In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by Grammy Award-winning percussionist and composer Evelyn Glennie via Zoom from Cambridgeshire, UK.
Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist, performing worldwide with the greatest orchestras, conductors and artists. Evelyn paved the way for orchestras globally to feature percussion concerti when she played the first percussion concerto in the history of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 1992. Evelyn has commissioned over 200 new pieces for solo percussion from many of the world’s most eminent composers to vastly expand the percussion repertoire. She regularly provides masterclasses and consultations to inspire the next generation of musicians. The film ‘Touch the Sound’ and her enlightening TED speech remain key testimonies to her innovative approach to sound-creation. Leading 1000 drummers, Evelyn had the honour of a prominent role in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Evelyn was awarded an OBE in 1993 and now has over 100 international awards, including the Polar Music Prize and the Companion of Honour. She was recently appointed the first female President of Help Musicians, only the third person to hold the title since Sir Edward Elgar and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Evelyn is currently creating The Evelyn Glennie Collection with a vision to open a centre that embodies her mission to Teach the World to Listen. She aims to ‘improve communication and social cohesion by encouraging everyone to discover new ways of listening as proven in her book ‘Listen World!’. We want to inspire, to create, to engage and to empower’.
In this episode, Evelyn talks about her unique journey and perspective as a musician and dives deep into her long-time mission – to teach people how to listen.
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.
Image credit – Produktion Bärbel Recktenwald England
In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is talking to the innovative sound technology company Krotos whose mission is to improve the way sound is designed and performed.
The Founder and CEO – Orfeas Boteas and General Manager Matt Collings dive deep into the creation of the company and software development, along with our guest speakers Mark Lanza and Bjørn Jacobsen sharing their unique perspective on how Krotos tools can enhance creativity when designing audio for films and games.
Orfeas Boteas is the founder and CEO of Krotos. Krotos’ audio software has been used in top films, series and video games such as The Avengers, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, Jungle Book, Frozen, Cyberpunk and Far Cry. Previous to founding Krotos he worked in post-production, music composition and location sound. He holds a BSc in Music Technology and Acoustics and an MSc in Sound Design from the University of Edinburgh. He was a Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellow and received two Edge awards for his work at Krotos.
Matthew Collings has successfully led prototyping and project managed the development of Krotos’ major software projects due to be released in recent years: Weaponiser, Dehumaniser Live, Reformer and Reformer Pro. He has worked for Krotos since 2015, driving the technical development of the company, and as a board member. As a composer, he has produced projects for the 50th Design Biennial in Ljubljana, Slovenia (2014), Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Art (2014), Gaudeamus Musikweek in Utrecht (2015), and Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Mark A. Lanza MPSE is a sound designer and supervisor for Sony Pictures Television, he has worked for major studios as well as several prominent independent sound facilities. He has crafted sound for many directors including Oliver Stone, James Cameron, Bryan Singer, and Phillip Noyce. His 250+ credits cover the gamut from Sci-Fi blockbusters like Independence Day and Starship Troopers to Natural Born Killers and True Lies. He has won a Bafta award for his work on JFK, and he took home a Hollywood Post Alliance award for his supervision for the Grimm TV series. He has over 30 MPSE nominations and a win for Phillip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams. He is also the President of the Motion Picture Sound Editors, on the board of directors for EIPMA, and on the Executive Steering Committee for the Television Academy.
Bjørn Jacobsen is a sound designer coming from an electronic music background, he currently runs his own studio from Copenhagen Denmark called Cujo Sound from where he works on numerous game audio projects and recently finished the very well-received indie game DARQ and working on titles such as The Settlers, Divinity Fallen Heroes, The Ascent, Straits of Danger and more. Previously Bjorn has been working in-house at AAA studios such as CD PROJEKT RED, IO Interactive, Sharkmob and CCP Games, having been able to work on great titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, HITMAN, EVE Online, EVE Valkyrie and some unannounced and prototype projects.
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 Isaac Joel, Yung Koolade and Knobs Bergamo.
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.
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.
In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by world-famous experimental psychologist and Professor at the University of Oxford – Charles Spence via Zoom from Oxford, UK.
Professor Charles Spence is a world-famous experimental psychologist with a specialization in neuroscience-inspired multisensory design. He has worked with many of the world’s largest companies across the globe since establishing the Crossmodal Research Laboratory (CRL) at the Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University in 1997. Prof. Spence has published over 900 academic articles and edited or authored, 15 books including, in 2014, the Prose prize-winning “The perfect meal”, and the international bestseller “Gastrophysics: The new science of eating” (2017; Penguin Viking) – winner of the 2019 Le Grand Prix de la Culture Gastronomique from Académie Internationale de la Gastronomie.
In this episode, Charles opens up about the world of multisensory design focusing on how sound affects our perception of taste and much more.
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Charles Spence Extended Bio
Much of Prof. Spence’s work focuses on the design of enhanced multisensory food and drink experiences, through collaborations with chefs, baristas, mixologists, chocolatiers, perfumers, and the food and beverage, and flavour and fragrance industries. Prof. Spence has worked extensively in the world of multisensory experiential wine and has also worked extensively on the question of how technology will transform our dining/drinking experiences in the future.
The research conducted at the Crossmodal Research Laboratory in Oxford has garnered widespread media attention across the globe, including in The Economist (February 4-10th, 2012, p. 74), and The Financial Times (3rd June, 2013, p. 14; http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6bc0fa04-c175-11e2-9767-00144feab7de.html#axzz2VEbNyXiR) and has been profiled in The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/02/accounting-for-taste). Over the last decade alone, Prof. Spence and the CRL have been featured in more than 3,000 newspaper articles, radio interviews, and television programs.
Prof. Spence frequently delivers consumer neuroscience lectures and courses to global companies, and business schools and schools of business administration, such as at Los Andes, Rosario University, and Javariana University in Colombia, the Saïd Business School, Oxford, and the Singapore Business School.
Prof. Spence has been awarded numerous national and international prizes for scientific excellence, including the 10th Experimental Psychology Society Prize, the British Psychology Society: Cognitive Section Award, the Paul Bertelson Award, recognizing him as the young European Cognitive Psychologist of the Year, and, the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany): ‘in recognition of past accomplishments in research and teaching’. In 2008, together with Dr. Max Zampini, he was awarded the 2008 IG Nobel prize for nutrition for his work on ‘the sonic crisp’
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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Credits
This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Michelle Chan with the help of Emma Rees and included music by Knobs Bergamo.
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.
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.
In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by the lead R&D audio engineer at the BBC Chris Pike via Zoom from London, UK.
Chris leads the audio team in BBC R&D and the BBC Audio Research Partnership. He is passionate about using technology innovation to enable new creative possibilities in sound production and storytelling. Chris has led the BBC’s work on spatial audio for several years, which has led to productions on major brands such as Doctor Who, Planet Earth II and the BBC Proms. He was director of sound on the BBC’s first public VR app, The Turning Forest, and worked with Björk to create an augmented reality audio guide for her exhibition at MoMA in New York. As part of his role at the BBC, Chris is active in standardisation bodies, working to ensure open interoperable technology for spatial audio production. He’s also completed a PhD with the Audio Lab at the University of York during his work at BBC R&D, on binaural technology and its perceptual evaluation. His thesis is available online.
In this episode, Chris talks about research and development work at the BBC, touching on a number of exciting projects, a collaboration between the industry and academia and his personal journey whilst completing a PhD program.
Pike, Christopher William (2019) Evaluating the Perceived Quality of Binaural Technology. PhD thesis, University of York – http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/24022/
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.
In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by Matt Neutra from Bose via Zoom from Boston, US.
Matt Neutra creates unique prototype experiences that are used as the stepping stones for production-ready experiences for retail and beyond. Since 2005 he has been responsible for product demonstrations that make their way to retail locations around the world. Matt’s primary responsibilities include the oversight and development of the diverse tools and workflows used to create world-class sensory experiences.
Matt scours the earth for the tools that will enable the impossible. When the tools don’t exist, they have to be created. Matt often has to manage external vendors to define and create these new tools. Matt’s goal in life is to never be the smartest person in the room, question everything in the pursuit of deeper understanding and get work done with joy and enthusiasm.
In this episode, Matt talks about two decades of working at Bose Corporation, Bose AR platform, unique features of Mach1 Spatial Audio System and the current market landscape of immersive audio formats.
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.
In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by Mirek Styles from Abbey Road Studios via Skype from North London, UK.
Mirek Stiles started working at Abbey Road Studios as a recording engineer in 1998, working on a diverse range of projects including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Beatles Anthology, Muse, Kanye West, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Paul McCartney. Mirek also worked as a Digital Producer in the Abbey Road Interactive department on a range of Blu-ray titles including Roxy Music, Ringo Starr and Reservoir Dogs.
Today, Mirek runs the studio’s Audio Products department leading the development of a range of software and hardware releases based on Abbey Road’s historic recording IP with partners Waves Audio and Chandler Limited. Mirek also sits on the board and acts as an advisor on the Abbey Road Red incubation programme and is currently exploring and experimenting with Spatial Audio over headphones, ambisonics, spatial microphone arrays and game engine workflow. Recent projects include collaborations with film and video game composer Stephen Barton, joint research with the University of York and the University of Huddersfield and chairing the Abbey Road Spatial Audio Forum, bringing together members from gaming, broadcast, VR, music production and film.
In this episode, Mirek talks about the evolution of technology and his personal journey at Abbey Road spanning over 2 decades, Abbey Road’s own Tech Incubation program RED, and cutting edge research in Spatial Audio conducted as part of the Spatial Audio Forum.
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.
In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by the DELTA Soundworks co-founders Daniel Deboy and Ana Monte via Skype from Heidelberg, Germany.
DELTA Soundworks is a sound production agency in the Rhein-Neckar delta region of Germany. With vast experience in 3D audio techniques, they create immersive sonic environments that place the listener inside the story, adding value to all kinds of visual media productions.
Ana Monte studied “Music Industry and Technology” at the California State University in Chico and “Film sound and Sound design” at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, bringing her experience as sound designer and film industry contacts into the team. For her work as a sound designer, Ana has received diverse sound awards including “Best Sound Design in a Drama Series” at the LA Webfest and a “Best Sound” nomination from the LA Film Review.
Daniel Deboy is a sound engineer graduate of the Graz University of Technology and brings his Know-How and experience in 3D Audio and Music Production into the team. Daniel was honoured for his fundamental research in the field of 3D sound reproduction with the “Student Award” of the German Acoustical Society DEGA. For his music recordings, he received gold, silver and bronze awards by the Audio Engineering Society.
In this episode, they discuss a few of their projects such as The Stanford Virtual Heart and mysterious VR game Blautopf, their favourite audio production techniques for immersive media and dome as well as their involvement with the Audio Engineering Society.
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.
