Output details

rifts

The research aspects of the composition are evidenced by this portfolio of material: A) sound file (stereo reduction of the spatial work), available at https://soundcloud.com/nickfells/rifts; B) sound file (8-channel Sony version); C) images of Sony WAVE loudspeaker and software; D) videos illustrating spatial trajectories used in Game of Life Foundation version.

/rifts/ is an acousmatic work in wave field synthesis (WFS) format, designed initially for WAVE, a prototype 8-channel loudspeaker developed at Sony's Creative Centre, Tokyo. Designer Yuji Morimiya requested the piece to showcase the loudspeaker, following a meeting in Japan supported by the GB Sasakawa Foundation. It was subsequently remixed for the 192-channel WFS system at the Game of Life Foundation, Den Haag (http://gameoflife.nl/en). It was played in concert in Den Haag in March 2012, then at the Sónar Festival, Barcelona in June 2012 as part of a WFS showcase.

Wave field synthesis affords an enhanced illusion of sound source location compared to stereo reproduction. /rifts/ exploits this to establish spatial contrast between layers of material. At the opening, bell-like sounds appear to approach and recede, crossing through textures that remain spatially static. At 7'12, crisp granular material appears to break through the distant sounds of the preceding section, sounding almost 'inside the head' at certain listening positions when presented on the 192-channel system. These effects may not be clearly perceived in the stereo reduction.

The Sony system is frontal-only, so the original composition process involved placing sounds at wide, narrow, distant or close positions using Sony's prototype panning software, which required them to remain static in each section. The Game of Life system, however, gives full horizontal surround, so the spatial structuring could be more complex. Its software enabled me to create dynamic trajectories, illustrated in the videos, giving greater interaction of movement and static layers.