Case-Specific Electroacoustic Systems

Alejandro Montes de Oca

This composition-based project of artistic research introduces the term Case-Specific Electroacoustic Systems to describe a set of electric, digital, and acoustic devices that are interconnected in a particular way to embody a specific sound work. The artistic research states that when the sound composition process occurs in tandem with the electroacoustic system configuration and design process, a particular creative practice is engendered. The main research questions are how the development of such a system becomes another parameter of sound creation, and how this influences the artistic ideas and process elaborated around a specific sound work. In the course of the doctoral trajectory five new sound works were created and presented, thus forming the artistic portfolio of this doctoral project. Each work included the composition, design, and creation of a case-specific electroacoustic system. An introduction to the concept of Case-Specific Electroacoustic Systems, its contextualisation, and an analysis of the artistic practice and the outcomes of each of the five artworks are presented in this written thesis. The complete scope of this doctoral project, including the media material of the artistic portfolio and this artistic doctoral thesis, is contained within the exposition Case-Specific Electroacoustic Systems, published and archived in the Research Catalogue online database.

Acoustic Paths, or Senderos Acústicos in spanish, originally started in 2012 when I got a grant to explore and record the soundscape of different areas of Mexico. The objective was to explore connections between the sound pollution emanating from cities and contemporary society. Since then, Acoustic Paths has been presented in different places as sound installation, live performance and sound composition. This project has been for me an ongoing platform to explore soundscape composition, sound diffusion and field recording.

This exposition reflects upon the creative process of working in the Black Box version of Acoustic Paths focusing on how sound composition and electroacoustic system design interweave to create a specific sound work. This version was situated intentionally in the intersection between acousmatic composition and sound installation, opening the idea of the loudspeaker orchestra, an instrument used to perform acousmatic music, to create a case-specific electroacoustic system.

Normally, surround sound systems focus on the spatialisation of sounds in a peripheral area around the listener. Dome type of setups add elevation to the periphery but speakers are still at similar distances. Certain sounds can give the perception of coming closer or going far away due to their particular frequency content and/or some sound transformation (reverberation for example). My idea of zoom in - zoom out aims for speaker configurations that can improve perceptual factor of sound distance, creating the experience of sounds that are moving in a three-dimensional space, going far away but also giving the feeling of coming close to the ears, like a whisper.

Three multichannel sound systems have been researched and are combined in the Black Box. They were configured to give the best immersive listening experience allowing to play with the perceptual factor of sound distance. The first one is a peripheral/dome kind sound system with 14 speakers. The second one is a flat grid/horizontal sound system with 16.2 speakers. The last one delimitates the path that the audience will follow and is configured by 16 speakers that are hanging from the ceiling of the hall.

The case-specific electroacoustic system combined two methods of sound spatialisation. One is based in software/code algorithms and the other is based in live sound spatialisation in the same manner of acousmatic live sound diffusion. The first method uses ambisonic coders and decoders in peripheral speaker setups as well as DBAP (Distance-Based Amplitude Panning) tools in a flat grid speakers’ setup. The second method involves live sound diffusion made by hand, and with the help of midi controllers. The sound material was spatialised with these two methods, recorded and used to produce the final 20 minutes long electroacoustic composition.

This exposition is structured as follows: after this introduction, a general contextualisation of the doctoral research area is presented, followed by a particular contextualisation of this project, including a list of related works. We then move to the body of research, starting by a detailed description of the project and the different areas explored, showcasing documentation of the creative process and the outcomes. A final conclusion section ends the exposition, discussing the outcomes and further possibilities.

Finally, reducing the amount of spectators to two at the time, allowed me to play with their listening position and their trajectory inside the space, creating at the same time a shared experience inside the installation of conventional and unconventional loudspeakers.

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