Surround sound is primarily intended for movies and television. The movies immerse you in the action by placing environmental sounds all around you. And it's not always just action and sound effects. For instance, one of the most convincing uses of surround sound I ever heard was on an episode of The X Files, where there were some scenes in a prison cell. The surround speakers carried the ambient reverb of the dialogue, giving the room a "depth" that regular stereo couldn't do. It made you feel like you were sitting in the cell with the characters. It was eerily effective.

At the current time, most musical artists are not concentrating on surround sound very much as it relates to recorded music.

However, that doesn't mean that you can't get creative with multi-channel sound. You might not want to sit in the woodwinds during a classical performance, but imagine a more interesting scenario: The spooky sound effects in Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" coming from behind you. For instance, the beginning of "Time" could sound like you were sitting inside the clock shop when all the clocks went off.

The studio recording of Dark Side of the Moon isn't recorded in surround sound, but when I saw Pink Floyd perform a live show, they did have rear speakers in the arena and did make use of them for sound effects and other interesting things.

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Tony Fabris