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Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 53 – Ulli Scuda & Philipp Eibl (MPEG-H)

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by head of the SoundLab group Ulli Scuda and research engineer Philipp Eibl at Fraunhofer IIS, over Zoom from Bavaria, Germany.

Ulli Scuda got a Tonmeister degree at the Film University Potsdam-Babelsberg where he also got his PhD. His experience covers sound recording, sound design and mixing for various film and music formats, ranging from binaural up to 22.2. He was a visiting lecturer at the Ansbach University of Applied Sciences. Today he heads the SoundLab group in the audio department at Fraunhofer IIS where he researches 3D-Audio production and reproduction technologies, as well as microphone arrays and production workflows. His main expertise is immersive audio production, interactive and object-based audio.

Philipp Eibl is a research engineer for Fraunhofer IIS, specializing in Next Generation Audio and the development of NGA production tools in particular.  Together with his colleagues, he mixes content for interactive and immersive experiences and advises industry partners on how they can integrate object-based audio production into their workflows.    Philipp joined Fraunhofer after studying Multimedia Art as well as Media Technology and Production in Salzburg and Amberg and interning in music and broadcast production.  His years of employment in a radio broadcast at the Bayerischer Rundfunk gave him first-hand experience and knowledge of the day-to-day work in both production and live broadcast environments at one of Germany’s largest radio stations.

In this episode, we discuss and compare new generation spatial audio codec MPEG-H and associated authoring tools for its ecosystem.

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Show Notes

Fraunhofer Institute – https://www.fraunhofer.de/en.html

MPEG-H Audio – https://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/en/ff/amm/broadcast-streaming/mpegh.html

Sony 360 Reality Audio – https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/360-reality-audio

Sony 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite – https://360ra.com/product/360-reality-audio-creative-suite/

MPEG-H Authoring Suite – https://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/en/ff/amm/broadcast-streaming/mpegh-audio-production-tools.html

Spatial Audio Designer – https://newaudiotechnology.com/products/spatial-audio-designer/

ADM – https://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/en/ff/amm/dl/whitepapers/adm-profile.html

Our Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast and would like to show your support please consider becoming a Patreon. Not only are you supporting us, but you will also get special access to bonus content and much more.

Find out more on our official Patreon page – https://www.patreon.com/immersiveaudiopodcast

We thank you kindly in advance!

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Emma Rees and included music by Rhythm Scott.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 52 – Monica Bolles (Spatial Audio for Domes & Planetariums)

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel and Bjørn Jacobsen are joined by sound artist Monica Bolles from Denver, US.

Monica Bolles has been working with spatial audio since 2011 when she first gained access to her local planetarium’s 15.1 channel surround system. Since then she has been continuously building toolsets in Max MSP to create large textured soundscapes that explore space, movement, and interaction. Tapping into her roots in traditional audio engineering she works with composers and live performers to explore methods of translating their work to spatial environments while exploring the role the audio engineer plays as a performer and musician. As an artist, she has been focusing on building custom instruments that explore data sonification and use gestural control to create improvised spatial audio experiences. As a producer, she puts together teams to build large immersive works that bring together live performance, dance, 360-projections, spatial audio, and other new technologies.  She is also a presenter and host of workshops in her field and has performed in this capacity at SXSW (2019) Ableton Loop (2018), IMERSA Summit (2013-2019), and NIME (2017-2018), among others. Currently, she owns and operates her own company, Resonant Interactions, specializing in immersive experience design.

In this episode, we dive into the topic of spatial audio for domes and planetariums, and Monica expertly covers multiple aspects of this re-emerging industry.

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Show Notes

Unreal Engine 5 – https://www.unrealengine.com

Meta Sounds – https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.0/en-US/AudioFeatures/MetaSounds/

Dolby Atmos for Music – https://www.dolby.com/music/

Monica Bolles – http://www.monicabolles.com

Resonant Interactions – http://www.resonantinteractions.com

N/TOPIA – https://vimeo.com/392358059

Orbits – https://vimeo.com/360311936

Collision – https://vimeo.com/437903790

SPAT Revolution – https://www.flux.audio/project/spat-revolution/

IRCAM – https://www.ircam.fr/

Our Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast and would like to show your support please consider becoming a Patreon. Not only are you supporting us, but you will also get special access to bonus content and much more.

Find out more on our official Patreon page – https://www.patreon.com/immersiveaudiopodcast

We thank you kindly in advance!

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Emma Rees and included music by Rhythm Scott.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 51 – Kaushik Sunder (Embody)

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by the Director of Engineering at Embody – Kaushik Sunder, from San Francisco, US.

Kaushik Sunder currently heads the overall Engineering efforts and also leads the Audio and Acoustics Research Team at EMBODY.  Kaushik has spent a great deal of his research career in the field of 3D Audio and Psychoacoustics. Over the last few years, his research has focussed on understanding the importance of personalized HRTFs particularly for headphone playback of spatial audio.   Prior to working at Embody, Kaushik served as a role of Research Scientist at Ossic and as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Sound Recording Department, Schulich School of Music at McGill University. He is also a visiting research scientist at the Human factors department at NASA Ames Research Center. Kaushik received his PhD from the Digital Signal Processing Laboratory, NTU Singapore. He has regularly authored articles appearing in the Journal of Acoustical Society of America, IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, Journal of Audio Engineering Society, and AES International Conventions.

In this episode, we dive deep into the topic of personalised listening for spatial audio, and Kaushik expertly explains the science behind personalised HRTF and the advantages of its usage in the studio.

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Show Notes

Kaushik Sunder – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaushik-sunder-9445b314/

Embody – https://embody.co/

This Is Your Brain On Music Book – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Your_Brain_on_Music

NASA AMES Research Centre – https://www.nasa.gov/ames

Ossic – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/248983394/ossic-x-the-first-3d-audio-headphones-calibrated-t

Audeze – https://www.audeze.com/

Ambi Decoder – https://new.steinberg.net/immerse/

Our Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast and would like to show your support please consider becoming a Patreon. Not only are you supporting us, but you will also get special access to bonus content and much more.

Find out more on our official Patreon page – https://www.patreon.com/immersiveaudiopodcast

We thank you kindly in advance!

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Emma Rees and included music by Rhythm Scott.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 50 – Henrik Oppermann, Jean-Pascal Beaudoin and Viktor Phoenix

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by industry practitioners Henrik Oppermann, Jean-Pascal Beaudoin and Viktor Phoenix. Based on decades of combined experience of creative practice in the field of spatial audio for immersive media we discuss current affairs and reflect on the progress and prospects for the industry as a whole.

Henrik  Oppermann

Henrik Oppermann (M.Mus.) is a leading 3D sound specialist. Formerly Head of Sound at Visualise, he brings with him over 10 years of experience of recording studio-quality audio on location for film, advertising, music industry clients and 3D sound installations.   Since joining Visualise in 2014, Henrik has worked on over 80 virtual reality projects, capturing 3D audio in a number of challenging environments, including low flying military aircraft, formula one race cars, refugee camps, mountain peaks and concert halls around the world.   An expert in his field, Henrik has developed hardware and software audio applications for VR collaboration with leading sound partners, to deliver the best possible immersive sound.   For example with Sennheiser, Henrik was involved in the early stages of the development of the AMBEO VR mic and has kept close interaction with the AMBEO team since then. He is featured in the education video series covering how to record and mix with the AMBEO VR mic. Henrik sees the 360 image as a score for interactive soundscapes and has developed a number of unique workflows to deliver the best possible immersive sound experiences.

Viktor Phoenix

Partner & Head of Sound, Headspace Studio Los Angeles. Viktor believes in a vision of the future where everything you experience digitally is more immersive, more emotional, and more meaningful when what you see and do has a deep connection to what you hear.  He is a creative and technical audio director with expertise in interactive audio, sound design, and spatial audio for immersive media and a passion for non-linear and reactive storytelling.  Phoenix has collaborated on XR projects with talented partners at companies like Wevr, Artie, MPC, Sony Pictures, The Mill, MAP Design Lab, Annapurna Pictures, With.in, The New York Times, Kite & Lightning, ETC@USC, TNT, Lionsgate, Cloudhead Games, and ThreeOneZero, including Documentary Emmy®-nominated The Click Effect, ADR1FT — winner of the 2016 award for Sound Mixing in VR from The National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, and Insurgent – Shatter Reality VRE — nominated for Best Sound Design at the 2015 Proto Awards.   Phoenix was previously Sound Supervisor for the Sound Lab at Technicolor and held senior positions at AAA game developers Pandemic Studios, an Electronic Arts-owned developer, and Turtle Rock Studios

Jean-Pascal Beaudoin

Co-founder & President, Headspace Studio Head of Sound, Headspace Studio Montreal     Jean-Pascal believes in a vision of the future where everything you experience digitally is more immersive, more emotional, and more meaningful — because of what you hear.  With extensive experience in audio post-production and music score supervision and driven by a combined passion for cinematic storytelling and immersive audio technology, he established himself as a creative pioneer in the emerging field of spatial audio for XR.  With Headspace Studio, Jean-Pascal has worked with high-profile creative partners on VR projects such as the Emmy Award-winning The People’s House: Inside the White House with Barack and Michelle Obama, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs: Behind the Scenes, Jurassic World: Blue, Traveling While Black by Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams, Gloomy Eyes with Colin Farrell, and the Space Explorers franchise partly shot aboard the International Space Station and adapted for 360 3D VR video, full-dome, theatrical, and an immersive exhibition.

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Show Notes

Headspace Studio – https://headspacestudio.com/

Schallgeber – https://www.schallgeber.com/

Felix & Paul – https://www.felixandpaul.com/

Olympic Studios Cinema – https://www.olympiccinema.co.uk/

NASA Project – https://time.com/space-explorers/

Mahler Chamber Orchestra – https://mahlerchamber.com/

Symphony VR with Gustavo Dudamel and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra – https://www.schallgeber.com/symphony-vr

Ambeo Cube – https://en-us.sennheiser.com/ambeo-blueprints-loudspeakers

MKH800 Twin Microphone – https://en-us.sennheiser.com/studio-condenser-microphone-stereo-surround-mkh-800-twin-ni

Our Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast and would like to show your support please consider becoming a Patreon. Not only are you supporting us, but you will also get special access to bonus content and much more.

Find out more on our official Patreon page – https://www.patreon.com/immersiveaudiopodcast

We thank you kindly in advance!

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Emma Rees and included music by Rhythm Scott.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 48 – Andy Slater

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel and Bjørn Jacobsen are joined by sound artist and disability advocate – Andy Slater from Chicago, US.

Andy Slater is a Chicago based media artist and disability advocate. He is the founder of the Society of Visually Impaired Sound Artists and director of the Sound As Sight accessible field recording project. His current work features the sounds of antiquated assistive technology, field recordings, spatial audio design for virtual and augmented reality, video games, and films. He works with analogue and FM synthesis in his sound design process with a lean towards retro-futurism, Classic sci-fi and video game sound, and blurry analogue tape charm. Andy has a masters in Sound Arts and Industries from Northwestern University and holds a BFA from the School Of the Art Institute of Chicago.

In this episode, Andy shares his unique journey full of frustrating battles and success stories. You will hear excerpts of Andy’s conceptual artwork and find out about his mission of making the world of audio tech for blind and visually impaired people more accessible.

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Show Notes

Dear VR Micro Plugin  – https://www.dearvr.com/products/dearvr-micro

EPOS GTW 270 Hybrid – https://www.eposaudio.com/en/gb/gaming/products/gtw-270-hybrid-low-latency-connection-bluetooth-gaming-headset-1000230

Andy Slater Website – https://www.thisisandyslater.net/

Shure Motiv Recording App – https://www.shure.com/en-GB/products/software/shure_plus_motiv

Microsoft Soundscape – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/product/soundscape/

Apogee  MetaRecorder App – https://apogeedigital.com/products/metarecorder

The Last of Us – https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/the_last_of_us_part_ii

Our Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast and would like to show your support please consider becoming a Patreon. Not only are you supporting us, but you will also get special access to bonus content and much more.

Find out more on our official Patreon page – https://www.patreon.com/immersiveaudiopodcast

We thank you kindly in advance!

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Emma Rees and included music by Rhythm Scott.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 46 – Alan Sallabank (8dB Sound)

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel and Bjørn Jacobsen are joined by Dubbing Mixer and owner of 8dB Sound – Alan Sallabank from Bristol, UK.

Alan Sallabank is a sound engineer with over three decades of professional experience in post-production. From an early age, he has been fascinated by the power of sound to communicate a story, be it musically or spoken, factual or scripted. He has built his own equipment, designed and built mix rooms and foley/ADR facilities, and developed workflows. Whenever new equipment or software arrives, he is always looking at how it can be made to do more than it says on the tin.

Since 2013 Alan has run and owned 8dB Sound – an independent post-production facility, now located near Bristol, UK. He specialises in immersive digital audio and remote workflow, but still has a very weak spot for classic seventies turntables.

In this episode, Alan shares his experience on best practice for remote working and collaboration for audio as well as the evolution of immersive audio in traditional broadcast and TV media.

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Show Notes

Alan Sallabank

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-sallabank-a232676/?originalSubdomain=uk

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0758521/

8dB Sound – www.8dB.co.uk

Sony 360 Reality Audio – https://www.sony.net/Products/create360RA/?j-short=create360RA&utm_source=website&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=AudioFutures

Source Connect – https://www.source-elements.com/products/source-connect/

Source Elements – https://www.source-elements.com/

Audio Podcast Alliance – https://www.asoundeffect.com/audio-podcast-alliance/

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Emma Rees and included music by Rhythm Scott.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 45 – Guillaume Le Nost (L-Acoustics)

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by Executive Director, and Creative Technologist at L-Acoustics Guillaume Le Nost via Zoom  from London, UK.

Driven by a passion for sound and technology, Guillaume has built a career in both the artistic and technical domains.

After getting two MScs in electrical engineering and signal processing from Ecole Centrale Paris and IRCAM, he started a research career in 3D sound, and received a PhD in Acoustics. He then performed as a professional rock musician and managed an indie music label before going on to co-found the start-up AudioGaming, a pioneer in audio synthesis technologies and French Ministry of Research award-winner.

He joined the L‑Acoustics R&D department in France in 2009 where he led projects on acoustic measurement and simulation, and developed new signal processing algorithms for integration into L‑Acoustics software and amplified controllers. Guillaume moved to London in 2012 to head the company’s research efforts into immersive audio for live sound. Since then, L-ISA object-based audio technology has been deployed in more than 5000 live shows, from clubs to arenas across the world, with artists such as Aerosmith, Lady Gaga, Bon Iver, Alt-J, or the BBC Proms.

In this episode, Guillaume talks about how the live sound industry is undergoing a quiet revolution by adapting immersive audio and how their latest L-ISA technology empowers sound engineers to break through long standing conventions.

The binaural audio excerpt by Molecule from the Acousmatic 360 tour, performed live at “Printemps de Bourges” with a 12.1 system. The spatialization is done in real-time using L-ISA by a live mixing engineer Herve Dejardin.

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Show Notes

L-Acoustics – https://www.l-acoustics.com

L-ISA – https://l-isa-immersive.com/

L-ISA Controller – https://www.l-acoustics.com/fr/produit/l-isa-controller/

L-Acoustics Soundvision – https://www.l-acoustics.com/en/software/soundvision-presentation/

We Make Events Initiative – https://www.wemakeevents.com/

Owl Project – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marser/owl-programmable-effects-pedal

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Michelle Chan with the help of Emma Rees and included music by Knobs Bergamo.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 42 – Kedar Shashidhar

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by technical sound designer and XR evangelist Kedar Shashidhar via Zoom from LA, US.

Kedar Shashidhar is an XR creator with a focus on spatial audio design and technologies. With a focus on creative research and development, he has worked to help develop new tools, create content, and explore the boundaries of audio in new realities. Most notably he has contributed to the development of various audio toolsets including Steam Audio, Ossic, and Magic Leap Soundfield Audio. He also formed an indie game studio, Blackout VR, focused on developing audio-only games. Kedar is also an active voice for audio in new realities having previously spoken at Audio Engineering Society, GameSoundCon, Indiecade, and more. In his time at Magic Leap, Kedar was working on bringing the newest innovations in mixed reality audio to content creators in order to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible for audio in new realities. Currently, Kedar is working on the next generation of virtual venues and concerts in XR with Stage XR.

In this episode, Kedar speaks candidly about his time at Steam Audio, Ossic and Magic Leap, whilst sharing insights on cutting edge tool development for spatial audio and gives personal advice on how to keep high-level creativity and performance whilst maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

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Show Notes

Kedar Shashidhar – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kedarshashidhar/

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 28 – Audio For Augmented Reality – https://www.1618digital.com/immersive-audio-podcast-episode-28-audio-for-augmented-reality/

Steam Audio – https://valvesoftware.github.io/steam-audio/

Ossic – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/248983394/ossic-x-the-first-3d-audio-headphones-calibrated-t

Magic Leap – https://www.magicleap.com/en-us

Immersive Audio Podcast – Episode 4 Sally-Anne Kellaway – https://www.1618digital.com/immersive-audio-podcast-episode-4-sally-anne-kellaway/

Magic Leap Soundfield Audio – https://developer.magicleap.com/en-us/learn/guides/lumin-sdk-soundfield-audio

AirPods Pro – https://apple.co/3kOCO6h

Royal Shakespeare Experience – https://www.rsc.org.uk/events/magic-leap-seven-ages-of-man

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Michelle Chan with the help of Emma Rees and included music by Knobs Bergamo.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 40 – Bruce Wiggins & Duncan Werner (University of Derby & GASP)

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by senior academics of University of Derby Dr Bruce Wiggins and Duncan Werner via Zoom from Derbyshire, UK.

Dr Bruce Wiggins graduated with a 1st class honours in Music Technology and Audio System Design from the University of Derby in 1999.  His interest in audio signal processing spurred him to continue at Derby completing his PhD entitled “An Investigation into the Real-time Manipulation and Control of 3D Sound Fields” in 2004 where he solved the problem of generating Ambisonic decoders for irregular speaker arrays and looked at the optimisation of binaural/transaural systems.  Bruce’s research into Ambisonics has been featured as an impact case study in the national Research Excellence Framework in 2014 and will be again in 2021.  His latest work is based around the auralisation of rooms to very high order Ambisonics with head-tracking.

Duncan Werner graduated from Aston University in Electrical/Electronic Engineering in the late seventies, but as a keen musician moved towards the music industry gaining work as a recording and touring musician in the UK and Europe, subsequently being employed by the London-based Chrysalis Music Group as studio sound engineer. This was followed by postgraduate Music Technology studies at City University London. Research interests include immersive music production, in particular the GASP system (Guitars with Ambisonic Spatial Performance) based at the University of Derby. He has been programme leader for BSc Music Technology since its inception in 1995 and is currently Programme Leader for MA Music Production.

In this episode, we dive into the collaborative project GASP (Guitars with Ambisonic Spatial Performance), discuss the Sound in Space Symposium, and current research projects for immersive audio.

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Show Notes

University of Derby – https://www.derby.ac.uk/

Sound in Space – http://soundsinspace.co.uk/

Bruce Wiggins Academic Profile – http://www.derby.ac.uk/staff/bruce-wiggins

Bruce Wiggins Website – http://www.brucewiggins.co.uk/

GASP Website – Guitars with Ambisonic Spatial Performance – http://gaspproject.xyz/

GASP Paper – http://gaspproject.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GASP-paper-for-Innovation-in-Music.pdf

VLC Player – https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.en-GB.html

AmbiFreeverb 2 – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289958469_AmbiFreeverb_2_WigWare_-_Sounds_in_Space_2015

https://derby.openrepository.com/handle/10545/618606

Measured Reverbs for Ambisonics and VR – https://www.brucewiggins.co.uk/?page_id=881

Webcam Head-tracked Ambisonics (WHAM) – https://brucewiggins.co.uk/WHAM

Cat Fantastic Mix 1 (comparison mix)

CatFantasticAmbiX3rdOrder: http://gaspproject.xyz/gaspaudio/CatFantasticAmbiX3rdOrder.wav

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/111035420660669/videos/904591106728398/

HOAST: https://hoast.iem.at/play/cat_fantastic_o3

Cat Fantastic Mix 1: applies post-production timbral morphing and dynamic spatialisation. This is the first GASP binaural demo track in the podcast; the original ‘raw’ guitar is at the beginning which then morphs through timbral and spatial variations up to around 1.10 when the raw guitar returns. Performed by Jack Hooley, production by Duncan Werner and Emma Fitzmaurice. The recording has no overdubs, that is, the final production is derived from one single guitar performance. Post-production included experimenting with ‘timbral morphing’, where multiple versions of each string, each with different timbres were printed on time-synchronized parallel tracks, thus allowing crossfading between individual string timbres, then mixing together the respective tracks. The timbral morphing works well and we have now developed templates for real-time timbral morphing for live performance applications.

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Pale Aura (comparison mix)

PaleAuraAmbiX2ndOrderComparisonMix.wav: http://gaspproject.xyz/gaspaudio/PaleAuraAmbiX2ndOrderComparisonMix.wav

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GASP-Guitars-with-Ambisonic-Spatial-Performance-111035420660669/

HOAST: https://hoast.iem.at/play/pale_aura_comparison_o2

Pale Aura: performed by Dominic Dallali, production by Jack Hooley and Dominic Dallali. This is the first GASP binaural demo track in the podcast; the original ‘raw’ guitar is at the beginning which then morphs through timbral and spatial variations up to around 1.10 when the raw guitar returns. The recording has no overdubs, that is, the final production is derived from one single guitar performance. This track is the guitar part of the song Pale Aura by the band Periphery; it is in the genre of progressive metal. It turned out to be quite a dramatic production, with rapid changes in location for close temporal events. The guitar part consists of some highly syncopated timing elements, which have been mapped to rapid location switching. There is a good range of amp distortion timbres employed for different parts of the performance. A low kick drum was included to provide the listener with a sense of meter as the guitar performance which includes several syncopated elements.

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Prelude to Life (comparison mix)

PreludeToLifeAmbiX2ndOrderComparisonMix.wav

http://gaspproject.xyz/gaspaudio/PreludeToLifeAmbiX2ndOrderComparisonMix.wav

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/111035420660669/videos/637100453564316/

HOAST: https://hoast.iem.at/play/prelude_to_life_comparison_o2

Prelude to Life: composed and performed by Fred T Baker, production by Charlie Box and Duncan Werner. This is the first GASP binaural demo track in the podcast; the original ‘raw’ guitar is at the beginning which then morphs through timbral and spatial variations up to around 1.10 when the raw guitar returns. The recording has no overdubs, that is, the final production is derived from one single guitar performance. Post-production timbralisation is a mix of both NI Guitar Rig and instrument samples. Melodyne’s pitch to MIDI conversion was applied, the MIDI note events were then arranged to trigger various instrument samples e.g. orchestral strings with other sampled and synthetic sounds. Upon reflection, the timing of pitch to MIDI conversion worked very well, such that the nuances of the guitar performance are precisely captured.

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GASP is ‘Guitars with Ambisonic Spatial Performance’. The project is the design, realisation, and application of a spatial-audio guitar production system; it is aimed towards guitarists, music producers and spatial-audio sound designers. GASP is an ongoing University of Derby research project, where our interest in Ambisonic algorithmic research and guitar sound production is combined with off-the-shelf hardware and bespoke software to create an Ambisonic based immersive guitar sound system. Applications include:

Live performance as an immersive spatial sound instrument, either as a solo instrument or as part of an ensemble, for both small or large format theatre or concert systems

Audio post-production immersive sound for on-line spatial audio applications such as YouTube and Facebook 360, including Virtual Reality applications

Guitar performance analysis and tuition tool, where on-screen displays enable identification of notation and performance artefacts which provide feedback to the player

A research tool for performative applications, with significant potential for use in the Sound Arts world

We’ve recently set up a GASP page: www.gaspproject.xyz which includes links to some of our example demo GASP productions, as well as the project timeline, posters and includes our paper ‘Development of an Ambisonic Guitar System’ which was presented to ‘Innovation in Music’  conference at the University of West London in December 2019, it’s due for publication by Routledge as a book chapter sometime in 2021. https://www.routledge.com/Innovation-in-Music-Future-Opportunities/Hepworth-Sawyer-Paterson-Toulson/p/book/9780367363352

Dring, M., Wiggins, B. (2019)  The Transparency of Binaural Auralisation Using Very High Order Circular Harmonics.  Reproduced Sound 2019 – Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics, p165-173, Vol. 41. Pt. 3 2019, Bristol, UK

Wiggins, B., Dring, M., (2016) AmbiFreeVerb 2—Development of a 3D Ambisonic Reverb with Spatial Warping and Variable Scattering.  2016 AES International Conference on Sound Field Control.  University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.

Wiggins, B. (2017) Measured Reverbs for Ambisonics and VR.  Sounds in Space Research Symposium 2017, Derby, UK. (Video)

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Michelle Chan with the help of Emma Rees and included music by Knobs Bergamo.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 39 – Helen Bellringer (Solarflare Studio)

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by the creative lead at Solarflare Studio Helen Bellringer via Zoom from London, UK.

Helen is a Creative Director, specialising in the dynamic intersection where technology, humans and music meet. Having cut her teeth at MelodyVR, where she developed their original storytelling formats she now leads creative for Solarflare Studio, a pioneering creative technology agency.

In this episode, Helen talks about the importance of sonic branding, the challenges of delivering immersive music to a mass audience touching on a number of unique projects and sharing her professional career journey as she traversed creative industries.

Listen to Podcast

Show Notes

Helen Bellringer Profile – https://the-dots.com/users/helen-bellringer-604810

Grand Central Studios –  https://www.gcrs.com/

Massive Music – https://www.massivemusic.com/en

Melody VR – https://melodyvr.com/

Solarflare Studio – https://solarflarestudio.co.uk/

Wireless Festival – https://www.wirelessfestival.co.uk/

Music Discovery Month – https://the-dots.com/projects/music-discovery-month-378914

Survey

We want to hear from you! We really value our community and would appreciate it if you would take our very quick survey and help us make the Immersive Audio Podcast even better: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3Y9B2MJ Thank you!

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Michelle Chan with the help of Emma Rees and included music by Knobs Bergamo.