Azimuth Co-ordinator used by Pink Floyd VA

The Azimuth Co-ordinator was the first panning control for a

quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...

sound system, at that time a new concept.

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

became the first band to use it in their early shows. The Azimuth Co-ordinator uses four rotary

rheostat A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. The measuring instrume ...

s housed in a large box. The rheostats were converted from their standard 270 degrees rotation to operate over the narrower 90 degree range imposed by the physical constraints of the control lever with the box top aperture. The system was operated using two joysticks, which allowed an

audio signal An audio signal is a representation of sound, typically using either a changing level of electrical voltage for analog signals, or a series of binary numbers for digital signals. Audio signals have frequencies in the audio frequency range of r ...

to be panned between up to six

loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or " ...

s placed around the hall. The Azimuth Co-ordinator was operated by keyboardist

Rick Wright Richard William Wright (28 July 1943 – 15 September 2008) was an English musician who was a co-founder of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He played keyboards and sang, appearing on almost every Pink Floyd album and performing on a ...

. As he operated the joystick, the source of the sound moved from speaker to speaker around the auditorium. With the controls in the central position, the sound output would be equal in all speakers. It was constructed by a technical engineer Bernard Speight at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios. The original was stolen after the first concert in

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The ...

in London, England. A second was built for the concert at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

in London on 14 April 1969. It had two pan pots and four channels. Lost for many years it was found under the aegis of London's

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, and displayed as part of their Theatre Collections gallery from March 2009. It is also included as part of the V&A's 2017 ''

Their Mortal Remains ''Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains'' is a touring exhibition of the history of the British rock band Pink Floyd, opening on 13 May 2017 (with a museum members' Private view, preview on 12 May) at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Engl ...

'' exhibition.

References

* ''The New Musical Express Book of Rock'', 1975, Star Books,

External links

Pink Floyd's Azimuth Co-ordinator on show at V&A Museum

12 May 1967: Pink Floyd Astounds With 'Sound in the Round'V & A Museum Object No. S.294-1980, Sound equipment, Azimuth co-ordinator
{{Pink Floyd Sound production technology Pink Floyd