taylor, Michigan Drive in called Ecorse Drive-In. On July 16, 1980, a freak derecho storm with 150 mph straight-line winds swept the Drive-In away leaving only the "now-showing" sign with the letters "Now Playing Gone with the Wind". The screen was rebuilt, but the business never recovered; by 1989, it was sold and now is the site of a Kroger grocery store. Beginning in the late 1970s and extending through
369-429: A binaural record out of it. This consisted of two separate channels cut into two separate groups of grooves running next to each other, one running from the edge of the disc to halfway through and the other starting at the halfway point and ending up towards the label. He used two lateral grooves with a 500 Hz crossover in the inner track to try and compensate for the lower fidelity and high-frequency distortion on
492-468: A 40 by 50 ft (12 by 15 m) screen. He advertised his drive-in theater with the slogan, "The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are." The first film shown was the Adolphe Menjou film Wives Beware . Failing to make a profit, Hollingshead sold the theater after three years to a Union, New Jersey , theater owner who moved the infrastructure to that city, but
615-401: A decade, and broadcasters were looking for better materials from which to make phonograph records as well as a better format in which to record them to play over the narrow and thus inherently noisy radio channel. As radio had been playing the same shellac discs available to the public, it was found that, even though the playback system was now electric rather than acoustic, the surface noise on
738-462: A full-service restaurant with seating on the roof and a trolley system to take children and adults to a playground and a large indoor theater for bad weather or for those who wanted to watch in air-conditioned comfort. The largest in the world was Loew's Open Air in Lynn, Massachusetts which could hold 5,000 cars. Several factors contributed to the decline of the drive-in movie industry. Beginning in
861-465: A hill-and-dale (vertically modulated) format on his cylinders and discs since 1877, and Berliner had been recording in a side-to-side (lateral) format since shortly thereafter. Each format developed on its own trajectory until the late 1920s when electric recording on disc, utilizing a microphone, surpassed acoustic recording which required a loud performance into what amounted to a megaphone in reverse. At that time, AM radio had been around for roughly
984-439: A monophonic system since a stereo system contains two preamplifiers, two amplifiers, and two speaker systems. In addition, the user would need an FM stereo tuner, to upgrade any tape recorder to a stereo model, and to have their phonograph fitted with a stereo cartridge. In the early days, it was not clear whether consumers would think the sound was so much better as to be worth twice the price. Thomas Edison had been recording in
1107-447: A more modern 24 fps system with brand-new 65 mm self-blimped production cameras ( Mitchell BFC ... "Blimped Fox Camera") and brand-new 65 mm MOS cameras (Mitchell FC ... "Fox Camera") and brand-new Super Baltar lenses in a wide variety of focal lengths, first employed on South Pacific . Essentially, although Todd-AO was also available to others, the format became Fox's premier origination and presentation apparatus, replacing
1230-464: A movie, The In Crowd . Unfortunately, the fate of Mojo Records was shaky at this time, and after suffering through several months of uncertainty, the Mojo label was dropped from Universal and Admiral Twin became independent artists again with New Pop Revival. The band released a Christmas EP in 2001. In 2002 the band released Odds and Ends, a collection of demos and rarities from 1996-2000 In late 2002
1353-401: A screen to trees in his backyard, he set a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car and put a radio behind the screen, testing different sound levels with his car windows down and up. Blocks under vehicles in the driveway enabled him to determine the size and spacing of ramps so all automobiles could view the screen. Hollingshead applied for a patent of his invention on August 6, 1932, and he
SECTION 10
#17327906920941476-567: A separate listening room. Several stereophonic test recordings, using two microphones connected to two styli cutting two separate grooves on the same wax disc, were made with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra at Philadelphia's Academy of Music in March 1932. The first (made on March 12, 1932), of Scriabin's Prometheus: Poem of Fire , is the earliest known surviving intentional stereo recording. The performance
1599-602: A series of telephone transmitters connected from the stage of the Paris Opera to a suite of rooms at the Paris Electrical Exhibition, where listeners could hear a live transmission of performances through receivers for each ear. Scientific American reported: Every one who has been fortunate enough to hear the telephones at the Palais de l'Industrie has remarked that, in listening with both ears at
1722-409: A small petting zoo or cage of monkeys, personal appearances by actors to open their movies, or musical groups to play before the show. Some drive-ins held Sunday religious services or charged a flat price per car on slow nights like Wednesdays or Sundays. On "buck" or "bargain" nights during the 1950s and 1960s, the admission price was one dollar per car; during the 1970s and '80s, bargain night admission
1845-520: A somewhat artificial six-track panning method. A process known somewhat derogatorily as the Columbia Spread was often used to synthesize Left Center and Right Center from a combination of Left and Center and Right and Center, respectively, or, for effects, the effect could be "panned" anywhere across the five stage speakers using a one-in/five-out pan pot. Dolby, who did not approve of this practice, which results in loss of separation, instead used
1968-513: A steel truss structure with a complex finish. Originally, the movie's sound was provided by speakers on the screen and later by individual speakers hung from the window of each car, which was attached to a small pole by a wire. These speaker systems were superseded by the more practical method of microbroadcasting the soundtrack to car radios. This also has the advantage of the film soundtrack to be heard in stereo on car stereo systems, which are typically of much higher quality and fidelity than
2091-443: A time before intentional stereophonic recording technology existed. Modern stereophonic technology was invented in the 1930s by British engineer Alan Blumlein at EMI , who patented stereo records, stereo films, and also surround sound. In early 1931, Blumlein and his wife were at a local cinema. The sound reproduction systems of the early talkies invariably only had a single set of speakers – which could lead to
2214-572: A vast array of sounds, ranging from railroad sounds to thunderstorms. By 1953, Cook had a catalog of about 25 stereo records for sale to audiophiles . The first stereo recordings using magnetic tape were made in Germany in the early 1940s using Magnetophon recorders. Around 300 recordings were made of various symphonies, most of which were seized by the Red Army at the end of World War II. The recordings were of relatively high fidelity , thanks to
2337-563: A vertical fashion to minimize rumble. The overhead in this scheme limited the playing time to slightly longer than a single even at 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 RPM on a 12-inch disc. Another failed experiment in the late 1920s and early '30s involved recording the left channel on one side of the disc and recording the right channel on the other side of the disc. These were manufactured on twin film-company recording lathes which ran in perfect sync with one another, and were capable of counter-clockwise as well as conventional clockwise recording. Each master
2460-476: Is Cinerama was still playing only in New York City, most moviegoing audiences heard stereophonic sound for the first time with House of Wax , an early 3-D film starring Vincent Price and produced by Warner Bros. Unlike the 4-track mag release-print stereo films of the period which featured four thin strips of magnetic material running down the length of the film, inside and outside the sprocket holes,
2583-419: Is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen , a projection booth , a concession stand , and a large parking area for automobiles . Within this enclosed area, customers can view movies from the privacy and comfort of their cars. Some drive-ins have small playgrounds for children and a few picnic tables or benches. The screen can be as simple as a painted white wall, or it can be
SECTION 20
#17327906920942706-412: Is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration of two loudspeakers (or stereo headphones ) in such a way as to create the impression of sound heard from various directions, as in natural hearing. Because the multi-dimensional perspective is the crucial aspect,
2829-412: Is the last drive-in theater in the state of South Australia (since February 2022). Due to the opal miners often carrying explosives in their vehicles, the drive-in has a ban on bringing explosives onto the site. On 15 November 2023, winds reaching almost 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph) destroyed the screen, resulting in the drive-in's closure, but local volunteers hope they will be able to rebuild
2952-424: Is then reproduced over multiple loudspeakers to recreate, as closely as possible, the live sound. Secondly artificial or pan stereo, in which a single-channel ( mono ) sound is reproduced over multiple loudspeakers. By varying the relative amplitude of the signal sent to each speaker, an artificial direction (relative to the listener) can be suggested. The control which is used to vary this relative amplitude of
3075-523: The COVID-19 pandemic , drive-in theaters reported an unexpected surge in attendance in several U.S. states, as unlike with indoor theaters unable to operate because of bans on mass gatherings , these were allowed to operate, with such events as graduations, because people are automatically separated from each other by their cars, and usually enough space remains to walk around and still practice proper physical distancing . The largest drive-in theater in
3198-633: The Chicago World's Fair in 1933 using a dummy with microphones instead of ears . The two signals were sent out over separate AM station bands. Utilizing selections recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra , under the direction of Leopold Stokowski , intended for but not used in Walt Disney's Fantasia , the Carnegie Hall demonstration by Bell Laboratories on April 9 and 10, 1940, used three huge speaker systems. Synchronization
3321-453: The Greek στερεός ( stereós , "firm, solid") + φωνή ( phōnḗ , "sound, tone, voice") and it was coined in 1927 by Western Electric , by analogy with the word stereoscopic . Stereo sound systems can be divided into two forms: the first is true or natural stereo in which a live sound is captured, with any natural reverberation present, by an array of microphones . The signal
3444-529: The Lunar in Dandenong South , is set to close in the second half of 2023. The world's most remote drive-in may be at Coober Pedy , South Australia. It opened in 1965, but became less popular after 1980 with the arrival of television in the town, and ceased regular operation in 1984. It was reopened in 1996, and has been operated by volunteers since 2000. It is still in operation as of May 2023 , and
3567-625: The Théâtrophone , and in England from 1895 to 1925 as the Electrophone . Both were services available by coin-operated receivers at hotels and cafés, or by subscription to private homes. There have been cases in which two recording lathes (for the sake of producing two simultaneous masters) were fed from two separate microphones; when both masters survive, modern engineers have been able to synchronize them to produce stereo recordings from
3690-576: The 15 drive-in movie theaters open in the United States were operated by Philip Smith , who promoted a family-friendly environment by allowing children to enter free and built playgrounds. After 1945, rising car ownership and suburban and rural population led to a boom in drive-in theaters, with hundreds being opened each year. More couples were reunited and having children, resulting in the Baby Boom , and more cars were being purchased following
3813-680: The 1950s and 1960s. The Hoyts Skyline in Melbourne was the country's first drive-in cinema, opening in 1954 with the film On the Riviera . The drive-in was successful, and four more opened within the year, including Mainline Drive-In in Gepps Cross, South Australia . The number of drive-ins increased across the country in the ensuing years. As these drive-ins were based on the American trend, many served American-style food at snack bars. At
Admiral Twin - Misplaced Pages Continue
3936-438: The 1970s, several venues switched from showing family-friendly fare to R-rated and X-rated films as a way to offset declining patronage and revenue, while other venues that still catered to families, began to show R-rated or pornographic movies in late-night time slots to bring in extra income. This allowed censored materials to be viewed by a wider audience, including those for whom viewing was still illegal in some states, and it
4059-557: The 2008 film Tru Loved and the 2009 film Bitter/Sweet. In 2010 the band performed and recorded songs written by Jim Edwards for the soundtrack to the film The Rock 'n' Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher . In 2011 the band had songs featured in the film Compliance, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival . Newsgroup: alt.fan.admiral-twin Drive-in theater A drive-in theater/theatre or drive-in cinema
4182-520: The 3-D production of The Charge at Feather River , and Island in the Sky . Unfortunately, as of 2012, the stereo magnetic tracks to both these films are considered lost forever. In addition, a large percentage of 3-D films carried variations on three-track magnetic sound: It Came from Outer Space ; I, the Jury ; The Stranger Wore a Gun ; Inferno ; Kiss Me, Kate ; and many others. Inspired by Cinerama ,
4305-410: The 70 mm prints would be mixed for stereo, while the 35 mm reduction prints would be remixed for mono. Some films shot in 35 mm, such as Camelot , featured four-track stereophonic sound and were then blown up to 70 mm so that they could be shown on a giant screen with six-track stereophonic sound. Unfortunately however, many of these presentations were only pseudo stereo, utilizing
4428-562: The CinemaScope 55 mm system. Current DVDs of the two CinemaScope feature titles were transferred from the original 55 mm negatives, often including the separate 35 mm films as extras for comparison. Beginning in 1957, films recorded in stereo (except for those shown in Cinerama or Todd-AO) carried an alternate mono track for theatres not ready or willing to re-equip for stereo. From then until about 1975, when Dolby Stereo
4551-660: The King of Siam , The Day the Earth Stood Still and Sun Valley Serenade which, along with Orchestra Wives , feature the only stereophonic recordings of the Glenn Miller Orchestra as it was during its heyday of the Swing Era . Walt Disney began experimenting with multichannel sound in the early 1930s as noted above. The first commercial motion picture to be exhibited with stereophonic sound
4674-641: The Ottawa residents. This new drive-in image is not just in Ottawa. According to CTV, there are also drive-ins in Ontario and other provinces that are expanding their entertainment hosting activities including live concerts while keeping the main core, i.e., to keep family movie experience. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, some of the drive-ins host community activities that also include religious events. The drive-in theater also became popular in Australia during
4797-587: The South and the West Coast (at the industry's height, about 25% of the nation's movie screens were at drive-ins). A figure of 348 operating drive-ins was published for the United States in March 2014. In the fall of 2014, retro-themed burger chain Johnny Rockets announced that it would team up with USA Drive-Ins to open 200 drive-ins by 2018, serving Johnny Rocket's food at the concession stands, but
4920-529: The TV at home, the new drive-in theater does not have to depend on darkness. One of such newly designed drive-in theaters is LoCo Drive-In by Whitener Company and London Entertainment LLC. The drive-in will also be used for other social activities including car shows and other events. Another example of modern-day drive-in theater is the Drive-In Experience Ottawa that opened in 2020. Currently,
5043-542: The Universe , on October 16, 2007. The first single from the CD is "In My Veins". A video for "Renegade Planet" can be seen on YouTube and on their Myspace page. Videos for "In My Veins" and "Good As Gold" is in production. One of the meanings behind the album title, Center of the Universe , is a Tulsa landmark of that name consisting of an acoustic phenomenon found in downtown Tulsa. Several Admiral Twin songs were featured in
Admiral Twin - Misplaced Pages Continue
5166-420: The advent of cable television and video cassette recorder (VCR), then with the arrival of DVD and streaming systems, families were able to enjoy movies in the comfort of their homes. The new entertainment technology increased the options and the movie watching experience. While exploitation films had been a drive-in staple since the 1950s, helped by relatively limited oversight compared to downtown theaters, by
5289-458: The artistic adjustment of overall volume and the relative volume of each track in relation to the others. Stokowski, who was always interested in sound reproduction technology personally participated in the enhancement of the sound at the demonstration. The speakers produced sound levels of up to 100 decibels, and the demonstration held the audience "spellbound, and at times not a little terrified", according to one report. Sergei Rachmaninoff , who
5412-440: The band recorded backing vocals for a couple of tracks featured on Ripley, the solo album by The Tractors frontman Steve Ripley . In August 2002 Brad Becker left Tulsa and the band to pursue a career in an unrelated field. Admiral Twin, now a trio, continued working on material for a new CD, Creatures of Bread and Wine , released May 13, 2003. They also made videos for "Dreamer" and "I'm Talking 'Bout Me". In December 2003
5535-642: The band released a second Christmas EP and a video for "We Three Kings". During the Creatures of Bread and Wine recording sessions, they also recorded their own rendition of the theme to the popular TV series Sealab 2021 . Admiral Twin has won 5 Spot Music Awards as Best Pop Act of the year from the Tulsa World's annual recognition of Tulsa area musicians, voted on by the public. In early 2007 Admiral twin signed with The Pop Collective to release their 5th CD. Admiral Twin released their fifth CD, Center of
5658-466: The basic small mono speakers used in the old systems. A partial drive-in theater—Theatre de Guadalupe—was opened in Las Cruces, New Mexico on April 23, 1915: Seven hundred people may be comfortably seated in the auditorium. Automobile entrances and places for 40 or more cars within the theater grounds and in-line position to see the pictures and witness all performances on the stage is a feature of
5781-854: The best-known "guerrilla" drive-ins include the Santa Cruz Guerilla Drive-In in Santa Cruz, California , North Bay Mobile Drive-In in Novato, California , MobMov in San Francisco, California and Hollywood , and more recently the Guerilla Drive-In Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia . A similar, more recent concept is the "boutique" drive-in, which caters to a smaller audience, generally 30 to 50 vehicles (with some also offering seats in front of
5904-604: The booth must be retrofitted with special glass, more vents, and stronger air conditioning, as well as heat in northern climates. With installation of Jumbotrons or similar digital display equipment in drive-in theatres, restrictions of the projector booth can be avoided; that is, no projector is needed. The move to digital conversion took its toll on the industry; by October 2019, figures for operating drive-in theaters rose to 305 because of increased numbers of smaller 'boutique' operations that had never used traditional projectors, while several older drive-ins have closed. During
6027-461: The company has two locations in the Ottawa area. Apart from movie-nights, the drive-in also hosts live entertainment such as “comedy nights” and concerts as well events including graduations and weddings through site rental. It provides screen, wireless in-car FM transmission and stage facilities for the events. According to the company, such a community approach will keep the drive-in experience into
6150-1119: The concept caught on nationwide. The April 15, 1934, opening of Shankweiler's Auto Park in Orefield, Pennsylvania , was followed by Galveston 's Drive-In Short Reel Theater (July 5, 1934), the Pico Drive-In Theater at Pico and Westwood boulevards in Los Angeles (September 9, 1934) and the Weymouth Drive-In Theatre in Weymouth, Massachusetts (May 6, 1936). In 1937, three more opened in Ohio, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with another 12 during 1938 and 1939 in California, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Texas and Virginia. Early drive-in theaters had to deal with sound issues. The original Hollingshead drive-in had speakers installed on
6273-956: The country's first drive-in theater near SM City Pampanga on July 31, 2020. It also opened a temporary drive-in cinema at the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds on September 9, 2020. Currently there are two locations for SM Supermalls drive-in theaters. Movies by the Bay Drive-In Cinema is located at the SM Mall of Asia, Seaside Blvd, Pasay City in the National Capital Region, Metro Manila . The first drive-in theatre in Spain opened in Madrid opposite Barajas Airport in 1958 called Motercine. Stereophonic sound Stereophonic sound , or more commonly stereo ,
SECTION 50
#17327906920946396-457: The disc would mask the music after just a few plays. The development of acetate, bakelite, and vinyl, and the production of radio broadcast transcriptions helped to solve this. Once these considerably quieter compounds were developed, it was discovered that the rubber-idler-wheel-driven turntables of the period had a great deal of low-frequency rumble – but only in the lateral plane. So, even though with all other factors being equal,
6519-503: The discovery of AC bias . A 1944 recording of Anton Bruckner 's Symphony No. 8 directed by Herbert von Karajan and the Orchester der Berliner Staatsoper and a 1944 or 1945 recording of Walter Gieseking playing Beethoven 's Piano Concerto No. 5 (with anti-aircraft fire audible in the background) are the only recordings still known to exist. In the US, stereo magnetic tape recording
6642-692: The drive-ins were located. In Michigan, former drive-in properties have become industrial parks, shopping centers, indoor theaters, and even churches (as with the Former Woodland Drive-In in Grand Rapids, MI). In Philadelphia, the South City Drive-In became the location of the original Spectrum in the late 1960s, with a small portion of its old property line extending into what would become the (now-demolished) Veterans Stadium complex. (Today, that small portion, combined with
6765-456: The early 2000s. In the second half of the 2000s, drive-ins had another decline because of the oil crisis and a worsening economy. Reduced use of automobiles and more people moving out of suburban and rural areas during the 2010s have also put the drive-in's future at risk, with numbers again on the decline. By 2013, drive-ins comprised only 1.5% of total movie screens in the United States, with 389 theaters in operation nationwide, mostly located in
6888-414: The end of wartime fuel rationing. By 1951, the number of drive-in movie theaters in the United States had increased from its 1947 total of 155 to 4,151. The drive-in's peak popularity came in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly in rural areas, with over 4,000 drive-ins spread across the United States in 1958. They were a cheaper alternative to in-door cinema theaters because not only did they save
7011-423: The expense of operating a drive-in theater business. As many of the drive-in theaters were set up in the outskirts, the expansion of towns was making the maintenance of large property more difficult and costly. Many former drive-in movie sites remain, with several re-purposed as storage or flea market sites, often after residential housing or other higher-value uses came to rural or sparsely populated areas where
7134-503: The finances (beginning at $ 70,000 per screen) needed to convert to digital projection. The low volume of ticket sales from the lack of multiple showings also makes justifying the cost of installing digital projection hard for many drive-ins. Conversion of the projection booth to digital is more complex for drive-in theaters. The projector needs a more powerful bulb due to increased screen size and light pollution. In addition, digital projection equipment may require an Internet connection, and
7257-504: The future. Ottawa Business Journal also wrote that local business communities and organizations can host their own private movie nights or shows. The drive-in can also be utilized for yoga activities and fitness training. The director of the company claims that the Drive-In Experience Ottawa’s goal is to provide opportunities for communities to reconnect while striving to host large weekly events and entertainment programs for
7380-433: The gas of driving out to the city and then back home, but the cost of building and maintaining a drive-in theater was cheaper than that of an indoor theater, resulting in the lower overall cost of attendance. Among its advantages was the fact that older adults with children could take care of their infant while watching a movie. At the same time, youth found drive-ins ideal for a first date. Unlike indoor cinema theaters, there
7503-609: The height of their popularity in the mid-1960s, around 330 drive-in theaters were operating in Australia before quickly dropping off. As of May 2023 , there were only 12 drive-ins in regular operation, with three more which sometimes opened for film screenings. Gepps Cross Drive-In closed at the end of February 2022, with the lengthy COVID-19 pandemic finally putting an end to its viability. As of May 2023 , only 12 drive-in cinemas operate regularly, while an additional three sometimes open to screen films. Melbourne 's largest drive-in,
SECTION 60
#17327906920947626-498: The inner track. Each groove needed its own monophonic needle and cartridge on its own branch of the tonearm, and each needle was connected to a separate amplifier and speaker. This setup was intended to demonstrate Cook's cutter heads at a New York audio fair. It was not intended to promote the binaural process; but soon afterward, the demand for such recordings and the equipment to play them grew, and Cook's company, Cook Records, began to produce such records commercially. Cook recorded
7749-401: The introduction of digital cinema , Dolby Surround 7.1 and Dolby Atmos in 2010 and 2012 respectively. The progress of stereophonic sound was paced by the technical difficulties of recording and reproducing two or more channels in synchronization with one another and by the economic and marketing issues of introducing new audio media and equipment. A stereo system cost up to twice as much as
7872-495: The land with windows facing the screens so that viewers could watch the films from their beds. During the 1950s, the greater privacy afforded to patrons gave drive-ins a reputation as immoral, and they were labeled "passion pits" in the media. The 1978 movie Grease portrays the local drive-in as a preferred spot for trysts. This indicates that the drive-in theater experience was a part of North American pop culture during this time, coupled with people's love for cars and movies. It
7995-475: The late 1960s, drive-in attendance began to decline as the result of improvements and changes to home entertainment, from color television and cable TV to VCRs and video rental in the early 1980s. Additionally, the 1970s energy crisis led to the widespread adoption of daylight saving time (which caused drive-in movies to start an hour later) and lower use of automobiles, making it increasingly difficult for drive-ins to remain profitable. Mainly following
8118-412: The latter of which used up to four separate magnetic soundtracks. VistaVision took a simplified, low-cost approach to stereophonic sound; its Perspecta system featured only a monaural track, but through subaudible tones, it could change the direction of the sound to come from the left, right or both directions at once. Because of the standard 35 mm-size film, CinemaScope and its stereophonic sound
8241-485: The left center and right center channels for LFE (low-frequency enhancement) utilizing the bass units of the otherwise redundant intermediate front speakers, and later the unused HF capacity of these channels to provide for stereo surround in place of the mono surround. Dolby Stereo was succeeded by Dolby Digital 5.1 in the cinema, which retained the Dolby Stereo 70 mm 5.1 channel layout, and more recently with
8364-400: The left channel was recorded laterally and the right channel was recorded vertically, still utilizing a standard 3-mil 78-RPM groove, over three times larger than the modern LP stylus of the late 20th Century. In this system all the low-frequency rumble was in the left channel and all the high-frequency distortion was in the right channel. Over a quarter of a century later, it was decided to tilt
8487-472: The members are also songwriters. In support of Unlucky , they toured with local Tulsa pop stars, Hanson , as the opening act on the Albertane Tour in the summer of 1998. They signed with Mojo Records , then a subsidiary of MCA/Universal in the fall of 1998, going into the studio to record Mock Heroic , which was released June 20, 2000. "Another Day" from Mock Heroic made a subtle appearance in
8610-434: The mid-1990s, those drive-ins still operating acquired a quasi-novelty status, catering to the wave of "boomer nostalgia " and loyal patrons. This "retro" appeal eventually led to a revival of sorts by the end of the 1990s. This resurgence of the drive-in industry led to the inception of the "do-it-yourself" drive-in beginning in 2001, which used contemporary tools such as LCD projectors and micro radio transmitters. The first
8733-561: The movie industry moved quickly to create simpler and cheaper widescreen systems, the first of which, Todd-AO , was developed by Broadway promoter Michael Todd with financial backing from Rodgers and Hammerstein, to use a single 70 mm film running at 30 frames per second with 6 magnetic soundtracks, for their screen presentation of Oklahoma! . Major Hollywood studios immediately rushed to create their own unique formats, such as MGM 's Camera 65 , Paramount Pictures ' VistaVision and Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation 's CinemaScope ,
8856-480: The movies in 1927, the speed of radio program transcriptions was reduced to match, once again to inhibit playback of the discs on normal home consumer equipment. Even though the stylus size remained the same as consumer records at either 3 mils (76 μm) or 2.7 mils (69 μm), the disc size was increased from 12 inches (30 cm) to the same 16 inches (41 cm) as those used in early talking pictures in order to create further incompatibility. Now, not only could
8979-572: The new experience in drive-in cinemas is gaining popularity not just in North America but in other countries as well. After decades of inactivity drive-in theaters are slowly becoming part of the outdoor movie experience. One of the countries where drive-in theaters is returning is the United Kingdom . There are also new drive-in theaters that have opened recently in North America that intend on staying in business and expanding. Some of
9102-581: The option to eat classic movie refreshments such as popcorn, or even native Greek snacks such as grilled calamari and souvlaki . In 2020, Iran showed its first drive-in film, Exodus , during the COVID-19 pandemic . However the country previously operated one before 1979. The first drive-in theatre in Europe opened in Rome in 1954. The Philippines' shopping mall chain SM Supermalls opened
9225-617: The orchestra's conductor, was present in Constitution Hall to control the sound mix. Five years later, the same system would be expanded onto multichannel film recording and used from the concert hall in Philadelphia to the recording labs at Bell Labs in New Jersey in order to record Walt Disney 's Fantasia (1940) in what Disney called Fantasound . Later that same year, Bell Labs also demonstrated binaural sound, at
9348-494: The original Spectrum location, is part of Xfinity Live! Philadelphia ). Another example of a drive in-turned-flea market is Spotlight 88 in North Sewickley Township, Pennsylvania , which ended business as a drive-in after an F3 tornado destroyed much of the property on May 31, 1985 . As a joke, after the tornado hit, the owners put up the "now-showing" sign Gone with the Wind . It was most likely copied from
9471-425: The other three. The film was not initially a financial success, however, after two months of road-show exhibition in selected cities, its soundtrack was remixed into mono sound for general release. It was not until its 1956 re-release that stereo sound was restored to the film. A Cinerama demonstration film by Lowell Thomas and Mike Todd titled This is Cinerama was released on September 30, 1952. The format
9594-458: The owners believe that the drive-in theatre will renew the outdoor experience in the long run. Some are also projected to open in the coming years with newer designs using electronic screen system to stream the film, improving the set up, as well as concession and public facilities. In the past drive-in theaters were operating in the evening to provide clear picture. But with the new design, moviegoers can go to drive-in theaters at anytime. Just like
9717-577: The place that will please car owners. The first movie shown by the Theatre de Guadalupe was Bags of Gold , produced by Siegmund Lubin . Theatre de Guadalupe was soon renamed De Lux Theater before closing in July 1916. In 1921, a drive-in was opened by Claude V. Caver in Comanche, Texas. Caver obtained a permit from the city to project films downtown. With cars parked bumper-to-bumper, patrons witnessed
9840-402: The plan never came to fruition, as did a proposed "Project Drive-In" scheme by Honda, which would have donated digital projectors. By 2018, less than 300 drive-in theaters were reported to operate worldwide, with only a handful outside North America. The ongoing conversion of film distribution from celluloid to digital also puts additional pressure on drive-in theaters. Most small drive-ins lack
9963-540: The process, Carousel and The King and I , were released in 35 mm CinemaScope reduction prints. To compensate, the premiere engagement of Carousel used a six-track magnetic full-coat in an interlock, and a 1961 re-release of The King and I , featured the film printed down to 70 mm with a six-channel soundtrack. Eventually, 50 complete sets of combination 55/35 mm projectors and penthouse reproducers were completed and delivered by Century and Ampex, respectively, and 55 mm release print sound equipment
10086-503: The property, and operate the theater as a nonprofit venture specializing in family-friendly films. Hull's continues to be the nation's only nonprofit drive-in. By 2006, around 500 drive-in theaters were open in the United States, counting regularly operating venues (about 400) and those that held showings sporadically, usually during summertime, the highest number since the mid-1970s. The industry also rebounded in Canada and Australia during
10209-421: The recording head 45 degrees off to the right side so that both the low-frequency rumble and high-frequency distortion were shared equally by both channels, producing the 45/45 system we know today. In 1952, Emory Cook (1913–2002), who already had become famous by designing new feedback disk-cutter heads to improve sound from tape to vinyl, took the two-channel high-fidelity system described above and developed
10332-423: The records not be played on home equipment due to incompatible recording format and speed, they would not even fit on the player, which suited the copyright holders. An experimental format in the 1920s split the signal into two parts, bass and treble, and recording the treble on its own track near the edge of the disc in a lateral format minimizing high-frequency distortion, and recording the bass on its own track in
10455-583: The same left, center, right and surround sound of the original CinemaScope system of 1953 by using a single standard-width optical track. This important development, marketed as Dolby Stereo , finally brought stereo sound to so-called flat (non- anamorphic ) widescreen films, most commonly projected at aspect ratios of 1.75:1 or 1.85:1. Producers often took advantage of the six magnetic soundtracks available for 70 mm film release prints, and productions shot in either 65 mm or to save money, in 35 mm and then blown up to 70 mm. In these instances,
10578-692: The same year, twenty-five years before that method became the standard for stereo phonograph discs. These discs used the two walls of the groove at right angles in order to carry the two channels. In 1934, Blumlein recorded Mozart 's Jupiter Symphony conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham at Abbey Road Studios in London using his vertical-lateral technique. Much of the development work on this system for cinematic use did not reach completion until 1935. In Blumlein's short test films (most notably, "Trains at Hayes Station", which lasts 5 minutes 11 seconds, and, "The Walking & Talking Film"), his original intent of having
10701-763: The screen and re-open the drive-in. There have been a few drive-in theaters in Finland, one of the first at the Keimola Motor Stadium in the late 1960s, while the latest in Kaarina in 2017, and in Turku and Vantaa in 2020. Germany's first drive-in theater, the Gravenbruch, opened in April 1960 in a suburb of Frankfurt with a screening of The King and I . The only other drive-ins in Europe at
10824-504: The screen). At the same time, food trucks are often used as concession stands. However, unlike the "guerrilla" format, this type of drive-in also generally presents mainstream fare, current releases, and popular classics. A key feature of this format is the focus on the "vintage" aesthetics of the drive-in. Faced with the closure of Hull's Drive-In in Lexington, Virginia in 1999, the nonprofit group Hull's Angels formed to raise funds, buy
10947-635: The screen, two surround channels in the rear of the theater, plus a sync track to interlock the four machines, which were specially outfitted with aircraft servo-motors made by Ampex . The advent of multitrack magnetic tape and film recording of this nature made high-fidelity synchronized multichannel recording more technically straightforward, though costly. By the early 1950s, all of the major studios were recording on 35 mm magnetic film for mixing purposes, and many of these so-called individual angles still survive, allowing for soundtracks to be remixed into stereo or even surround. In April 1953, while This
11070-701: The screening of silent films from their vehicles. In the 1920s " outdoor movies " became a popular summer entertainment, but relatively few "drive-in" experiments were made due to logistical difficulties. The drive-in theater was patented in Camden, New Jersey , by chemical company magnate Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr. , whose family owned and operated the R.M. Hollingshead Corporation chemical plant in Camden. In 1932, Hollingshead conducted outdoor theater tests in his driveway at 212 Thomas Avenue in Riverton. After nailing
11193-434: The shows. A combination of these factors was creating difficulties for the drive-ins to compete with the growing indoor cinemas. The runaway inflation and real estate interest rate hikes in the late 1970s and early 1980s made the large tracts of land used by drive-ins increasingly expensive and thus far too valuable for continued use as drive-ins. Many drive-ins operated solely on weekends, while some were open only during
11316-486: The signal is known as a pan-pot (panoramic potentiometer). By combining multiple pan-potted mono signals together, a complete, yet entirely artificial, sound field can be created. In technical usage, true stereo means sound recording and sound reproduction that uses stereographic projection to encode the relative positions of objects and events recorded. During two-channel stereo recording, two microphones are placed in strategically chosen locations relative to
11439-430: The somewhat disconcerting effect of the actor being on one side of the screen whilst his voice appeared to come from the other. Blumlein declared to his wife that he had found a way to make the sound follow the actor across the screen. The genesis of these ideas is uncertain, but he explained them to Isaac Shoenberg in the late summer of 1931. His earliest notes on the subject are dated 25 September 1931, and his patent had
11562-454: The sound follow the actor was fully realized. In the United States, Harvey Fletcher of Bell Laboratories was also investigating techniques for stereophonic recording and reproduction. One of the techniques investigated was the wall of sound , which used an enormous array of microphones hung in a line across the front of an orchestra. Up to 80 microphones were used, and each fed a corresponding loudspeaker, placed in an identical position, in
11685-405: The sound source, with both recording simultaneously. The two recorded channels will be similar, but each will have distinct time-of-arrival and sound-pressure-level information. During playback, the listener's brain uses those subtle differences in timing and sound level to triangulate the positions of the recorded objects. Since each microphone records each wavefront at a slightly different time,
11808-469: The sound system developed for House of Wax , dubbed WarnerPhonic, was a combination of a 35 mm fully coated magnetic film that contained the audio tracks for left, center and right speakers, interlocked with the two dual-strip Polaroid system projectors, one of which carried a mono optical surround track and one that carried a mono backup track use in the event anything should go wrong. Only two other films featured this unique hybrid WarnerPhonic sound:
11931-604: The spring and summer months; drive-ins were also frequently subject to poor attendance or cancellations due to adverse weather. By the late 1980s, the total number of drive-ins still operating in the United States and Canada fell to less than two hundred. In addition to the large amount of land drive-in theaters occupy, older drive-ins were now showing their age and many required improvements or replacement of their infrastructure ; many owners were not willing to make further investment in repairs and improvements and growing land prices were also making it difficult to invest in and maintain
12054-406: The term stereophonic also applies to systems with more than two channels or speakers such as quadraphonic and surround sound . Binaural sound systems are also stereophonic . Stereo sound has been in common use since the 1970s in entertainment media such as broadcast radio, recorded music, television, video cameras , cinema, computer audio, and internet. The word stereophonic derives from
12177-534: The time were in Rome, Italy and Madrid , Spain. In 1919, Athens, Greece opened their first outdoor theater that eventually led to the popularity of drive-in theaters in the 1970s. Three years before then, two men displayed a short silent film on a wall of the city. Greece's first drive-in theater began construction in 1960 near Varibobi , a suburb of Athens , and was planned to open in August 1961. Viewers today have
12300-425: The title "Improvements in and relating to Sound-transmission, Sound-recording and Sound-reproducing Systems". The application was dated 14 December 1931, and was accepted on 14 June 1933 as UK patent number 394,325 . The patent covered many ideas in stereo, some of which are used today and some not. Some 70 claims include: Blumlein began binaural experiments as early as 1933, and the first stereo discs were cut later
12423-491: The tower itself, which caused a sound delay affecting patrons at the rear of the drive-in's field. In 1935, the Pico Drive-in Theater attempted to solve this problem by having a row of speakers in front of the cars. In 1941, RCA introduced in-car speakers with individual volume controls which solved the noise pollution issue and provided satisfactory sound to drive-in patrons. Just before World War II , 9 of
12546-500: The two telephones, the sound takes a special character of relief and localization which a single receiver cannot produce... This phenomenon is very curious, it approximates to the theory of binauricular audition, and has never been applied, we believe, before to produce this remarkable illusion to which may almost be given the name of auditive perspective. This two-channel telephonic process was commercialized in France from 1890 to 1932 as
12669-464: The vertical plane of recording on disc had the higher fidelity, it was decided to record vertically to produce higher-fidelity recordings on these new materials, for two reasons, the increase in fidelity by avoiding the lateral rumble and to create incompatibility with home phonographs which, with their lateral-only playback systems, would only produce silence from a vertically modulated disc. After 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 RPM recording had been perfected for
12792-462: The wavefronts are out of phase ; as a result, constructive and destructive interference can occur if both tracks are played back on the same speaker. This phenomenon is known as phase cancellation . Coincident-pair microphone arrangements produce stereo recordings with minimal phase difference between channels. Clément Ader demonstrated the first two-channel audio system in Paris in 1881, with
12915-489: The world, the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop (opened 1963), doubles as the world's largest daily flea market. There is a renewed interest in drive-in theaters among North American moviegoers. This trend was more apparent in 2020 through 2022. In 2020 Drive-in theaters in North America accounted for 85 to 95 percent of the box office revenue according to a 2021 article from CNN . The article also claims that
13038-535: Was Walt Disney's Fantasia , released in November 1940, for which a specialized sound process ( Fantasound ) was developed. As in the Carnegie Hall demonstrations six months earlier, Fantasound used a separate film containing four optical soundtracks. Three of the tracks were used to carry left, center and right audio, while the fourth track carried three tones which individually controlled the volume level of
13161-616: Was a widescreen process featuring three separate 35 mm motion picture films plus a separate sound film running in synchronization with one another at 26 fps, adding one picture panel each to the viewer's left and right at 45-degree angles, in addition to the usual front and center panel, creating a truly immersive panoramic visual experience, comparable in some ways to today's curved screen IMAX OMNI . The Cinerama audio soundtrack technology, developed by Hazard E. Reeves , utilized seven discrete sound tracks on full-coat magnetic 35 mm film. The system featured five main channels behind
13284-420: Was achieved by making the recordings in the form of three motion picture soundtracks recorded on a single piece of film with a fourth track being used to regulate volume expansion. This was necessary due to the limitations of dynamic range on optical motion picture film of the period, however, the volume compression and expansion were not fully automatic, but were designed to allow manual studio enhancement ; i.e.,
13407-452: Was also popular among young people to meet up and have sex, smoke marijuana and drink alcohol. It was appealing to young people as it allowed them to express freedom and liberty they would otherwise lack at home. At their height, some drive-ins used attention-grabbing gimmicks to boost attendance. They ranged from drawings for prizes and free admission, small airplane runways, helicopter or hot air balloon rides, unusual attractions such as
13530-452: Was also reliant upon varying local ordinances controlling such material. It also required a relatively remote location away from the heavier populated areas of towns and cities. By the late 1970s, many drive-in theaters were showing mainly B movies , older second-run films and low-rated films from the movie industry. While movie rental fees were increasing, the film industry was also expecting drive-in theaters to maintain prolonged time to run
13653-456: Was also reserved for dramas with a strong reliance on sound effects or music, such as The Graduate . The Westrex Stereo Variable-Area system was developed in 1977 for Star Wars , and was no more expensive to manufacture in stereo than it was for mono. The format employs the same Western Electric/Westrex/Nuoptix RA-1231 recorder, and coupled with QS quadraphonic matrixing technology licensed to Dolby Labs from Sansui, this system can produce
13776-578: Was an air of informality that was appealing to people of all ages, but specifically to families. The drive-in's success was rooted in its reputation of being a family-friendly place. Parents were able to bring their children to the theater, often in pajamas, without worrying about bothering other movie-goers and were also able to spend time together without paying the expenses of babysitters. Drive-ins catered to their known audience, offering luxuries such as bottle warmers and diaper vending machines, and later miniature golf courses, swimming pools, and even motels on
13899-417: Was capable of being retrofitted into existing theaters. CinemaScope 55 was created by the same company in order to use a larger form of the system (55 mm instead of 35 mm) to allow for greater image clarity onscreen, and was supposed to have had 6-track stereo instead of four. However, because the film needed a new, specially designed projector, the system proved impractical, and the two films made in
14022-677: Was delivered by Western Electric. Several samples of 55 mm sound prints can be found in the Sponable Collection at the Film and Television Archives at Columbia University . The subsequently abandoned 55/35 mm Century projector eventually became the Century JJ 70/35MM projector. After this disappointing experience with their proprietary CinemaScope 55 mm system, Fox purchased the Todd-AO system and re-engineered it into
14145-567: Was generally five dollars. As revenue was more limited than regular theaters since showings could only begin at twilight, there were abortive attempts to create suitable conditions for daylight viewing, such as large tent structures, but nothing viable was developed. One of the largest drive-in theaters was the Johnny All-Weather Drive-In in Copiague, New York . Covering over 29 acres, it could park 2,500 vehicles. It had
14268-506: Was given U.S. patent 1,909,537 on May 16, 1933. Hollingshead's drive-in opened in New Jersey on June 6, 1933, at 2901 Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Pennsauken Township , a short distance from Cooper River Park where the first commercial airport to serve Philadelphia was located – Central Airport. Rosemont Avenue now runs through where the theater was and is currently the site of Zinman Furs. It offered 400 slots and
14391-532: Was on hand to try out the new technology, recording onto a special proprietary nine-track sound system at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, during the making of the movie One Hundred Men and a Girl for Universal Pictures in 1937, after which the tracks were mixed down to one for the final soundtrack. A year later, MGM started using three tracks instead of one to record the musical selections of movie soundtracks, and very quickly upgraded to four. One track
14514-559: Was part of an all-Russian program including Mussorgsky 's Pictures at an Exhibition in the Ravel orchestration, excerpts of which were also recorded in stereo. Bell Laboratories gave a demonstration of three-channel stereophonic sound on April 27, 1933, with a live transmission of the Philadelphia Orchestra from Philadelphia to Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. over multiple Class A telephone lines. Leopold Stokowski, normally
14637-493: Was present at the demonstration, commented that it was "marvellous" but "somehow unmusical because of the loudness." "Take that Pictures at an Exhibition ", he said. "I didn't know what it was until they got well into the piece. Too much 'enhancing', too much Stokowski." In 1937, Bell Laboratories in New York City gave a demonstration of two-channel stereophonic motion pictures, developed by Bell Labs and Electrical Research Products, Inc. Once again, conductor Leopold Stokowski
14760-431: Was run separately through the plating process, lined up to match, and subsequently mounted in a press. The dual-sided stereo disc was then played vertically, first in a system that featured two tonearms on the same post facing one another. The system had trouble keeping the two tonearms in their respective synchronous revolutions. Five years later, Bell Labs was experimenting with a two-channel lateral-vertical system, where
14883-766: Was the Liberation Drive-In in Oakland, California , which sought to reclaim under-used urban spaces such as vacant parking lots in the downtown area. The following years have had a rise of the "guerrilla drive-in" movement, in which groups of dedicated individuals orchestrate similar outdoor film and video screenings. Showings are often organized online, and participants meet at specified locations to watch films projected on bridge pillars or warehouses. The content featured at these screenings has frequently been independent or experimental films, cult movies, or otherwise alternative programming. Aside from Oakland's Liberation,
15006-597: Was used for dialogue, two for music, and one for sound effects. The very first two-track recording MGM made (although released in mono) was "It Never Rains But What It Pours" by Judy Garland , recorded on June 21, 1938, for the movie Love Finds Andy Hardy . In the early 1940s, composer-conductor Alfred Newman directed the construction of a sound stage equipped for multichannel recording for 20th Century Fox studios. Several soundtracks from this era still exist in their multichannel elements, some of which have been released on DVD, including How Green Was My Valley , Anna and
15129-428: Was used for the first time in films, most motion pictures – even some from which stereophonic soundtrack albums were made, such as Zeffirelli 's Romeo and Juliet – were still released in monaural sound, stereo being reserved almost exclusively for expensive musicals such as West Side Story , My Fair Lady and Camelot , or epics such as Ben-Hur and Cleopatra . Stereo
#93906