A pair of headphones and a pair of speakers. For a long time in the past, most people have been accustomed to listening to the sound from the "left" and "right" channels. However, in real life, we are in a three-dimensional space, and sounds come from all directions.
In order to “listen” as close as possible to the real thing, let the sound wrap the listener and bring them back to the scene where the sound was originally emitted. The audio industry workers have spent more than a hundred years. Research and explore tirelessly.
In the film industry, sound reproduction has evolved from a mono system in the 1870s to today’s immersive three-dimensional sound system. The continuously upgraded technology and equipment make people’s movie-watching experience more and more immersive. Its environment". Movie lovers have begun to habitually purchase movie sessions with immersive sound effects. However, in the field of music, the creation of immersive surround sound has not been widely recognized and applied, and music lovers rarely have the opportunity to listen to such music works. What
traditional two-channel stereo brings to us is only a sound field unfolded in front of us, and it does not really exceed the range from left to right in front. Of course, because the band players are on the stage in a regular music performance, the audience is seated facing the stage, so the sound field reproduced by the traditional two-channel stereo can basically match the sense of orientation and space of a regular live concert. . This also explains why we do not have a strong sense of disobedience or dissatisfaction when listening to stereo music. This way of enjoying music will not be replaced for a long time in the future.
The collision of art and technology can always produce wonderful chemical reactions. Now that we have the modern audio technology that can create "surrounding" and "immersive", why not extend our stage more openly when creating music? If the music is designed according to the surround sound field in the early stage of writing, then such works will accommodate more ingenuity of music creation, show more dimensions of sound art, and build a truly immersive music space for listeners.
Among the rich and diverse music styles, ambient music emphasizes the abstract expression of sound and the presentation of a sense of space, which is very suitable for the listener to have the experience of being "wrapped". From a creative point of view, creating an image outside the image and a purpose outside the taste is the gene of ambient music; immersing the listener in it, dreaming about it, and having a dialogue with the inner self is the result that the creator most hopes to achieve. The combination of ambient music and immersive sound design is the most appropriate. Atmosphere is inseparable from space. It extends music to the entire space and adds randomness while giving it certainty. The meaning of music itself has also been extended.
Now, the attempt to combine surround sound auditory experience with ambient music performance has quietly started. On November 16, the ambient music label "Sound Blanc White" teamed up with the active monitor brand GENELEC to present a special performance-"The Cycle" Ambient at the UCCA Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, 798 Art District, Beijing Surround Project.
This performance is the first presentation of "The Cycle" surround sound ambient music. All music works adopt the design concept of multi-channel surround sound. The listeners will be surrounded by a circular array of speakers to listen, and can obtain the same auditory experience as the music player
as the atmosphere music of Modern Sky The label, "Sound Blanc White " has been committed to promoting the popularization and development of ambient music in China. Their appearance has filled the gaps in the current domestic music field, and also filled the gaps in contemporary art-making music works artistic, so that music can also gain its due position in the contemporary art field. "Sound Blanc White" hopes to meet music lovers who know how to listen in the development process, and create more high-quality music publishing works and live performances.
Wang Lu L+R , as a very active atmosphere electronic musician in China in recent years, has maintained close cooperation with "Sound Blanc". He has participated in the release of many albums and many performance projects, and the creation of ambient music Have a deep understanding of and presentation, and continue to combine new technical means to tryAnd explore. The "The Cycle" surround sound ambient music performance was also initiated by him and created and interpreted the content.
Shen Lijia , as a music producer, mixer, and founder of independent electronic music label Ran Music, has been making breakthroughs in music creation with his unique taste and solid mixing production technology. With his in-depth understanding and proficient application of software such as Ableton Live and Max, he served as an audio engineering technical support in this project, and worked hand in hand with Wang Lu L+R to complete the surround sound music performance.
For musicians, this special creative experience and a new form of performance stage have given them a new understanding of the application of music in the shaping of space, the precise positioning of sound, and the design of movement trajectories. The changes brought about by the new cognition will also be presented to the audience one by one through more subsequent performances.
The top international audio brand GENELEC is not only responsible for all the sound systems of the performance, but also participated in the planning and creation of the work and the testing and preparation of the live performance. During the creation process, Zhenli and the musicians tried a variety of sound elements and speaker layout combinations to find the best way to present the work. As a leader in the audio monitoring field, in recent years, Zenith has been committed to promoting and supporting the application of cutting-edge audio technologies such as immersive three-dimensional sound in the country, in order to promote the innovation and development of sound art. At the same time, Zenith has been providing sound solutions for art spaces, chamber music performances, new media installations, and various occasions that require exquisite sound presentation. In addition to the auditory experience, Tami-musiXgal brought his unique creation in the visual art part of the performance. Different from conventional visual creation techniques, Tami currently uses the eurorack modular video synthesizer's instant video synthesis system. By performing real-time calculations on site, it presents random color and graphic combinations in synchronization with music. A lighting system specially made for this performance was also installed on site, which was also controlled by the eurorack module to create a full sensory experience for the audience.
UCCA Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, as a leading art institution in China, always upholds the concept that art can go deep into life and cross borders, bringing rich art exhibitions, public projects and research projects to more than one million viewers every year. The common enthusiasm for advancing the development of art has allowed UCCA and GENELEC to reach a close cooperation since 2014, and this performance also received strong support from UCCA. On the day of the performance, in addition to "The Cycle" Ambient Surround Project itself, guests can also watch the artist Matthew Barney's first solo exhibition in China "Matthew Barney: Fortress" and "Guide to the World (Part 2) for free "Two exhibitions.
