This article describes a new sound-projection sys- tem for multichannel loudspeaker setups that has been developed by the authors. The system, called Virtual Microphone Control (ViMiC), is based on the simulation of microphone techniques and acoustic enclosures. In auditory virtual environments (AVEs), it is often required to position an anechoic point source in three-dimensional space. When sources in such applications are to be displayed using mul- tichannel loudspeaker reproduction systems, the processing is typically based upon simple amplitude- panning laws. With an adequate loudspeaker setup, this approach allows relatively accurate positioning of spatial images in the horizontal plane, but it lacks the flexibility many composers of computer music would like to have. This article describes an alternative approach based on an array of virtual mi- crophones. In the newly designed environment, the microphones, with adjustable directivity patterns and axis orientations, can be spatially placed as de- sired. Each virtual microphone signal is then fed to a separate (real) loudspeaker for sound projection. The system architecture was designed for a maximum flexibility in the creation of spatial imagery. Despite its flexibility, the system is intuitive to use because it is based on the geometrical and physical principles of microphone techniques. It is also consistent with the expectations of audio engineers to create sound imagery similar to that associated with standard sound-recording practice, but it goes beyond the original concept by allowing strategic violations of physically possible parameters; namely, new supernatural microphone directivity patterns can be implemented into the ViMiC system. This article begins with a review of various microphone techniques on which the ViMiC system Computer Music Journal, 32:3, pp. 55-71, Fall 2008 c � 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. relies and alternative sound-projection techniques. Next, the fundamental physical concepts on which the ViMiC system is based are described. In the following section, software implementation of the system is outlined with a focus on strategies to keep processor load and system latency low. The article concludes with a description of several projects that involved the ViMiC system.