Project Overview

Sound and the spatial environments in which sound is realized are intrinsically coupled. Sound in physical space is itself shaped by the spectral characteristics of the room or environment into which it is projected, with individual frequencies amplified or attenuated by the physical resonant characteristics of that given space. The basic tenets of physics dictate the details of this "call and response" relationship and as such, artists and engineers alike have devised performative and analytic methodologies for developing a comprehensive understanding of and expressive control over sound in space.

With the advent of enactive and immersive virtual spaces constructed within powerful networked computer systems, there exists an opportunity to create new paradigms within which sound and space can take on pointedly unnatural and previously impossible relationships. Taking a cue from both existing musical systems and centuries-old instrumental performative techniques, virtual spaces themselves can be transformed into reactive sonic environments wherein avatars controlled by human performers can shape the creation of sonic and musical events. Virtual spaces can become immersive instruments, enveloping their musical performers in an interactive environment where every motion and gesture can create and control sound and music.

At the heart of this presentation is a virtual performance space created within the Sirikata platform, our own open-source platform for the creation of massive multi-user virtual worlds. Using a state of the art three-dimensional graphics engine, beautifully rendered virtual performance spaces have been created that play off the physical characteristics of the concert space itself, in a sense a fantastic virtual corollary to the real-world physical space.

Within the Sirikata environment, multiple virtual performers with the ability to dynamically create musical sounds move and manipulate those sounds through the virtual space. In the physical concert space, a pianist performs, interacting with the virtual musicians, both controlling and manipulating aspects of the virtual world's sound with her playing as well as having aspects of her playing controlled and manipulated by the virtual performers themselves. Live musicians connected over high-speed computer networks from various locations around the world including California and Montana complete the ensemble.

For presentation to the concert and installation audiences, the location and motion of sounds in the virtual space are correlated into location and motion of sounds in the physical concert hall itself through the use of a multi-channel audio system, consisting of eight to sixteen powerful high-quality audio speakers placed around the periphery of the audience. In this manner, an immersive sound world can be created as a fitting complement to the immersive video projection of the virtual space itself.