Monophonic Sound Recording

a method of sound recording in which acoustic vibrations from several sources, such as the instruments of an orchestra, are recorded together on the same carrier and are reproduced together through the same equipment, such as a loudspeaker. In this method, sounds coming from different sources seem to the listener to emanate from one point; this destroys the spatial perception of the sound, distorts sound perspective, changes the timbre and reverberation, and reduces the sharpness of discrimination among sounds coming from different sources. An improved method, stereophonic sound recording, is free from these defects; the newer method is gradually replacing monophonic recording.