As if Amsterdam Dance Event, the electronic music mecca of Europe and the world’s largest festival of its kind, weren’t packed enough already – there’s more.
Tucked inside the festival we’ve got five days of programming devoted to spatial audio, on the 4DSOUND system. As part of ADE Sound Academy, itself focusing on threads between technology, practice, and music, the event at Amsterdam’s Companietheater will explore the frontiers of new settings for music and sound. From plumbing the possibilities of the 4DSOUND’s forest of speakers to opening a discussion of immersive sound and music now and in the future, a combination of master classes, hands-on workshops, and live performances will challenge us to imagine what is possible as music fills new environments.
Meeting that challenge necessarily requires us to be engineers and artists, teachers and students, all at the same time. So I’m humbled to myself be involved in this program variously from all those perspectives, as an artist venturing into connections between architecture and music with Robert Lippok (Raster Noton), and via CDM, hosting discussions on how to push this and other technologies forward.
And you can be, too. The event is open to public attendance during ADE, and because we want your input, CDM is hosting an open call for participants to join us on a weekend-long Hack Lab. In that laboratory, limited in participation to facilitate maximum collaboration and time on the system, we’ll get to see what we can discover in finding new ways of exploiting spatial sound (and visuals).
The Schedule
With a varied program of artists, technologists, performances, and discussions, there will be plenty of reason to hang about Compagnietheater during ADE. Here’s an overview:
Wednesday, Oct 15
14:00 – 17:00 MASTERCLASS WITH PAUL OOMEN
Founder of 4DSOUND and composer Paul Oomen gives an overview of best practices in spatial sound design
21:00 – 23:00 MAX COOPER LIVE PERFORMANCE
Max Cooper explores a next level of psycho-acoustics and spatiality in his compositions specially arranged for 4DSOUND
Thursday, Oct 16
14:00 – 16:00 MASTERCLASS WITH MAX COOPER
Exclusive behind-the-scenes with Max Cooper including the world premiere of six new sound sculptures specially designed for 4DSOUND
21:00 – 03:00 RASTER-NOTON SHOWCASE
– Grischa Lichtenberger
– Frank Bretschneider
– Senking
– Robert Lippok & Peter Kirn
Live performances on the 4DSOUND system
Friday, Oct 17
14:00 – 17:00 MASTERCLASS WITH ROBERT LIPPOK & PETER KIRN
Robert Lippok & Peter Kirn go in-depth with the architectural concepts behind their 4DSOUND live show
21:00 – OPEN END VLADISLAV DELAY EXTENDED SET
Vladislav Delay’s exhibition performance in 4DSOUND lasting the entire night
Saturday, Oct 18
14:00 – 17:00 MASTERCLASS WITH VLADISLAV DELAY
Vladislav Delay reveals his working processes with intuitive and self-built control environments
21:00 – 23:00 STIMMING LIVE PERFORMANCE
Stimming presents his completely intuitive and improvisational club night on the 4DSOUND system
Sunday, Oct 19
19:00 SPATIAL SOUND HACK LAB PERFORMANCE
A series of short public performances by the participants of the ADE Sound Academy and panel discussion including: Peter Kirn (CDM), Ableton, Gareth Williams (Liine), Paul Oomen (4DSOUND), Jarl Schulp (Fiber) and Martin Stimming
4DSOUND at ADE: ADE Sound Academy, October 15 -19th
RSVP for 4DSOUND events on Facebook
Tickets are available now; we’ll have more on that soon (including whether a pass to the five-day program is available). But one way to get into all of it free is to apply for the Hack Lab – below.
Online tickets
ADE pass holders have limited access to the event, but capacity is extremely constrained; first come, first served.
More About 4DSOUND
The 4DSOUND system is an ideal platform for the week, because it makes all of these discussions material and invites ADE participants into a first-hand experience. For more on how this system works, some past coverage:
Full Immersion in Audio, as Artists Explore 4DSOUND in a Spatial Grid [Ableton, Max, Lemur] [CDM]
4DSOUND: A new sound experience [Resident Advisor’s Jordan Rothlein does an in-depth story on the system]
Enter An Alternate Sensory Reality With Max Cooper’s 4D Sound Show [The Creators Project]
Also, Max Cooper is the one gent who has done a binaural recording so that – provided you have headphones on – you can experience a pathway through the work.
Also worth watching Lucy’s take on the system, which made use of sensing.
Of course, I think what we discover about immersive experience, architecture and sound, and spatiality in music can extend far beyond just this system.
Spatialization Examples : 1 from 4DSOUND on Vimeo.
Open call for participants
Spatial Sound Hack Lab
10h Saturday 18 October – 21h Sunday 19 October
Hosted by CDM (createdigitalmusic.com), Ableton, Liine, and Fiber at Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE)
What’s possible when the experience of sound can happen in more dimensions? We invite artists and hackers to explore the 4DSOUND system using a variety of tools of their own choice, culminating in new experiments in sound, music, and performance.
Media can include:
- New music and sonic creations in Max for Live and Ableton Live
- New control interfaces with Liine’s Lemur app
- New interactive UIs built in Canvas on Lemur (familiar to those who have worked with Web technologies)
- New sound, control creations in other tools (Reaktor, Pure Data, Processing, etc.)
- Visuals projected onto the 4DSOUND system (projection mapping, live VJing)
Previous experience in all of these tools is not required. Artists and coders alike are welcome. You might be a musician interested in exploring your instrument or voice with a spatial interface, or an artist interested in making visuals on the surface. You might be a coder or patcher eager to explore new tools. You might have some novel technology you would like to interface with a spatial sound rig. Perhaps you’re doing something completely different we haven’t thought of!
A limited number of participants will be invited to participate. We provide:
- A pass to the week’s 4DSOUND performance series at ADE, including the Raster-Noton showcase and other events
- Free entry to the full Hack Lab weekend
- Access to the 4DSOUND system and gathered experts from 4DSOUND, Ableton, Liine, and CDM
- Workshops and education, including a master class by Vladislav Delay and panel discussion on spatial and immersive sound
- A chance to give a short public performance/demo
- Food and refreshments for the weekend
We regret that we can’t provide other expenses. Travel and accommodation is the responsibility of participants. However, there’s no charge to participate.
Rough schedule:
Saturday 18 October
Arrival of all participants (latest, 10 am, assuming you weren’t already enjoying the week’s 4DSOUND events)
Master class by Vladislav Delay
Meeting fellow participants, collaboration discussions
Introduction to 4DSOUND system
Introduction to control tools in Ableton Live, Max for Live, and Lemur (and compatibility with other tools)
Attend evening performance by Martin Stimming
Sunday 19 October
Full day of development with access to the system
19:00 Short performance/presentations
Final panel discussion on the future of spatial production and immersive sound, with Martin Stimming, Peter Kirn (CDM), Jarl Schulp (Fiber), Olaf Bohn (Ableton), Gareth Williams (Liine), and Paul Oomen (4DSOUND)
To apply, fill out the entry form by 23:59, Sunday 14 September, and let us know a little bit about your work and skill set and what you hope to accomplish. We will select a group that we think can collaborate well on the system and that represents a variety of interests.
Accepted participants will be notified that week.
We look forward to meeting some of you in Amsterdam!