Filling Sound with Space: An elemental approach to sound spatialisation

Abstract

This research introduces different compositional techniques involving the use of sound spatialisation. These permit the incorporation of sound distortions produced by the real space, the body and the auditory system into low-, middle- and large-scale musical structures, allowing sound spatialisation to become a fundamental parameter of the three compositions presented here. An important characteristic of these pieces is the exclusive use of sine waves and other time-invariant sound signals. Even though these types of signals present no alterations in time, it is possible to perceive pitch, loudness and tone-colour variations when they move in space, due to the psychoacoustic processes involved in spatial hearing. To emphasise the perception of such differences, this research proposes dividing a tone into multiple sound units and spreading these in space using several loudspeakers arranged around the listener. In addition to the perception of sound attribute variations, it is also possible to create dynamic rhythms and textures that depend almost exclusively on how sound units are arranged in space. Such compositional procedures help to overcome to some degree the unnaturalness implicit when using synthetic-generated sounds; through them, it is possible to establish cause–effect relationships between sound movement, on the one hand, and the perception of sound attribute, rhythm and texture variations on the other. Another important consequence is the possibility of producing diffuse sound fields independently of the levels of reverberation in the room, and to create sound spaces of a particular spatial depth without using artificial delay or reverb.