Movies, sound and music have been together since Jolson sang, Fred and Ginger danced, and Rocky Horror went to the picture show.
While some credit digital technology for marrying the intensity of sight to the pleasure of sound, the use of music to enhance
a film’s storyline has been there from the beginning. Even the earliest “silent films” relied on piano or orchestral accompaniment to
enhance the onscreen drama. “The Jazz Singer” forever linked sound and image and the two have been inseparable since. From
the lavish musicals of Busby Berkeley to Elvis’s “Jailhouse Rock” to Gene Kelly singing in the rain to Jimmy Hendrix wailing at
“Woodstock,” movies and music have always gone hand in hand.
Even when music isn’t at the forefront, it often provides the signature that binds our emotions to a film. Think of the banjo
accompaniment in “Deliverance.” It seems simple, yet at the same time is a key part of a multilayered story. Recall the memorable
songs associated with “The Sting,” “The Godfather” and “American Graffiti.” These movies weren’t musicals, but without music
they wouldn’t have been the same.
Sometimes just a few musical notes or chords forever become a part of our movie experience. The foreboding cello stabs in Jaws
Movies and music — the marriage of audio and video.
or the tone-code pattern of “Close Encounters.” Would your vision of these films be the same without the sound bites to which they are
forever linked?
Today, sound is an essential element of every movie. Spaceships or planes fly from one corner of the screen to another.
Cars – even entire universes – explode before your eyes. Computers whir, clocks tick, engines roar, and everything has to
be positioned in the proper place to mesh seamlessly as the story unfolds on the screen.
Thanks to the use of digital audio technology, movies are better than ever. Harman Kardon uses that same technology to bring
the total sensory side of the movie experience home, whether it is the precise digital decoding for properly positioned effects and
flawless dialogue localization of an AVR or DPR, or the filmlike images from our DVD players.
Movies and music. Sound and image. The theater was once the only magical place where they came together. Now, with
Harman Kardon, you can bring that theatrical experience into your own home.
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