A Musical Journey towards Permanent High-Density Loudspeaker Arrays A Revolution in Spatial Composition and Performance (original) (raw)
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This article presents a report on technological and aesthetic practices in the variable-acoustics performance hall, Espace de Projection, at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique. The hall is surrounded by a 350-loudspeaker array for sound-field reproduction using holophonic approaches such as wave-field synthesis and higher-order Ambisonics. First we present the design and implementation of the audio system and discuss the challenges of both hardware and software architectures. This is followed by a discussion of spatial composition techniques, aesthetic approaches, and methodologies for composing computer music for high-density loudspeaker arrays, explored through the paradigmatic examples of pieces produced by two artist-in-research residencies.
2016
Despite increasingly accessible and user-friendly multi-channel compositional tools, many composers still choose stereo formats for their work, where the compositional process is allied to diffusion performance over a `classical' loudspeaker orchestra. Although such orchestras remain common within UK institutions as well as in France, they are in decline in the rest of the world. In contrast, permanent, high-density loudspeaker arrays are on the rise, as is the practical application of 3-D audio technologies. Looking to the future, we need to reconcile the performance of historical and new stereo works, side-by-side native 3-D compositions. In anticipation of this growing need, we have designed and tested a prototype `Virtualmonium'. The Virtualmonium is an instrument for classical diffusion performance over an acousmonium emulated in higher-order Ambisonics. It allows composers to custom-design loudspeaker orchestra emulations for the performance of their works, rehearse an...
2012
The aims of this research residency were to test and evaluate the practical, perceptual and compositional use of higher order ambisonics. The work explored three main technical areas: very high order synthesised ambisonics sound-fields in 2D up to 12 th order and 3D up to 9 th order, near-field compensated higher order ambisonics and higher-order recorded sound-fields using the EigenMike. The following musical areas were investigated: distance information, enhanced spatial precision, detailed recorded sound-fields to capture accurate real-world spatial relationships and the control of sound points, motions and masses in relation to both timbre and ‘extra-musical’ meaning. The work was carried out in IRCAM’s Studio-1 installed with a 24loudspeaker hemisphere, and in the Espace de Projection, installed with a 75-loudspeaker hemisphere. Ambsionics synthesis was carried out using existing and specially implemented methods in IRCAM’s Spatialisateur. The residency period was for three mon...
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In this study of spatial organization of sound, that is of "spatialization" in music, the term "spatial" refers to the three-dimensional performance space, not to pitch. "Spatialized music," distinct both from polychoral music and from musical theatre, means music with quasi-spatial structure defined by the composer in the score or in another medium of sound coding (digital or analog recording, specific software). Spatialization includes ensemble dispersion, movement of sounds, performers and audience, juxtaposition and interaction of real and virtual sound sources – every situation in which the position of the sound sources and the acoustic quality of the performance space are given compositional significance. A classification of spatial designs in music is followed by examples illustrating three aspects of spatialization: (1) the expression or simulation of geometrical patterns in music, (2) the movement of sound, (3) the symbolic function of spatial ...
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If the medium of cinema is born of the addition of temporality to images, new trends in digital art such as architectural mapping video projection, audiovisual (A/V) performance, and new forms of immersive scenography are adding the spatial dimension to the moving image. The latest innovations in the area of digital arts are the result of an acceleration of a trend that can be historically identified through the multiple manifestations of universal expositions. Today’s digital explosion is in fact a consequence of the democratization of instruments that control light, sound, and images through increasingly sophisticated interfaces. Avant-garde artistic approaches, with their constant push toward the dematerialization of artwork, have merged with scenographic spatialization technologies. This merger of worlds has led to new A/V performance productions that reveal the emergence of a new language, namely that of audiovisual spatialization. This language leverages the creative potential of new audiovisual instruments by combining sound and light waves with the spatial component. This paper will address this new approach based on analysis of multiple case studies.
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Our initial work with the icosahedral, variable-directivity loudspeakers (ICO) has revealed new possibilities of thinking spatial music and its aesthetics. In contrast to surrounding loudspeaker systems, the ICO technically offers control of the strengths of the wall reflections that could be excited from a single performer’s location. The ICO has already been successfully employed in various compositions that were performed in concerts in different spaces and environments. Existing compositions yield sound objects that move away from the ICO into different shapes, distances, and locations in the room. This implies that the ICO orchestrates space with new composition elements in electroacoustic music, by influencing diffuse, early, and direct responses as artistic composition elements in a room. Our research project Orchestrating Space by Icosahedral Loudspeaker (OSIL) aims at understanding the inter-relation and control of these elements better, in terms of their sculptural-choreog...
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"Approaches to the multichannel spatialisation of electroacoustic music are described here with reference to musical case studies which focus upon the expressive functions of space and the theatricality of sound diffusion in an acousmatic context. A site-specific approach to spatialisation is proposed to enhance theatrical aspects of musical performance. Case studies include proposals for novel layouts of the diffusion system within the performance space and compositional techniques that are designed to re-evaluate our understanding of individual listening spaces."
2011
Presenting musical composition on a multi-channel loudspeaker configuration has now been practiced for over 60 years. Pierre Schaeffer in partnership with Pierre Henry composed a number of works, one of the works was Symphonie pour un Homme Seul (1950). The composition was presented on a tetrahedral configuration, which consisted of a frontal pair, a single rear and one elevated loudspeaker (Zvonar, 2004). This is an example of one of the first presentation of a music composition on a 3D multi-channel loudspeaker configuration. From that point onwards, many composer began to present their works on multi-channel loudspeaker configurations. One such composer, Karlheinz Stockhausen composed a number of works, which were presented on 3D speaker configurations. At the 1970 World Expo in Japan, Stockhausen helped design a spherical concert hall, which included 50 groups of loudspeakers set up in 3D (Cott, 1973). At this event a number of commissioned electroacoustic compositions were pres...
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