Orchestrating Space by Icosahedral Loudspeaker

OSIL aims at something new. Something new that neither psychoacoustics has understood yet nor has it been discovered in computer music, so far. In contrast to common surrounding loudspeaker systems, the novelty lies in controlling the strengths of the wall reflections that could be excited from a single performers location. Namely an icosahedral loudspeaker (ICO) is employed as an instrument at this location. In doing so we can newly define and orchestrate space as a composition element in electroacoustic music. OSIL aims at increasing the practical and theoretical understanding of electroacoustic sound phenomena that are defined by their sculptural-choreographic nature, i.e., exhibiting localization, motion, and extent. In particular, the proposal focuses on the ICO constructed at IEM in order to project auditory objects into space, a feature that has already been successfully employed in various compositions that have been performed in concerts in different spaces and environments. The ICO is a compact playback device that uses acoustic algorithms to project sound beams into freely adjustable directions, also wall reflection leading to the listener. In the existing compositions, listeners perceive auditory objects that move away from the ICO and which can have various shapes. However, currently we can neither describe the required ingredients precisely, nor do we have good descriptions of the outcomes and their psychoacoustic background, yet. The proposed art research will be based on three core principles: (1) In a sequence of consecutive electroacoustic compositions, the sculptural-choreographic properties of sound phenomena will be examined in an empirical study. (2) Parallel to the compositional process, an explorative verbal description using a selected panel of listeners will detail the phenomena produced as to be generalizable and to enable quantitative psychoacoustic questions. Exploratory and psychoacoustic descriptions provide well- defined comprehension of the auditory objects created, enriching the art research and promoting a clear discourse with other disciplines. (3) Explanations and models are to be found that match the quantitative psychoacoustic results. Models and improvements will both enrich the software tools needed for composing and the understanding of auditory objects. The progressively informed compositional process yields a new, broader and a generalizable approach of the artistic work with sound sculptures. In doing so, the ICO will be turned into an internationally unique, mobile tool for advanced-style electroacoustic composition and sound projection into the performance situation. The interdisciplinary experiments and results are going to appear in a series of publications. The nomenclature system for sculptural-choreographic auditory objects will interconnect the disciplinary linguistic cultures of composition and psychoacoustics/audio engineering, and will be made available on a website. The compositions will be demonstrated in a moderated concert and in a concluding international workshop.

No additional funding sources recorded.