Musician-led performance perspectives in virtual acoustics

Abstract

Musical performance is a complex task that involves juggling performance techniques, creative expression and auditory feedback, all of which in turn affect a musician’s perception of their acoustic environment. Synthesized here are several recent studies conducted at McGill University in variable acoustic spaces: the Multimedia Room (with a Meyer Constellation system) and the Immersive Media Lab (utilizing a proprietary Virtual Acoustics Technology system). In studying the perception of room response, variable acoustic environments allow researchers to physically and/or virtually change the character of a space around a musician without the need for a physical venue relocation. These experiments explore different methodologies and approaches to studying the perception of room acoustic response of various vocalists and instrumentalists who completed both solo and group performance tasks. After contextualizing these studies with previous work done in this area, lessons recently learned point towards new methodologies for musician-led perspectives on room perception.