Spatial Audio Summer Seminar

This intensive seminar offers musicians, composers, audio engineers, and programmers the rare opportunity to study the fundamentals of multi-channel spatial audio in pristine acoustic environments. Participants will experience multiple large spatial audio systems, including Wave Field Synthesis, High-Order Ambisonics, and Binaural audio.

Researcher Markus Noisternig (IRCAM), professor Chris Chafe (Stanford), Rama Gottfried, and other guests will join EMPAC’s audio staff in dissecting technical and artistic concerns in the creation and presentation of high-count multi-channel sound projection. Using the full capabilities of EMPAC’s sonic infrastructure, including over 700 channels of audio and EMPAC’s Wave Field Synthesis array, the seminar will consist of lectures, roundtables, listening sessions, workshops, and performances.

The first week of the seminar is an open forum for participants of all backgrounds and experience levels to dive into general concepts, workflows, and control mechanisms related to spatial audio. Topics will include introductory, intermediate, and advanced patching for IRCAM’s SPAT software, in-depth discussions of Wave Field Synthesis, Ambisonics, Binaural and Transaural audio, 3D audio recording and mixing, and more. The second week of the seminar is a wave field synthesis workshop giving a limited number of participants focused time and hands-on access to the system in order to develop new creative work.

WAVE FIELD SYNTHESIS

EMPAC’s Wave Field Synthesis array was constructed in 2016 and consists of 558 independently controllable speakers spread across 18 portable and reconfigurable modules.

VENUES

The workshop will take place throughout the EMPAC building, granting participants access to a range of sophisticated audio systems in a variety of acoustic settings. Three venues will be outfitted with high-channel-count audio arrays, including:

• 1,200-seat Concert Hall
  with 64-channel Ambisonic array.
• Large absorptive studio
  (66’x51’x33’; 315m2, 12m high) with two 186-channel Wave Field Synthesis arrays (one frontal linear array and one overhead linear array) and 25-channel Ambisonic array.
• Large diffusive studio
  (44’x55’x18’; 230m2, 9m high) with 186-channel Wave Field Synthesis Array. 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

MONDAY, JULY 9

Introduction with Markus Noisternig
EMPAC WFS array demo
Object Based Audio with Markus Noisternig and Rama Gottfried.

TUESDAY, JULY 10

Talk with Chris Chafe
Panoramix with Markus Noisternig
Intro to Spat with Rama Gottfried
Listening Session and Q&A time
Okkyung Lee will perform a piece presented by Markus Noisternig using the WFS array

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11

Overhead Wave Field Synthesis with Bobby McElver
Intermediate SPAT Patching with Rama Gottfried
Tour with EMPAC’s Audio team

THURSDAY, JULY 12

Demos in Spatial Audio Recording/Room Impulse Responses
Jens Meyer will give a talk/demo of the EigenMike
Listening Session
Advanced Spat Patching with Rama Gottfried
Tour with EMPAC’s Audio team

FRIDAY, JULY 13

Binaural to Ambisonic workflows
Listening Session
Edgar Choueiri TransAural talk/demo
Roundtable discussion

VIDEO ARCHIVE

Media

click the top right menu icon to open playlist of 12 videos.