The Hugo Zuccarelli and Pink Floyd story

[aisfle]

Hi, first of all, this is my first contribution to this board.

I'd like to share an interview made to Hugo Zuccarelli (inventor of the Holophonic sound).

This interview took place in 2012, and published by "Diario Publicable" from Argentina (not me), which I managed to translate from spanish. The real source is this video: http://youtu.be/b7Fup8en7G4

Enjoy as much as I did!

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Hugo Zuccarelli was asked to talk about his experience with Pink Floyd during the recording of The Final Cut, and this is what he answered:

Well, after the project with Paul McCartney had failed, I lost the chance to work with other people because they were already involved with their own projects, but they offered me to contact Pink Floyd.

So I did and made them a demonstration of the holophonic sound, I placed the headphones to Roger Waters’ ears and he immediately pulled out a check and asked if I could start working the next day, I accepted, so they hired me for 10 days -When I looked at the check I did not understand the amount, it had many zeros, but I asked my friend if it was enough money and told me it was "Pretty much!"; it was about $ 40,000 sterlings for 10 days of recording-.

EMI told the band they had 10 days to finish the album, which at that point was the soundtrack for the film "The Wall". In those 10 days, the album was not finished and they (Pink Floyd) said they were going to go on vacation. At that time there was a problem: the group members were fighting and when one of them got back from his holidays, another one still didn’t and spent a month out, which the first one will get tired of waiting and went again just by the same time the other one was returning, and so on; this went on for 6 months total, fighting as "girls". When they all got back from their holidays, EMI told them that "it was too late and had to make new material" and then decided to do what we know as "The Final Cut". At that point, they told me "Hugo, we’re out of money, if you want to continue working with us, if you want to make the first use of holophonic recording on a Pink Floyd album you’ll have to work for FREE." I thought about it and finally decided to continue working with them. That was, I think, one of the biggest mistakes I made in my life, for two reasons: 1) I lost a year and a half recording with Pink Floyd, when in fact what a new technology needs is a company supporting the license and not a simple project. 2) The project gave me absolutely nothing in return, because the album was completely sabotaged by EMI: They haven’t told anyone that we were recording it with holophonic sound and also Pink Floyd decided not to record any music with it - I have wonderful masters (recorded with holophonic sound) with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen playing The Final Cut’s songs, but they decided not to use it -.

I wasted my time, when in fact what I should have done was to travel to Japan and meet Sony because they were investing in new technologies: at that time they were implementing the Compact disc, the Betamax; etc, greater technologies than USA. However, when The Final Cut was launched there was a "wave" that contradicted my technology and newspapers spoke negatively of holophonics because from what I heard later, Prince Charles had invested in other technology used to record 4 channels and using up to 26 speakers called Ambisonic which was what the British wanted to impose as "standard" and that after the Americans tried to impose as Dolby: at first it used 4 recording channels and it later became what we know as 7.1, or 9.1.

So practically having this room full of speakers to play something - and which I could replace with just 2 - was like a "dream" only because it was part of the commercial interests of the Japanese, who later ended up buying all the record companies and movie studios in the USA.

[twcc]

Thanks for the interesting story.

I must search out my "Holophonic" test album from 1983 and re-listen to those intriguingly titled tracks such as Living Room, Scotch Tape, Haircut etc

[Felix Atagong]

Only an Italian will fall for that trick. Pink Floyd saying: "We have no money, please work for us for free..." I can hear Nick Mason telling that anecdote at his local Ferrari dealer.

[FransT]

He's not Italian. HZ was born in Argentina.

[mastaflatch]

And Ferrari is an Italian company! :headexplodes:

[Felix Atagong]

Argentina? Didn't know that. Thanks!

[aisfle]

Only an Italian will fall for that trick. Pink Floyd saying: "We have no money, please work for us for free..." I can hear Nick Mason telling that anecdote at his local Ferrari dealer.

Would you say NO to Pink Floyd? It's a difficult but tentative decision at the same time...