Church Rock

an interactive installation with virtual singers in a virtual acoustic environment

A virtual choir (the Stanford Chamber Chorale) performs music by Felice Anerio (1560–1614) in a real-time virtual acoustic environment using loudspeakers and room microphones. Experiencers are invited to "join the choir" and sing along in a simulation of Chiesa di Sant'Aniceto from Rome's Palazzo Altemps and other virtual acoustic spaces.

Some technical details: The reverberant virtual acoustic environment is created using our feedback canceling reverberator. The auralization signals are derived from impulse response measurements of Chiesa di Sant'Aniceto in Rome. The vocal parts were recorded in the CCRMA studio using lavalier mics to achieve dry, unreveberated signals. The dry vocal parts are then played from loud arranged in the SATB layout of the recorded choir, thus allowing the real-time reverberation system to put the virtual singers in the virtual church. Finally, the sheet music corresponding to the recorded music is provided. Any noises produced by the experiencers (such as singing along with the choir) will be reverberated by the virtual acoustics of Chiesa di Sant'Aniceto as well.

More information about the recordings of the Chamber Chorale performing Anerio's music in the vitual Chiesa di Sant'Aniceto can be found here.