Abstract

The Turbulence Sound Matrix (2008) uses wind data to diffuse and descretize sound. The TSM system consists of 8 speaker towers typically positioned in a circle around the audience, where each tower contains 8 vertical speaker positions for a total of 64 channels of discrete immersive audio. The TSM is the basis for the new, more compact, 8 X 8, 64 channel sound installation diffusion matrix “FLEX”, a system scheduled for completion in Montréal in the winter of 2010/11.

The current design of the TSM and the Wind Space Architecture (WSA) “Plug and Play” Max patch software allows from 1 to 16 channels of external analogue sound to be directly input into the TSM 64 channel audio system to be discretized kinetically by cascading wind pattern data. The “PnP” software allows any external multi channel digital audio workstation (DAW), or “live” analogue mixing console, to be inserted quickly and efficiently into the TSM system hardware. Sound sources diffused can be mono, binaural, multichannel arrangements or mapping systems including Heimbecker’s own Acoustic Mapping Process (1993). As importantly, the PnP design limits the processing burden of the TSM WSA primary CPU, which is engaged in the audio management of the 64 channel wind diffusion data, operating at 20 samples per second across the entire speaker array. The 128 ms latency of the system is fast enough to allow “live” mixing when using the WSA software in performances.

• Steve Heimbecker, Montréal, CA, has been creating immersive audio art compositions and installations internationally since the mid 1980s. His work is based upon the discretization of signal, multichannel sound design and transmission, kinetic energy, nature, and cross modal synesthetic perception.

Full text (PDF) p.  377-379