Training Tips

Training Tips

Training Corner | Did You Know?

By Clay Wade, Assistant Global Product Line Manager
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How to take Halloween to the next level using audio!
Plus, the JBL Synthesis Webinar Series is here!

Happy Autumn, friends. Tis the season to eat, drink and, be scary! Let’s give that one a moment to sink in…

Now that we’re all settled in, our first order of business is to remind you that we have more awesome JBL Synthesis webinars approaching (scroll down to see more).

Second, let’s talk Halloween sound effects, because we work to play, right? From the humble and quirky theremin, to the low frequency rumbles that so effectively give us the eerie sense that something is coming to get us, Halloween and horror movies depend heavily on great audio to create the Ahhh!-mbience that we’re so fond of (even if you’re not a fan of puns).

The Theremin

According to polygon.com, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 film “Spellbound” was the first to use the theremin to establish an unsettling ambience, and it was quickly followed by more classics such as “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Even the way that the theremin is played without being touched evokes a certain sense of magic and mystery, adding to the mystique that these EM and capacitance-based instruments create.

Bumps, Booms, and Rumbles

Remember that scene from the original Jurassic Park where it’s raining and they’re hiding in the car and wondering where the goat went? Spoiler alert, it wasn’t to pick up the “kids.” As the T-Rex approaches, the water in the glasses is picking up the vibrations from its footfalls, and everything is quiet save for those infinitely ominous, booming “thumps.” We get chills just thinking about it! So now let’s get meta about this…imagine that scene without those low frequency booms. Imagine your favorite thunderstorm scene without the rumble of thunder. Imagine a monster from a movie growling, but then sounding like a Shih-Poo (a tiny, hypoallergenic dog) because there’s no low frequency content. Not so scary, right?

It turns out that humans have a measurable physiological response to certain low frequency sounds. Some posit that it’s because low frequency sounds are hard to locate, leading to a sense of disorientation; others, that it activates a primal fear response akin to the growl of a predator. Either way, we can play with this concept to create fun experiences

So what does one need to do if one wants to live life to the scariest in their home theater this Halloween? Here’s the super-secret, HARMAN Luxury Audio enjoyment plan that we’ve put together for you and your customers this October:

  • Step 1: Make popcorn
  • Step 2: Install a JBL Synthesis Certified Home Theater
  • Step 3: Invite some friends, hit “Play,” and let the ghoul times roll!

If you prefer warm popcorn, you may want to change up the order of the foolproof plan. But hey, you do you!

Now, onward and upward to educational growth!

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JBL Synthesis Webinar Series

Reminder: Save the date(s) for one hour sessions of JBL Synthesis educational empowerment:

I heard that the JBL Synthesis Processors & SMA Amplifiers kickoff webinar on Friday, October 3rd was pretty epic. Hosts Jesse Coyer, Dan Jones, and Cory Robertson went all out! The best part is, there are three more sessions to follow:

If you want to get even more out of an already juicy course offering, we suggest taking the following prerequisite learnings on our HARMAN University LMS prior to attendance:

 We look forward to hosting you at our sessions!

As always you may access all the training courses by clicking here.
Once you sign in, if these courses are not populated on your home page, click “Go to Courses” to sign up. Stay tuned for more next month.

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