Introduction to Spatial Audio

Lecture and workshop for professional sound designers and sound engineers

Panel Presentation for International Association for the Study of Popular Music - Demystifying the Sound Studio.

The Sound Studio is fetishised in popular culture. It is represented as a cryptic place where alchemy happens –mere mortals become superstars, vague musical sketches miraculously evolve into worldwide smash hits and svengali producers wield absolute power over the base talent that they must mould in their vision. Cinema portrays the sound studio as a place where genius, musicianship and ego collide. Ethnographer Louise Meintjes (2003) compares a recording studio to "a space station on the moon"and refers to the "mysteriousness of the studio as a phenomenon". The reality is more prosaic. In this paper, we will explore the mundane yet essential processes undertaken to record an album of songs related to the history of Glasgow and how these processes have been adapted to instigate an inclusive creative space for all participants. The studio in question, La Chunky, has been a going concern for 20 years and is owned by the paper’s author. The paper will also examine the studio’s history in the context of Glasgow’s prolific music scene and hopefully provide further insight into the DIY culture that has proven so valuable to Glasgow’s popular music hegemony

40Hz Auditory Stimulation and Naturalistic Soundscapes for the Treatment and Management of Alzheimer’s Disease poster shared at the Scottish Dementia Research Consortium, April 2023

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, associated with memory loss, behaviour changes and physical impacts (Whitewell, 2018). It is the most common form of dementia. Reliable treatments to slow its progression are in high demand and 40Hz sensory stimulation may offer a solution. Humans with AD and mouse models of the disease exhibit lower gamma oscillations which are important for multiple areas of cognition (McDermott et al., 2018). Studies show that auditory and visual 40Hz stimulation elicit greater gamma oscillations in mice with AD pathology and alleviates symptoms (Martoerall et al., 2019; Olsen, 2021;Traikapi & Konstantinou, 2021). In humans, pilot studies have shown 40Hz sound stimulation to improve cognitive deficits (Figure 1) in mild to moderate AD patients (Clements-Cortes et al., 2016). Studies indicate that greater volumes elicit greater gamma oscillations compared to lower (Schadow et al., 2007). Figure 1: Change in SLUMS Scores (from Clements-Cortes et al., 2016). SLUMS = St. Louis University Mental Status Test, measuring cognitive deficits Immersive soundscapes such as forest and beach sounds present calming and therapeutic effects in and out of care homes (Cheng & Sabran, 2022; Houben et al., 2019; Voisin et al., 2021). Combining soundscapes and 40Hz sound stimulation may be beneficial to AD management as studies show sounds and music can help patients remember long- term memories and balance the sound stimulation. Literature Gap There is limited research on the effects of stimulation volume and on including 40Hz sound in combination with soundscapes and how this can be effective in the treatment and management of AD. Early investigation and optimisation of different stimulation protocols on gamma oscillations and on participant perceptions can be carried out in healthy older adults, prior to their administration to people with AD

Boom Bap Septic Clap (radio) - dur. 15 minutes

Using field recordings accumulated over many late-nights in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street this piece endeavours to define and ultimately distort the sound of toxic masculinity – distorting it in such a way that the inherent aggression of these sonic outbursts begins to evolve into a soundscape that intrigues and ultimately beguiles the listener. There is a latent beauty in these sounds that can be explored from a safe distance. The recordist was not at a safe distance and hence had to run away quite frequently. The narrative of the piece is based around the recordist’s journey from his flat just off Sauchiehall Street to a local shop around the corner where he intends to purchase a pint of milk. The recordist brings a Tascam hand-held audio recorder on this journey. This is his interpretation of the experience

A recording studio in 1930’s Glasgow: An overview of the studio, its owners and their contribution to the cultural life of a city in transition.

GIRMAC Recording Studio commenced trading in 1934 and was wound up in 1938. Established by two Glasgow-based entrepreneurs, Andrew McElhinney and Eugene Girot, the studio had a reputation for working with UK-based dance bands and touring gospel singers from the USA. The studio also had its own label imprint that released a small number of 78rpm records. This presentation will relate the history of GIRMAC and contextualise it within the cultural life of a city better known as an industrial powerhouse of the 1930’s. Though present day Glasgow is rightly lauded for its vibrant music scene I will examine the premise that an equivalent scene existed in the 1930’s, albeit one that was restricted and defined by strict social divisions and sectarian tensions. The commercial and artistic trajectory of GIRMAC will be deployed as a framework to explore the structure of a music industry and culture that existed beyond the traditional London base and parallels will be drawn with the current paradigm of a separate, self-financed Glasgow music industry, as evinced by the activities of studio Chem19 and its associated label Chemikal Underground. The presentation will conclude with a brief listening session of GIRMAC’s output as sourced from archival record labels and private collectors

Adolescent Nuclear Angst ... Or how I Learned to Stick My Head Between My Knees

A personal childlike and irreverent surround audio collage constructed from cold war propaganda archive recordings and synthesised sound related to the existential nuclear threat we faced in the 1980's and may yet face again. This piece has resonance as a warning from the past as well as a reflection on the artist's fraught family relationships at that time - particularly those with his military father

Dressing Above Your Station (soundtrack)

Collaborated with artist Rob Kennedy to create an immersive soundtrack and commentary for virtual exhibition Dressing Above Your Station (2022). Exhibitors: Beca Lipscombe, Mair MacKenxie, Rob Kenned

Spatial Audio for Digital Laocoon Project

The Digital Laocoon is a VR experience created by GSA’s School of Simulation (SimVis) in partnership with the leading Scottish digital media studio ISO Design, over a period of nine months, thanks to a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The project was informed by the restoration which was carried out on the cast as part of the 2014 Fire Recovery Project. It was inspired by the conservation processes and reports, as well as the rich history of the piece within the School and evidenced in the Archives. The material enabled SimVis and ISO to explore ideas around immersive exhibition experiences using digital technologies. To accompany the visuals an immersive 3D soundtrack was created. The audio served to "direct the attention" of the audio-viewer to key visual elements within the VR experience and also enhance the sense of immersion experienced by the audio-viewer

"What Lies Below". A spatial audio composition for eight speakers and low frequency channel (sub). An interpretation of "Fratres" by Estonian Composer Arvo Pärt.

Part's tintinnabular compositional methods for the original composition are an ideal framework for spatial music given the progressive extension of primal harmonic relationships that define this spatial audio piece. There are so many great panning opportunities and such potential for total sonic immersion

Ambisonics in an Art School Context

Ambisonic audio has become much more relevant in recent years with the growth of VR and related technologies. It is an ideal platform for immersive audio given its ability to recreate a soundfield that can be manipulated by basic trigonometric transforms derived from head-tracked data. Unfortunately, current literature and academic discourse in ambisonics is still dominated by a heavy mathematical bias. Within an environment such as The Glasgow School of Art, this approach to ambisonics can be deeply alienating to creative students who lack the requisite technical background. With this in mind, the authors have taught ambisonics to both postgraduate and undergraduate art school students for a number of years. We have noted that merely demonstrating the available software tools for ambisonic sound is insufficient for effective learning, but have also observed that attempting to fully teach the relevant mathematical concepts does not support effective learning for the range of students we encounter. In this paper we explore approaches for teaching ambisonics to a diverse group of students. We consider how to support a basic understanding of the fundamental mathematical concepts that they need to be aware of (basic trigonometry, vectors and 3D co-ordinate systems) while simultaneously exposing them to the aesthetic opportunities that immersive sound design can bring to their professional and artistic practice. We hope that our approaches prove useful for helping students from creative disciplines to engage with technical concepts in a meaningful way