If you’re reading this, you likely HAVE in fact heard of spatial sound and probably have strong opinions about the subject like myself. Now that I have your ear, I will attempt to constructively complain about things in a list format. I even included some vague, potential solutions so I don’t sound like a dick.

Quick Note: I am focusing on spatial sound in a performance setting rather than in headphones with binaural mixes or VR.

No Standard Speaker Configuration

The biggest reason that spatial sound has been stunted in my opinion is because we don’t have a standard convention for speaker layout. I have yet to see any 2 venues or setups that were even remotely the same. Although there are formats for ambisonics that can decode for various speaker arrays, each configuration will sound drastically different with the same music. Also, a big part of what makes a piece of spatial music compelling is exploiting the nuances of that system which needs to be established beforehand so it can be composed with intention. If you are performing for a planar 8 channel system versus a 128 speaker cube, you will write the music differently.

Not having a standard also means that works are created for specific spaces and then never get presented again with the same configuration. This makes it impossible to build a body of work for an artist since everything made has a short life.

Think about all the standards that are established for guitars that we take for granted: relative string gauges, neck length, materials, number of strings, tuning etc. If we never agreed on these standards, guitar music would never have progressed as it did. Having standards allows us to have a common language and a familiar instrument to collectively develop. Spatial sound currently has none of these standards with regards to performance.

Solution:

Not sure who would make the call on this as it is an ongoing debate but we need to establish some standard soon even if it isn’t perfect. The main areas of concern are number of speakers, speaker placement, type of speaker, audio format, audience orientation and size of space. I’m sure my math and science people out there will have strong opinions on this and I love that. I, personally, am not tied to any specific configuration. I just want a standard so I can play cool things with friends all over the world.

Prohibitively Expensive

If I had known how expensive it would be to get into this field, I might have had second thoughts but its one of those “well, I’ve invested so much money now so what’s another credit card or two worth of debt…” situations.

There are two routes that could make for a consistent flow of overdraft notifications on your phone. The first option would be investing in your own rig. Since it involves a multitude of speakers, it will include much more than just the audio amplification. You will need a decent laptop, cables, stands, consistent transportation (a Corolla will not do FYI), storage space, a hardware interface, software and seating if you’re really gung-ho. Additionally, each piece of this puzzle comes with its own series of failures because you will inevitably invest in a lot of things that don’t work the way you thought. Things will break too if you don’t buy things that are designed for travel.

The second route is to try to play at pre-existing venues. Unless you are Ryuichi Sakamoto or a grad student with access to a space, you’re going to have to pay. There are a lot of “residencies” and workshops that cost upwards of $2k-$5k just to have access to the space to play on the system and even that does not guarantee your work will be presented at any point.

Solution:

I would suggest trying to create your own rig because it will likely be many years before prices come down or kits are developed. You can do this cheaply by starting out with a practical 4 channel system using whatever you have lying around (monitors, amps, PA speakers etc) and seeing if you can get a working configuration. You need to get excited about making spatial music first and foremost and having unlimited access to your own equipment will light a fire in your belly quicker than anything. You will also need to hunt down software that does what you want and work through all the issues first which could take months. This will also help you to discover whether you like working with spatial audio before making a huge investment. I do not recommend starting with reaching out to venues until you at least have done some preliminary steps like this as they will likely not take you seriously and it’s a poor time/money investment.

Learning Curve is Enormous

Do you like staring at spinning rainbow circles and forcibly having to restart your computer every other day? Since the technology is very resource heavy and in many cases underdeveloped, much of your time in the beginning will be spent troubleshooting computer and hardware issues. Many people don’t have the patience or technical know-how to overcome this hurdle. Working with spatial sound is unfortunately more of a tech project than a music project at this point. Even though I have a pretty solid and time tested workflow, I am still consistently running into problems that frequently bring a swift end to a session.

Solution:

Learn breathing techniques and buy a book on anger management. Seriously. Your patience will be tested as will your Googling skills but know that it’s not impossible and that there are others out there battling along with you.

The only other way around it is to find someone that has already suffered through it to be your partner in crime. AKA collaboration.

Difficulty Accessing Spaces

Many of the best systems reside in academia or are far, far away. Academic facilities are almost always exclusively utilized by students, staff and other established academics or artists. Outside of academia, independent facilities in the U.S. number less than a half dozen. Given this, it seems that the main reason spaces are hard to get access to is more practical than anything else. These spaces are in high demand and getting some face time will continue to be difficult until more spaces and independent venues are established.

When you consider that in most cases the venue is the “instrument”, you begin to realize how important access to a space can be. In most cases, the standard is to create a mix in stereo and then decode it for the space with limited listening time beforehand. Imagine if you were a guitar player but you could only ever get your hands on a guitar for a few hours before the performance. Not only would you be anxious at the thought of presenting an underprepared composition but it would probably be objectively terrible. Thus is the case with spatial sound. Most things that you think will sound interesting, will not. You NEED time in the space to try new things, walk around the space, get feedback from cohorts, and to play and tinker with sounds until it’s good. Access to space is one of the pillars of Tom-ology which is a spatial sound religion I invented while waiting for my computer to unfreeze.

Solution:

Go to a college with a spatial sound facility or make you own space. There really aren’t many other options. Try as I may, I have yet to play on a system other than my own. I have honestly given up even trying anymore since the application process is so time consuming and even if you are successful, you will likely have to pay a good amount. Also, my ego is fragile and needs time to heal.

Small Community

The subreddit for spatial audio (r/SpatialAudio) only has 271 members. To put this in perspective, that’s about one subway car in NYC. Most Facebook groups and online forums are small as well. Even in New York City, while having a great community of artists and innovators for spatial audio, was still relatively small which speaks volumes considering how large NYC is.

Having a small community also means that most technical questions you ask the internet will result in a forum post that was initiated in 2009 and still has no answer. This usually results in either a dead end or an excruciatingly painful trial and error session.

Solution:

Be active on message boards, Facebook groups and forums as well as within you own region. Meet people, send random DMs to people on social media doing similar things. More times than not, you won’t get an answer but occasionally you will connect and although it may not result in a successful collaboration, it will at least motivate and inspire you. If you make things, make them open source when possible. Share, share share.

Doesn’t Scale Well

Due to the technicalities of performing with an array of speakers surrounding the audience, it can be very difficult to execute a similar experience for everyone attending. This leaves you with a few options. Either spread the speakers out further to accommodate many people, perform to a small audience or seat people in places with poor spatial images (aka “obstructed view” seats).

Sizing up the space is usually not an option and even if it is it brings with it a series of acoustic issues since you really want to limit reverberation to maximize localization of sound. So unless the space is treated, it will eliminate many of the desired effects. Even if you could design a large space that sounded good, you need absolute silence to appreciate the nuances of spatial audio and crowds of more than 40 will almost always result in chatter which is your biggest enemy. Not being able to effectively perform to large groups of people at once also discourages many investors from donating to these spaces. The business model just isn’t very profitable with small audiences.

Solution:

Perform many times to small audiences. Intimacy is your friend and should be the focus of these listening experiences. Instead of 2 shows in a weekend to 400 people each, you’ll need to do 20 shows to 40 people (This assumes a stationary location btw). It sounds crazy but I think crazy is what is needed here.

Typically Viewed as an Accessory

Most of the focus with spatial audio to date is as an accessory to something else. It’s a side dish whereas I believe it to be main course worthy. It’s typically paired with VR, movies, games, 360 dome experiences and art installations. Very little work has been done to advance spatial audio as an art unto itself.

Solution:

Close your eyes during the currently available experiences that include spatial sound and appreciate the audio for a moment. Then, get your butt in front of a computer and start making some music. We’ve got work to do people.

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CLOSING THOUGHTS

There’s a lot of good news in the spatial audio field. The work is in high demand, everyday a new plugin is released to make things easier, venues are starting to pop up more and more often. Things are moving.

Although there may be a lot of things that are not perfect, this is what makes it an exciting place to be creating work. There are endless possibilities and many opportunities to get involved. I hope that this article helped to excite some conversations and inspire some people to get involved and create!

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Extra Stuff About Me

I have been producing and presenting spatial compositions for the past 6 years. I currently tour the US performing 8 channel sound experiences in my 40 foot inflatable dome called the “Immersive Igloo”. For more information go to http://tommontagliano.com/