Octaphonic Sound Spatialization - Black Box

Through out our time in Montreal we had the privilege of using the "Black Box" in the Hexagram program of Concordia University. The "Black Box" is a massive acoustically designed room outfitted with plugs and outlets for a variety of lighting and acoustical equipment. We created an octaphonic sound system in the space using a MOTU and 8 Amazing speakers. Compared to the stereo Logitech speakers that I am use to hearing my sounds on, the quality was unimaginable. I was hearing new sounds within my recordings that I didn't know existed.

We were asked to create a 2 minute composition of our recordings for the black box octaphonic system which would be presented to friends and colleagues of our professor Patrick Harrop, all of whom had various and extensive backgrounds in electronic and sound art. Two people attended: Gerard and Shannon.

Without speaking at all, we would each play our composition, then we explained what we the recording was and what exactly we were each focusing on. Then, an open discussion would occur and finally we would listen to the composition again.

Continuing with my fascination of the decay of sound, I chose to highlight the unfamiliar sounds by playing them first through certain speakers then fading in additional tracks through out the 2 minutes. The engine and the fuel injector are much more recognizable as a car then the master cylinder for example which is the sound of friction as a piston moves through a chamber changing the hydraulic pressure of the brake fluid. sounds like this set the stage at the beginning and then as the other sounds are faded in, the unfamiliar sounds are more recognizable since you have already heard them on their own.

I used Ableton Live to create the composition.

This is the sequencer page where the fades and sound animations are controlled and designed.

I created a stereo composition as well that has been mixed down from the octaphonic composition.

Stereo Mix Down