An unassuming building on Bush Street in San Francisco shelters Audium, billed as a theater of sculptured sound. Stan Shaff began the sound experiment more than 50 years ago. In a room that looks like a set piece from the original “Star Trek,” audience members in total darkness are immersed in what Shaff calls “sound choreography”: a cornucopia of sounds, from running water to galloping horses to electronic music.

Spacing Out

Shaff is a classically trained trumpeter who derives much of his inspiration from playing antiphonal “call and response” music. He conducted some of his earliest experiments with space and sound with the help of his friend Seymour Locks, the pioneer of rock ’n’ roll light shows.

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In the Round

Audium, at 1616 Bush, seats 49 in a circular arrangement; 176 speakers are placed throughout the room (nine are under the floor). The 45-minute show happens every Friday and Saturday; tickets are $20 (cash only).

A Circle Unbroken

Shaff has created nine sound experiences in Audium’s 51 years. He considers each new composition to be an extension of the ones before it.

Hole in the Wall

The building that houses Audium used to be a bakery with a large, novelty doughnut hanging above the entrance. Shaff tried to save the doughnut when Audium moved in, but it fell and broke.

Granted a Home

Audium began as a series of performances by Shaff and Doug McEachern, the project’s equipment designer. In 1965, they installed the sound theater in a building in the Richmond district, and then in 1972 moved it — with the help of a National Endowment for the Arts grant — into its current home.

If the Name Fits

Audium is an invented word that Shaff says they chose because it sounded like “auditorium” but seemed “newer.”

Tape Capsule

The annual San Francisco Tape Music Festival is also dedicated to presenting music in a surround-sound environment. The festival was inspired by the San Francisco Tape Music Center, which, like Audium, was founded in the 1960s.

This article also appears in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times.